SAAC the CSA

I urge everyone to have a listen to the Dino Rossi interview from today's It's Called Football Weekly show. You can find it below this post. Although the Jeff Cunningham interview is undoubtedly sexier, the issues that Dino touch upon are vital to the future of the sport in Canada.

In summery, Dino updated us on the ongoing efforts of the Soccer Academies Association of Canada (SAAC) to get its players registered by the CSA. It seems like a fairly innocent request, and it's actually mandated by FIFA to happen, but yet soccer officials in this country continue to drag their feet.

Dino was somewhat diplomatic in his answer as to why there is a resistance to registering the SAAC players. He can't afford to piss too many people off in his role on the Board of Directors at SAAC. However, I can state it a little clearer.

Some clubs are fighting SAAC because they feel that the academies are "stealing" their best players and are therefore putting them at a competitive disadvantage when they play other clubs for provincial championships. Basically they are willing to blackball children so they have a better chance to win a shiny trophy with their u-14 squad.

To convince parents to go along with their efforts they tell tall, cautionary tales about big, bad academy owners that are only in it for the money and that will make promises that they can't keep to players that aren't good enough to play beyond the community level.

There is no doubt that there are people in this world that look to profit off of the dreams of kids. But, one of the components of SAAC is to ensure that its members are operating under a unified best practices that will prevent operators from taking advantage of players and their families. Basically, SAAC isn't going to let anyone with a pitch and whistle into their association. There are strict standards that need to be kept for membership in SAAC. If a player enrols in an academy they will be getting exactly what they were promised. What they do with that training is then up to them.

The irony of this type of argument against the registering of academy players is that FIFA brought in the requirement for registration as part of an effort to protect the players. Some in Canada are trying to make the opposite argument -- that NOT allowing those players to be registered is what protects them. It's counterintuitive.

Ultimately, as Dino said in the interview, SAAC is about giving people choice. And choice is good.

I've often been asked by readers why I've never published a multi-part series detailing how I would want to see the CSA fixed. The answer is that it's because many others already have and that I don't have a lot more to offer the subject. However, allow me to use this issue as a jumping of point for a succenict response to that ultimate question of What To Do About The CSA.

The problems with the organization can all be seen with this one issue. It's toothless, takes its orders from the provinces (which, in turn, take their orders from the community clubs). The old adage of the tail wagging the dog applies here -- and it's a problem. So long as the CSA refuses to step up and lay claim to what it rightfully theirs (control of the game) we are destined to flounder around, directionless.

How would I fix the CSA? By forcing it to demonstrate some leadership. Even though this change is mandated by FIFA it hasn't happened yet. Why is that? Likely because the CSA is trying to figure out how to satisfy the provinces, while getting FIFA off its back about the requirement.

If leadership was centralized, we wouldn't have this problem.

You can fix a lot by simply centralizing the decision making. Let the provinces handle the important recreation market. Leave the elite programs to the CSA, where they belong.

There is a lot wrong with the Canadian system, but making that one simple change will go a long ways to fixing many of the issues. And it might even allow for the radical concept of having every kid that plays this game, actually recognized by the national body.

Crazy, eh?