Montopoli hopes all-Canadian Div. 2 can be “FC Edmonton times eight” By Steven Sandor Posted on October 13, 2011 3 0 922 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Peter Montopoli Canadian Soccer Association General Secretary Peter Montopoli is hopeful that the FC Edmonton experiment can be repeated in cities across the country — in an all-Canadian Division-2 league. The Canadian Soccer Association has given consultants Rethink Management Group until the spring of 2012 to study the viability of an all-Canadian Division-2. But the CSA has made it clear that it does not want to run a league; it just wants to see if the climate is right for private investors across the country to take the same risks that FC Edmonton’s Tom and Dave Fath have taken. “We would rather see FC Edmonton playing in a national league, and doing what they were successful at this year, developing Canadian players,” said Montopoli. “I think FC Edmonton has been a bright light. It has shown us that a team that is based on Canadian talent can work, that we have a Division two team that can put emphasis on them (Canadians). What we would like to see is FC Edmonton times six or FC Edmonton times eight.” FC Edmonton and the Montreal Impact played in the NASL in 2011; the Eddies made the playoffs with a lineup made up mostly of Canadian players. The Impact will move to MLS next season after missing the playoffs in its final Div. -2 season. Ottawa is set to join NASL in the next couple of years. But the NASL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which mandates that the league’s membership be at least 75 per cent American based. “We need to be more than 25 per cent of teams in a U.S.-based league,” said Montopoli. The CSA had placed a moratorium on new Canadian Div.-2 clubs joining U.S. based leagues earlier this year. It didn’t stop Ottawa from going ahead with its NASL plan. Montopoli said that Rethink’s researchers will be asked to weigh four factors. The first? Players. Are there enough Canadian players available to stock a domestic Div.-2 league? “Do we have enough players in our country? I would like to think that we do,” said Montopoli. The second factor? Coaching. Does Canada have enough coaches with the skills to lead high-calibre professional sides? Third? Infrastructure and stadiums. A few years back, the Canadian Soccer League announced that it was hoping to expand to Western Canada. It never happened. Teams would take in small ticket sales, but there’s no getting around the cost of traveling. As well, the question of where teams would play could never be answered. There aren’t enough stadiums in the country to seat a few thousand for soccer. The Rethink Management team will explore if there are enough stadiums or plans for stadiums; and it will look how a league would or could be structured in the second-largest country (by land size) in the world. Finally, and this is likely the big one, Rethink will see if there are enough investors out there interested in Div.-2 soccer. Saying that you support local soccer is one thing; signing paycheques for a pro team is another. For example, NASL road trip can cost up to $20,000, with flights and hotels factored in. So, no matter the good intentions, a league needs money — and lots of it. Are there enough entrepreneurs out there? Rethink will prioritize the four factors after it is done the research. Montopoli thinks that, with so much MLS on our television and fan support rising for the national teams, that this is the time to try and bring Canadian fans out to see Canadian players in a Canadian Div. -2. “We are on the crest of the wave. We have three MLS teams and the national teams are experiencing some success.”
