A New Canadian Soccer League

What is wrong with what we have?

  This is the question that people keep asking. They say we already have the A-League and could expand by two or three teams, perhaps creating a Canadian division. Another option might be to get a team into Major League Soccer (the top US league) .
  Sorry but that just does not do what needs to be done. Captain Canuck said it best when he wrote, on an Internet discussion board:

If this country is to ever make its way back to the World Cup, we need to have a domestic league. Firstly, we would increase the depth of players we have to draw from for the national squad... A Canadian soccer league will give these ... players an opportunity to play at a more competitive level and we can only hope that this improves the talent level in this country. Also, a domestic league will give incentive for the youth in this country to stick to playing soccer. When these kids are 13 or 14, they realize quickly that a lot of doors close right in their faces. With a domestic league, these kids will at least have the chance to hone their skills in Canada and play competitive ball.

  Major League Soccer is a result of the 1994 World Cup held in the United States. It is currently owned by a central entity and divided up amongst owner-investors who neither negotiate salaries nor control their own rosters. While there is talk of expansion in 2001 this will be limited to American cities and owner-investors who come up with the required amount of money for a buy-in. The last round of expansion teams cost $20 Million (U.S.) and that was just to get the right to operate a team owned by the league.
  A team in the MLS is beyond the financial reach of any Canadian city. It is also too small a program to achieve our goals. 30 spots for players is too few to develop the players we need. As well, one single team in MLS would undermine the credibility of any other teams in Canada and limit the exposure of the league to Canadian kids.
  The A-League is an American controlled and dominated league made up of independent clubs. In 1999 there were two Canadian entries: Toronto Lynx and Vancouver 86ers. The Montreal Impact withdrew from participating in the 1999 season after their owner got tired of the constantly changing make-up of the league and their amateur organization. A new ownership group has reentered the A-League for 2000 but with all the other clubs that went belly-up the A-League will have fewer teams in 2000 than 1999.
  This organization has not even gone by the same name for three years in a row. They are currently the USL (United Soccer Leagues). In 1998 year they were the USISL (United Systems of Independent Soccer Leagues). They have gone through something like five different names in the last decade. It should be noted that US always features prominently in their name and attitude. USL Commissioner Marcos has been quoted as saying that some U.S. officials opposed allowing Canadian teams in the A-League for fear of helping a rival country develop players. Not exactly a strong bond of cooperation.
  In any case, the marketing and operations of this league are, as mentioned before, strictly amateur, which is a shame given the quality of many of the individual teams. 1998 League Champions and 1999 US Open Cup winners the Rochester Raging Rhinos have their own stadium under construction and are a solid organization off the field. Yet even this winning American team gets little or no league marketing support. The USL makes no attempt to involve itself in marketing the three Canadian teams to the Canadian public and there is no reason to think they would do so if we had three more teams in the A-League (as some have wished for.)
  Canadians are never going to get excited about Vancouver and Toronto playing dozens of other cities they have barely heard of. At least with a Canadian league they may have heard of, or travelled to, some of the opposing cities.