Post by luisluis on Nov 12, 2017 16:50:32 GMT
Some interesting and, in my opinion, pretty significant news out of Toronto FC Academy this week with the announcement of the BMO Champions cup.
It is described as a four day tounament intended to provide post-season competition for elite teams from Ontario. It will also act as a platform for assessment for the Canadian Soccer Association and Ontario Soccer. The merit based tournament (except for TFC academy teams, you must be a cup champion in either SAAC, CAF, or OPDL) inlcudes 16 teams across the U14, u15, u16, and u20 divisions playing 11v11 with 45 minute halves.
The tournament will take place next weekend (November 16th-19th). I am calling it right now that this much needed tournament is going to draw some pretty significant crowds. Almost anybody of consequence in Ontario youth development will be stopping by to see the level of soccer on display. In addition to TFC academy and CSA/OSA coaches, I wouldn't be surprised to see colleges and universities, League 1 Ontario coaches, and the small but budding diaspora of agents and talents scouts to be represented. I also wouldnt be surprised if Mens National Team coach Octavio Zambrano coach makes an appearance. I did see him at the league 1 Final. Click the link above to see the teams, schedule and format.
My thoughts below:
1. First of congratulations to all the teams, players, coaches and parents. This inaugural tournament looks very promising indeed. It is a great reward for the hard work and achievement on the pitch. Irrespective of the result, fans of soccer should applaud all the participats of this tournament.
2. Well done to the TFC academy for putting this together. Although in the end, its clearly a mouth-watering scouting and talent identification opportunity, its also a great chance to celebrate and reward elite soccer players in the province. As a former soccer player and current soccer parent, I'll be the first to be critical of the academy's mode of operation, but as to this initiative, Im giving them high praise.
3. It will be great if this tournament evolves into an annual event. A celebration of high performance youth soccer in Ontario. On some levels, it might evoke comparisons to the Ontario Cup and the usefulness of that tournament. See below. But with the changes coming in youth soccer and the possibility of CanPL academies, the format of the tournament if it continues will likely morph.
4. Will this tournament cement the notion that the Ontario Cup is not the pinnacle of youth soccer in the province? It might be premature to say so but its not irrational to put that thought out there. Consider a couple of things. First, the winners of the Ontario cup in the respective age groups were not invited. Second, there is a public perception that academy and OPDL teams were never allowed to participate in the Ontario cup for fear that these teams would dominate. Whether this perception is warranted or not, it is out there and not spoken about widely.
5. The branding of the tournament is a big deal. Not sure what the details are here but it is notable that the tournament was not called the Kia Champions cup. Hopefully the BMO branding invites some additional attention to the competition including media coverage. Not sure what TFC had planned for inviting media, but it would be nice if TSN, Sportsnet or others provided some coverage. Im sure there will be coverage from a lot of the smaller webcasters, podcasters, and bloggers in the ontario soccer sphere.
6. For a long time, TFC academy has been rightfully criticised for not being inclusive of womens soccer. I mean you could argue a good portion of their fanbase is female after all. But externally at least, there does not seem to be much interest in the famle game unless you include the paid summer camps or TFC Juniors instruction. So its not surprising that they exclude a womens/girls division from this tournament. Now you could argue the lack of resources or timing. But my counter argument would be that with TFC's resources, they could make it happen if they wanted to make it happen. But as it stands, TFC is tipping it hand that womens soccer is not a priority for them at the moment. This tournament would have been a great oppoftunity to change that perception
7. Scouting and talent ID. As far as I can see, scouting and talent ID is the prime motivation behind this tournament. The problem is the dearth of information about players at any level. I know that SAAC and League 1 have public databases. But even with that transparency, its hard to track prospects in Ontario, especially below league 1. If you compare with hockey, soccer lags woefully in this regard. I am going to do my bit to help. I have an acquaintanece with someone who tracks prospects in Ontario. I will ping him to see if I can get him to post some names to watch in this tournament. I will also setup a folder on this forum for highlight videos if anyone participating in the tournament wants to link their video. I will aslo tweet the names and highlight video on the CFU twitter account.
So those are my quick thoughts. Overall a positive development as far as I can tell. What do you think?
