The Canadian Soccer Association has called a press conference for Wednesday, in Oakville, Ont., where Kara Lang is expected to end her playing career all too early.

Chris Lemire doesn’t want to see another Edmonton soccer team fold.

There have been more than a few embarrassing moments in the four-plus seasons of Toronto FC’s existence; but the fact that Dwayne De Rosario was training with Celtic —less than a full day after acting GM Earl Cochrane vehemently denied that the team’s all-time leading scorer would be leaving the club —has to go right to the top of the charts when it comes to egg dripping off the faces of those running the Reds. De Rosario checked into Celtic’s training session Tuesday morning, wearing shirt No. 19.

The team still has an interim coach and interim general manager. But the heat on Toronto FC was turned up when MLS released its First Kick schedule Monday. As was widely expected, TFC kicks off its season in Vancouver against the Whitecaps on March 19. The game is exactly what CBC, which would love to expand its reach for soccer broadcasts, would need to create a new national brand that shows that it could create a soccer broadcasting franchise built on the Hockey Night in Canada model. The next week, Toronto FC returns to BMO Field to welcome the Portland Timbers for the home opener.

While the rotten smell left behind by the voting process for the 2018 and, especially, the 2022 World Cups is still strong in FIFA’s Swiss headquarters, there is one bit of good coming out of the Qatar bid. And that’s the continuing rumblings that the tournament will have to be held in January — to give the players and fans a reprieve from the Qatari summers, where temperatures regularly soar past 40 C. Because, once and for all, it would smash the notion of the “international calendar,” a large truck of snake oil that has been pushed onto the world’s footballing community by rich, European clubs.

Midfielder Atiba Hutchinson has won the Canadian Soccer Association’s male player of the year award for the first time. It might not be the last for Hutchinson, who went to high school in Brampton, Ont.’s Heart Lake neighbourhood. This season, Hutchinson left Copenhagen of the Danish League — but not before leading the club to a 2010 title and being named the league’s player of the year — for PSV Eindhoven of the Dutch Eredivisie. Hutchinson said walking onto the pitch at the Amsterdam ArenA, when PSV traveled to face Ajax, the hated rival, was a “dream come true.”

There’s no doubt about it. Canada’s soccer capital is... Brampton, Ont. Flowertown —the place that gave Canada Rick Nash, Scott Thompson from the Kids in the Hall, Michael Cera, Alan Thicke, Russell Peters, Rohinton Mistry and, ahem, this writer, is unquestionably the place to be if you want to raise a child who is going to be a soccer prodigy.

It’s sorta like Wayne Gretzky winning Hart Trophies in the 1980s. That is, Christine Sinclair being named Canada’s women’s soccer player of the year. On Thursday, she won the honour for the sixth consecutive time. Actually, she’s the only person to ever win the award. The Canadian Soccer Association launched the award just in time for Sinclair to begin her own personal dynasty. Playing alongside Brazilian star Marta, Sinclair led WPS in assists. Her FC Gold Pride won the WPS regular-season and playoff titles. Sinclair was Canada’s top scorer at the Gold Cup, which it won, securing a spot at next year’s World Cup in Germany. “Without a doubt, the highlight was winning CONCACAF with Canada,” said Sinclair. “It’s something we’ve never done before, with all the teams in it.”

Alberta has made soccer news for the wrong reasons in 2010 as an ugly power struggle has crippled the Alberta Soccer Association. The province continues to be badly under-represented on most national teams, which are dominated by players from British Columbia and Ontario. The rise of BMO Field and Stade Saputo has made Commonwealth Stadium, once the official home of Canada’s national soccer team, a place reserved to host Canadian games only if they are World Cup qualifiers in winter months against Mexico, in hopes of freezing out the regional power. Gains made in boosting the game in Ontario and Quebec have taken a toll on Alberta. So, that’s why the selection of Ethan Gage as the country’s male U-20 player of the year is a big deal.

But, what will Allardyce's departure mean for Junior Hoilett, the Brampton, Ont. native who wears Rovers colours? Remember that Hoilett decided to re-sign with Rovers last season after Allardyce made appeals to his family. For Allardyce, the signing was personal.