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Sometime in the not too distant future... After a thorough 12-month development process, the Canadian Soccer Associations board of directors approves their new five-year strategic plan. The board gives the CSAs General Secretary the green light to begin the strategic activities laid out in the plan, setting in motion a flurry of activity. The CSAs Technical Director immediately convenes a video conference with the Technical Directors from each of the provincial branches of the CSA. (Provincial associations were deemed an unnecessary complication long ago, and were replaced by provincial branches of the CSA. These branches are staffed by CSA employees, and there is no provincial branch board of directors hindering operations). The provincial branch Technical Directors then conference in their regional Technical Directors. (Districts were also deemed an unnecessary complication long ago, and were replaced by regional branches of the CSA. Likewise, these branches are staffed by CSA employees, and there is no regional branch board of directors.) The CSA technical director informs his staff on the video conference that the latest instalment of the CSAs training curriculum is available for all members on the CSAs website. Grassroots coaches across the country need only to log onto the CSA website with their user name and password (which they receive when they register for a CSA coach education course) to download age and ability specific session plans and video demonstrations for their respective age groups. Online resources are freely available for coaches to continue their education through the CSA. On the CSA website, coaches can also book mentoring sessions with CSA coach educators, who are dispersed throughout the country working at the provincial and regional branches. There are three levels of play within the CSAs player development pathway: Recreational (formerly known as house league); Regional (formerly known as "rep" or "competitive" soccer, with travel occurring within a provincial region); and High Performance (the highest level of the development pathway, where training and competition takes place at high performance organizations that work in partnership with the CSAs network of coaches and coach educators across the country.) Each level of play is standards-based; if your club or academy (because the CSAs development pathway is open to ALL organizations) meets the standards set by the CSA for recreational, regional or high performance competition, your organization has the opportunity to participate at that level. Clubs and academies do not fight each other for players. Instead, they put the needs of the player ahead of their own. If a players ability exceeds the level at which his or her organization currently competes, the player is encouraged to move to the nearest organization that competes at the appropriate level for the player. Clubs and academies offer a variety of programs throughout the year, including futsal and technical skill development courses, all delivered by trained, professional coaches. Many of these coaches only coach part-time, as the program costs are kept to a minimum. But they all receive the same access to learning opportunities through the CSAs coach education program. This program is free of charge, as the CSA has signed a long-term sponsorship contract with one of Canadas major corporations to offset what the CSA considers to be the single biggest factor in developing better players - developing better coaches. When I register my daughter to play soccer for the Oakville Soccer Club, I simply navigate to the CSAs website where, through a series of drop-down menus, I choose Ontario (province), Peel Halton (region), Oakville SC (club), Girls (gender), Recreational (program). I pay the registration fee online, and the payment is instantly distributed from the CSA to the appropriate recipients. The largest portion goes to the club, who naturally bear most of the financial cost of delivering the program, but a percentage also goes to the regional and provincial branches of the CSA, who oversee player, coach and referee development in those areas. The CSA retains a portion of the fee itself, so that it may operate its national team programs accordingly. Within five days, I receive a laminated registration card for my daughter in the mail. It has her name, photo (because I uploaded her picture when I registered her online) and registration number displayed on the front of the card. This registration card serves as her player identification card for the upcoming season, which she brings with her to every game. On the back of the card is a list of all of the CSAs corporate partners. Presenting this card entitles me to a 20 per cent discount on any merchandise I purchase from any one of those partners. So, at the beginning of the year when I purchase my daughters new soccer shoes, I simply do my shopping at the preferred CSA partner, where I receive my discount... This sounds great, doesnt it. Its almost utopian, its so simple. It makes you wonder why it hasnt been this way all along. This isnt fiction, though - I didnt make this up off the top of my head, trying to build some crazy, idealistic vision of how soccer in Canada should function. This could very well be what soccer in Canada looks like in the not too distant future. I took some artistic license, yes. My frustration at the inane bureaucracy that has plagued our game for decades prompted me to eliminate provincial and district boards in the scenario I just described. That isnt going to happen. The best that we can hope for is that all provincial and district members of the CSA mirror the national bodys governance structure - something that is written into the new strategic plan. Some of the other ideas are not as far from becoming reality as one might think, though. The concept of a registration card for each and every one of the CSAs 850,000 members - including the idea of direct access to discounts through the CSAs network of corporate partners - is very real, and is also written into the strategic plan. It falls under the pillar of "professional governance of our sport" as "building a national