[Updated 11/17]
The program that was distributed at the tournament included the list of CSA and OSA coaches in attendance
CSA
Paul Stalteri - Youth National Coach
Octavio Zambrano - Men’s National Coach
Nuno Santos - Goalkeeper Coach
Jason Devos - Director of Development
Earl Cochrane - Deputy General Secretary
OSA
Bryan Rosenfel - Manager High Performance
Patrick Tobo - Regional Manager, High Performance East
Shane Lamie - High Performance West
It is described as a four day tounament intended to provide post-season competition for elite teams from Ontario. It will also act as a platform for assessment for the Canadian Soccer Association and Ontario Soccer. The merit based tournament (except for TFC academy teams, you must be a cup champion in either SAAC, CAF, or OPDL) inlcudes 16 teams across the U14, u15, u16, and u20 divisions playing 11v11 with 45 minute halves.
The tournament will take place next weekend (November 16th-19th). I am calling it right now that this much needed tournament is going to draw some pretty significant crowds. Almost anybody of consequence in Ontario youth development will be stopping by to see the level of soccer on display. In addition to TFC academy and CSA/OSA coaches, I wouldn't be surprised to see colleges and universities, League 1 Ontario coaches, and the small but budding diaspora of agents and talents scouts to be represented. I also wouldnt be surprised if Mens National Team coach Octavio Zambrano coach makes an appearance. I did see him at the league 1 Final. Click the link above to see the teams, schedule and format.
My thoughts below:
1. First of congratulations to all the teams, players, coaches and parents. This inaugural tournament looks very promising indeed. It is a great reward for the hard work and achievement on the pitch. Irrespective of the result, fans of soccer should applaud all the participats of this tournament.
2. Well done to the TFC academy for putting this together. Although in the end, its clearly a mouth-watering scouting and talent identification opportunity, its also a great chance to celebrate and reward elite soccer players in the province. As a former soccer player and current soccer parent, I'll be the first to be critical of the academy's mode of operation, but as to this initiative, Im giving them high praise.
3. It will be great if this tournament evolves into an annual event. A celebration of high performance youth soccer in Ontario. On some levels, it might evoke comparisons to the Ontario Cup and the usefulness of that tournament. See below. But with the changes coming in youth soccer and the possibility of CanPL academies, the format of the tournament if it continues will likely morph.
4. Will this tournament cement the notion that the Ontario Cup is not the pinnacle of youth soccer in the province? It might be premature to say so but its not irrational to put that thought out there. Consider a couple of things. First, the winners of the Ontario cup in the respective age groups were not invited. Second, there is a public perception that academy and OPDL teams were never allowed to participate in the Ontario cup for fear that these teams would dominate. Whether this perception is warranted or not, it is out there and not spoken about widely.
5. The branding of the tournament is a big deal. Not sure what the details are here but it is notable that the tournament was not called the Kia Champions cup. Hopefully the BMO branding invites some additional attention to the competition including media coverage. Not sure what TFC had planned for inviting media, but it would be nice if TSN, Sportsnet or others provided some coverage. Im sure there will be coverage from a lot of the smaller webcasters, podcasters, and bloggers in the ontario soccer sphere.
6. For a long time, TFC academy has been rightfully criticised for not being inclusive of womens soccer. I mean you could argue a good portion of their fanbase is female after all. But externally at least, there does not seem to be much interest in the famle game unless you include the paid summer camps or TFC Juniors instruction. So its not surprising that they exclude a womens/girls division from this tournament. Now you could argue the lack of resources or timing. But my counter argument would be that with TFC's resources, they could make it happen if they wanted to make it happen. But as it stands, TFC is tipping it hand that womens soccer is not a priority for them at the moment. This tournament would have been a great oppoftunity to change that perception
7. Scouting and talent ID. As far as I can see, scouting and talent ID is the prime motivation behind this tournament. The problem is the dearth of information about players at any level. I know that SAAC and League 1 have public databases. But even with that transparency, its hard to track prospects in Ontario, especially below league 1. If you compare with hockey, soccer lags woefully in this regard. I am going to do my bit to help. I have an acquaintanece with someone who tracks prospects in Ontario. I will ping him to see if I can get him to post some names to watch in this tournament. I will also setup a folder on this forum for highlight videos if anyone participating in the tournament wants to link their video. I will aslo tweet the names and highlight video on the CFU twitter account.
So those are my quick thoughts. Overall a positive development as far as I can tell. What do you think?
[Updated 11/17]
The program that was distributed at the tournament included the list of CSA and OSA coaches in attendance
CSA
Paul Stalteri - Youth National Coach
Octavio Zambrano - Men’s National Coach
Nuno Santos - Goalkeeper Coach
Jason Devos - Director of Development
Earl Cochrane - Deputy General Secretary
OSA
Bryan Rosenfel - Manager High Performance
Patrick Tobo - Regional Manager, High Performance East
Shane Lamie - High Performance West