But, if Montagliani was to win the presidency — and his candidacy is backed by the Canadian Soccer Association — it would only grow to this country’s growing presence in the region. Canada’s Sonia Denoncourt has already been charged with helping improve the standard of CONCACAF refereeing; some cynics would say she’s in charge of actually creating a standard for CONCACAF refs. And Scotiabank has taken over as the title sponsor of the CONCACAF Champions League.

“It was Ritchie Jones who reached out,” said Eckersley. “And I wanted something a bit different for my family. And my little brother has played in Canada, for Toronto, and he had nothing but good things to say about Canada.”

Last November, after he’d wrapped up his NCAA season as the No. 1 shot stopped at Florida Gulf Coast University, the Canadian keeper got a call from FC Edmonton goalkeeping coach Darren Woloshen. Ingham learned that the NASL club had a lot of interest in signing the him — but the team had to know ASAP if the feeling was mutual. The Eddies wanted to get their roster sorted sooner rather than later.

At the end of the season, he said the players were told that they should go out and try to find new teams — but, if things changed, they could get a call back to come to Atlanta. So, Porter headed home to the Toronto area, where he worked out with a group of Canadian players who had dubbed themselves “Free Agent FC:” that group included former FC Edmonton players John Smits and Alex Semenets, retired MLS great Dwayne De Rosario and defender Nana Attakora.

The Canadian dollar is trading well below 72 cents US. Canadian clubs in MLS and NASL take in most of their revenue in domestic currency, but pay out a lot of expenses in U.S. dollars. But, for NASL teams, the currency gap is widened because they pay out contracts in Canadian dollars. How is our weakening currency changing the soccer landscape?

Toronto FC takes in a lot of its revenue in Canadian dollars, but pays out much of its travel and payroll expenses in U.S. dollars. A look behind the scenes shows that the financial game theory in the boardroom is almost as fascinating as the soccer strategies on the field

A poor loonie was blamed for the departure of the NBA’s Vancouver Grizzlies to Memphis, Tennessee. The NHL’s Canucks have been hampered in the past by a poor dollar. But, in the case of the MLS Whitecaps, the league’s central control of contracts and revenue could help insulate them from the dollar’s demise

The low loonie makes travel in the U.S. far more expensive for Canadians; but that won’t stop the Montreal Impact from making two separate preseason trips across the border...

On Friday, when the Canadian Soccer Association announced the schedule for the 2016 Amway Canadian Championship, there was no mention of network television coverage.

Nana Attakora and Drew Beckie prove a point: That if a Canadian player is able to count as a domestic player on the roster of an U.S.-based NASL team, he'll get a shot.