database." Remarkably, despite having 850,000 members, the CSA has no database of information about its membership. There are no names on a list, no email addresses neatly filed away on a server somewhere - because the CSA has never had a mechanism to centralize its registration process. That is all going to change under the new strategic plan. Direct access to the CSAs membership is a goldmine for the CSA, for its corporate partners and for its members. What company doesnt want to have a direct relationship with their customers? And what customer (CSA member) doesnt want to get a discount on merchandise? The simple step of centralizing registration will give the CSA tremendous marketing power, its corporate partners real value for their investment in Canadian soccer, and most importantly, its members a tangible benefit for registering with the CSA. The success of the CSAs plan will depend on a number of factors, not least of which is you. Will you support the CSA, get behind their ideas and strategic priorities (which, I have to say, were developed in part through your consultation) and do whatever you can to make these initiatives a success? Or will you do what so many have chosen to do in the past - stand on the sidelines and criticize, never once offering to help turn ideas into reality? Not all of the objectives listed in the CSAs strategic plan will be met in the years ahead. But if the most important ones can be achieved, we can all start looking forward to a much brighter future for soccer in Canada. Steve Yzerman Jersey . -- Wide receiver Sidney Rice should be fully recovered from a torn knee ligament by the time the Seattle Seahawks start defence of their Super Bowl title, general manager John Schneider said Wednesday. Frans Nielsen Jersey . The Calgary Stampeders announced both moves on Wednesday. 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Sweden cut the lead in half when Daniel Muzito Bagenda scored a power-play goal at 10:57 of the second.BOSTON -- The suddenly high-scoring Boston Bruins are showing no mercy, even for the departed goalie who led them to the Stanley Cup. Milan Lucic scored twice and the Bruins spoiled Tim Thomas first game in Boston as a visitor with a 6-2 win over the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night. "I think I mightve enjoyed myself watching the State of the Union more," said Thomas, not a big fan of President Barack Obama, who delivered the speech at the same time as the Bruins were beating the Panthers for the sixth straight time. "No, probably not." In 2011, Thomas didnt accompany his teammates to the White House for the ceremony with Obama marking their championship that year. Boston scored six goals for the third straight game, following road wins of 6-1 and 6-3. The Atlantic Division leaders improved to 5-0-1 in their last six games. Why all that scoring for a team known for its defence? "Weve been able to get out of our zone cleanly and establish the rush," Lucic said. They kept going to the very end, with Carl Soderberg charging into the crease where an angry Thomas swung his stick, hitting Soderberg in the helmet with 4 seconds left. "With less than a minute left in the game and theyre up by four goals," Thomas said, "I took exception to that." Soderberg proclaimed his innocence. "I was just going for the rebound," he said. "We cant stop playing." Even if the opposing goalie was Thomas, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP with the Bruins in 2011. He spent one more season with them, took last season off and then joined the Panthers. "Tims always going to be a part of this organization for what hes done," Boston coach Claude Julien said, "but we just have to look at him as the opposing goalie." Zdeno Chara, Reilly Smith, Shawn Thornton and David Krejci also scored for Boston, which led 4-0 until Brad Boyes connected for Florida with 2:33 left in the second period. Dmitry Kulikov added a power-play goal for the Panthers 4 minutes into the third. "All four lines are putting the puck in the net," Krejci said. "Thats good to see."t; Fans applauded lightly when Thomas was introduced as the starting goalie.ddddddddddddBut after Thornton made it 5-2 just more than 8 minutes into the third period, they derisively chanted, "Thomas! Thomas!" "I didnt really hear it too much," Thomas said. "There were really not a lot of feelings." Thomas played against the Bruins for the first time on Oct. 17 in Bostons 3-2 win at Florida. He travelled with the Panthers to Boston but did not play Nov. 7 in the Bruins 4-1 victory. For the second consecutive game, the Bruins were the early aggressors, outshooting the Panthers 19-8 in the first period. On Monday night, Boston took 18 of the first 20 shots in a 6-3 win over the New York Islanders. Lucic gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead at 7:41 of the first period on a rebound after Thomas stopped Jarome Iginlas shot from the right circle. Lucic was initially credited with the second goal less than 8 minutes later when Charas 45-foot shot from the right appeared to hit him before bouncing over Thomas and trickling into the net. The scoring was changed when it was determined that the puck hit Thomas glove, not Lucic. But that didnt stop a few spectators from throwing hats on the ice early in the second, thinking Lucic had completed a hat trick when he scored his 15th of the season on a short backhand. Smith made it 4-0 with his team-leading 18th goal at 14:54 of the second on a pass across the slot from Soderberg. He beat Thomas to the open side of the net. "That wasnt (Thomas) best game," Panthers coach Peter Horachek said, "but I dont think there were a lot of solid efforts by many of the players." After Boyes ruined Tuukka Rasks bid for his fourth shutout in 13 decisions, Kulikov made it 4-2. His goal ended an 0-for-43 power-play drought for the Panthers over their previous 13 games and the first two periods Tuesday. Rask finished with 28 saves. NOTES: Sean Bergenheims assist on Kulikovs goal was his 150th NHL point. It came in his 100th game with the Panthers. ... Bruins forward Chris Kelly played for the first time since missing 22 games with a broken leg. ... Boston is 12-2 in its last 14 home games. ' ' '