A pyramid structure for Canadian soccer

[Impact supporter]

After looking at the site http://www.aboutaball.co.uk I am opening up the board to debate on what would be the ideal pyramid structure for Canadian soccer: (ie D1, D2,D3, D4, etc)

My take on this in an ideal world(in the Canadian context) would be:

D1 : Canadian USL teams (Impact, Lynx, Chill)play in North American context

D2 : CPSL - East and West Division - 12 to 16 teams

D3 : 6 Regional Leagues - Pacific(BC), Praries(Alberta/Sask), Gateway(Man/N. Ont), Central(Ontario) Quebec and Atlantic(NS/NB/Nfld/PEI)

D4 : Local leagues

All Divisions compete in Canada Open Cup

D2 and D3 have promotion and relegation

D4 becomes a development system, amateur. Would also include amatuer leagues, recreational leagues, ethnic leagues

I open up the board to dialogue.

Enjoy!

[bettermirror]

why do people list the chill on par with the a-league clubs?

there ain't gonna be any middle any more.

[hamiltonfan]

cpsl teams are par with the chill

[Mimglow]

Pardon my ignorance...what is the chill?

Mimglow, Ottawa

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Where are the weapons of mass destruction?

[Impact supporter]

Thunder Bay Chill in the PDL

http://www.thunderbaychill.com

[Mimglow]

Thanks IP! Why do you rank them as A-League caliber?

Mimglow, Ottawa

_________________________

Where are the weapons of mass destruction?

[Impact supporter]

I wasnt really ranking the Chill as A-League caliber, but I was including them only as a Canadian USL team.

BTW how did the Wizards do today against the Durham Flames?

[Impact supporter]

I would just like to get this thread back to developing a pyramid structure for Canadian soccer and opening the floor to debate.

Thanks.

[hamiltonfan]

What other PDL teams are there in Canada?

[coppercanuck]

As you may have guessed Impact Supporter, my ideas are shifting this way as well. However, comparing the PDL squads to the CPSL or PCSL and other top provincial leagues is dangerous ground. After all we are talking about U23 versus groups of veteran players who have been overlooked by the system of the past. The unfortunate problem with the USL is the fact that it will become very tough for PDL teams to jump to the A-League. Calgary has proven that it will take a very big effort to be competitive in the first year.

I had my regional leagues shifted slightly Pacific (BC), Mountain (AB), Prarie (SK, MB & N.ON), Upper Canada (ON), Lower Canada (QC), Atlantic (NB, PE, NS, NL). The league names for upper and lower Canada could be altered to Central (although ON is not central) and Eastern. The reason for having AB on its own is a population issue. With Calgary and Edmonton as anchors in Mountain and Saskatoon, Regina, Winnipeg and Thunder Bay as anchors in the Prarie divisions.

Regardless, setting up the regional leagues is a big step. and a key one. Having these 6 regions setup with leagues of 10 teams each will give Canada some uniformity. Next is getting these regional champs to play in either a year end play-off or a Champs League the following season. This would be my D2. In your model, the travel required in the D2 would be no different than the D1 (A-League). The only reason why a team might stay in your D2 is an expensive franchise fee in the A-League.

Damn, I could chat about this all night! How far away from a business plan are we anyway?

aka JTPenney

[PaulV]

I like it. The D2 CPSL will have to grow to have any differentiation with the regional leagues however. Today it's not much more than a regional league (Ont. with one team in QC), so there would be essentially no differentiation between D2 and D3.

It will also have to have the capability to accept teams from Atlantic Canada for this proposal to work with promotion and relegation between D2 and D3. Interestingly, the lastest issue of "It's Called Futbol" contains a comment that a many teams in Southern Ontario face financial hardship simply due to the roadtrips to Ottawa and Montreal ("Teams are using up over half their budgets on those road trips.") It would have to be a very different CPSL in order to become a true East West D2.

Perhaps to start, D2 should be the regional semi-pro leagues (of which the CPSL is one of them). As things grow (hopefully!) the split between the CPSL and regional leagues could be made.

[Impact supporter]

quote:Originally posted by coppercanuck

As you may have guessed Impact Supporter, my ideas are shifting this way as well. However, comparing the PDL squads to the CPSL or PCSL and other top provincial leagues is dangerous ground. After all we are talking about U23 versus groups of veteran players who have been overlooked by the system of the past. The unfortunate problem with the USL is the fact that it will become very tough for PDL teams to jump to the A-League. Calgary has proven that it will take a very big effort to be competitive in the first year.

I had my regional leagues shifted slightly Pacific (BC), Mountain (AB), Prarie (SK, MB & N.ON), Upper Canada (ON), Lower Canada (QC), Atlantic (NB, PE, NS, NL). The league names for upper and lower Canada could be altered to Central (although ON is not central) and Eastern. The reason for having AB on its own is a population issue. With Calgary and Edmonton as anchors in Mountain and Saskatoon, Regina, Winnipeg and Thunder Bay as anchors in the Prarie divisions.

Regardless, setting up the regional leagues is a big step. and a key one. Having these 6 regions setup with leagues of 10 teams each will give Canada some uniformity. Next is getting these regional champs to play in either a year end play-off or a Champs League the following season. This would be my D2. In your model, the travel required in the D2 would be no different than the D1 (A-League). The only reason why a team might stay in your D2 is an expensive franchise fee in the A-League.

Damn, I could chat about this all night! How far away from a business plan are we anyway?

aka JTPenney


I was talking with the president of the LSEQ at the Dynamites-Flames game and he regards the A-Leaguye as D1, the CPSL as D2, and the provincial leagues like the LSEQ as D3. As well he was telling me that the LSEQ was planning changes at the youth level. Over the next few years, the president was saying that he wanted th eLSEQ to consist only of ''regional teams'' like Lakeshore, Rive Sud Montreal, Laval Estrie(Sherbrooke), and Concordia Montreal(downtown) and he wants to put the ''Elite'' back in LSEQ. It sounds like he wants no more ''community teams'' in the LSEQ. To make a good d2 or even D3 system with these leagues requires a huge overhaul of these leagues and is there really a willingness to do this?

PS I still stand by spliitng up the National Division or Champs League or D2 into an East and West Division to keep travel costs reasonable. As for the Impact, Lynx they are not likely to come out of the A-League.

[hamiltonfan]

can someone tell me all the PSL teams is Canada and about how many people go to there games. Thanks

[Impact supporter]

There are at present no PSL teams (USL D3)in Canada.

[hamiltonfan]

Sorry i mean PDL teams in Canada and about how many people they get per game. Thanks

[Jarrek]

Thunder Bay Chill ... Approximately 300-400 per game. I think they even get up to 600?

And the Winnipeg Sun Dogs ...

[hamiltonfan]

Winnipeg Sun Dogs are not in the PDL and there is a team in calgary and somewhere in bc.

[Jarrek]

Are the Sun Dogs an expansion team ? I might be confusing the two ...

[Sigma]

quote:Originally posted by Jarrek

Are the Sun Dogs an expansion team ? I might be confusing the two ...


The Sun Dogs are hoping to have a PDL expansion team in 2004. They are playing a few games against other PDL teams this year (Thunder Bay, Sioux Falls) and one game against the Minnesota Thunder.

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Sigma do toho!

[PaulV]

quote:Originally posted by hello

Winnipeg Sun Dogs are not in the PDL and there is a team in calgary and somewhere in bc.


The BC team is the Abbotsford Rangers:
http://www.abbotsfordsoccer.com/

and, as stated, the Calgary Storm Prospects.