What is it that draws everyone from die hard supporters to the most casual of sports fans to tournaments like The F.A Cup and NCAA Tournament, for the most part it’s to see the “Cinderella Story”, that tiny team from the middle of nowhere make a miraculous run against the best in the business.
The Canadian Championship since its inception back in 2008 has started to grow in popularity, and with the winner earning the right to play international competition in the CONCACAF Champions League with a further opportunity to play some of the worlds best in the FIFA Club World Cup the “Voyageurs Cup” has significant meaning. This past edition was probably the most compelling of the bunch (with all do respect to the 2009 edition and the subsequent 6-1 TFC win over Montreal Impact) as it had a new team in FC Edmonton and new two legged semifinal format and the infamous rain game in the second leg of the final. However the one aspect of this tournament that seems to be lacking is that “Cinderella Story”, while listening to the latest edition of the Paul James on Soccer podcast he mentioned that he’d like to see semi-pro teams take part in this tournament and I couldn’t agree more.
I recognize that this wouldn’t be easy to implement but it’s an idea worth exploring for the CSA, having the CSL take part in a this competition would do a lot for the league financially, from a marketing/advertising point of view and giving teams a realistic goal to strive for. With Ottawa getting an NASL franchise in 2013 Canada will have five professional clubs and the current format would have to be adjusted once again anyways, so why not take that opportunity to consider adding some semi-pro sides to the mix.
The way I could see it working hypothetically is one of two ways, if we only consider the CSL for a moment you could award the final three spots to the CSL regular season champion and the two-playoff finalists. In the event the regular season champion makes it to the final the last spot could be awarded to the team with the next best record, the Canadian Championship would then have eight sides and could resume as normal.
One immediate question would be what if TFC Academy or Montreal Impact Academy is amongst the three teams? I could see how the possibility of a TFC Vs. TFC Academy or Montreal Impact Vs. Montreal Impact Academy match would be considered strange but if for some reason that was to happen it may not be such a bad thing. Outside of the die hard supporters of these clubs or soccer nerds like myself how many casual fans pay attention to youth development? If marketed properly this could give those fans the perfect platform to view their club as a whole and not just what they see on TV or at a MLS match.
The other way I could see this working hypothetically is having CSL, OSL as well as other semi-pro leagues in Western and Atlantic Canada play in a Round Robin preliminary group phase with the top three side moving on to the Canadian Championship proper. This option would take a lot more time, money and energy to complete but the end result might just be worth it, the possibility of having some little team from Moncton for example fight their way to a possible Canadian Championship Quarterfinal two legged affair against three time defending Champions Toronto FC would be a dream storyline. I for one would love Brampton City United to take part in this competition, but beyond that a possible Capital City FC vs. the Ottawa NASL franchise or FC Edmonton against a semi-pro side from Calgary could do its part in elevating the rivalry element that is largely non-existent within soccer in this country.
Regardless of whether this would happen or not I think the Canadian Championship will be a great tournament going forward, but if this tournament were ever to grow to something of this scale that could be something every Canadian soccer fan could be proud of.
Kamal Hylton is Owner/Freelance Soccer Writer at Hylton Sports Media,
he specializes in covering Youth Development in Canada and the
CONCACAF Region as well as European leagues such as Bundesliga, Serie A and UEFA Champions League. Follow him on Twitter to view all his work.
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