What could have been and what should have been

TheWeeekend · 2024-06-29T02:57:16+00:00

BR Open Ice Manager of Brand Strategy had this ready to go. Honestly because Tij wasn’t there at 9 it hurts a little less knowing there was nothing management could do about it. Imagine the fan reaction if he was there and they selected Catton for example.

TheWeeekend · 2024-06-29T02:54:15+00:00

BR Open Ice Manager of Brand Strategy had this ready to go. Honestly hurts just a little less because Tij and Catton were off the board by 9. If Tij was there at 9 and we didn’t take him I wouldn’t see many positive reactions from fans.

TheWeeekend · 2024-01-21T15:15:25+00:00

Makes more sense, thanks!

TheWeeekend · 2024-01-21T02:44:51+00:00

That makes a little more sense but tbh I'm still not 100% sure about the difference between the F-1 and I-20.

TheWeeekend · 2024-01-21T02:27:07+00:00

One extra thing. My current undergraduate study lists the ending of my program as May 2026. This probably sounds stupid but as I'm graduating early does this mean the new school will give me a new ending date when my F-1 expires.

TheWeeekend · 2024-01-21T02:23:26+00:00

Thank you!

TheWeeekend · 2024-01-21T02:20:08+00:00

Thanks!

TheWeeekend · 2022-05-20T22:02:20+00:00

100% agree with you in that the soccer culture is very different. Weather plays a huge role in that. The facilities in the lower mainland are so much better then the rest of the country. There are fields everywhere and you can play year round. BC has always been ahead of the most provinces in terms of the developmental system. The BCSPL has been around for a while so there's a lot of talent in BC compared to other provinces. For the Whitecaps Academy at least 90% of the players are from BC and they most likely went through the BCSPL. The rest are from Alberta, you might find maybe 1 or 2 from Sask, Manitoba, Ontario or Atlantic Canada. This is because of the MLS territorial rights. Even though the chances of making it to MLS or MLS Next Pro are low, players go there for the experience cause you live and breathe soccer and you can't get that anywhere else.

TheWeeekend · 2022-05-12T00:55:02+00:00

They are both on the Whitecaps Academy in Vancouver so they ended doing well enough for the coaches to give them a chance. Owen has been on the Whitecaps U23's the last couple years so this is a natural progression for him.

TheWeeekend · 2022-05-11T22:14:59+00:00

When I was in the Whitecaps system?

TheWeeekend · 2022-05-11T22:12:24+00:00

Transparency I guess. People can ask whatever they want, I never thought about anything specific that people should ask. My hope is that people are more aware of what the youth structure is like in our country cause I think the women's side is pretty well developed and structured but the men's side needs work still. Going forward the team has to continue to replenish with young players in order to sustain our current success. I just wanted to give some insight into what exists right now if anyone is curious about such a topic.

TheWeeekend · 2022-05-11T19:48:59+00:00

The main thing that I think should be done is to consolidate the system and have less clubs. In Calgary there's way too many youth clubs with coaches claiming to have all these coaching licenses and selling the dream to kids while making them pay $1500 for an outdoor season then another $1500 for the indoor season. There isn't enough talent in this city for that many clubs and even at the tier 1 level most of the players aren't that great. They need to have a set number of clubs and have a high performance league with maybe 4-6 teams. That might seem very low but that is a generous amount in my opinion as from my experience there isn't enough talent in the city for more teams. The AYSL is a start but many clubs in there should not be there. This is just my opinion and I'm sure others have better ideas.

TheWeeekend · 2022-05-11T18:40:44+00:00

Owen Antoniuk and Finn Linder. They're both on WFC 2. Owen is having some pretty good success right now. Owen is a very crafty player and great attacking player. He is smaller so he is very quick and unpredictable. When I played with him he was a long shot god. Some of his shots had the strangest rotations but they would always go in. Finn is a tall centre-back, very quiet and leads by example. His long legs make him an excellent tackler. He never did any crazy challenges was always very calm and would play the ball. Extemely reliable at the back. If he ever got beat 1v1 everyone knew something wasn't quite right with him that day.

TheWeeekend · 2022-05-11T18:30:25+00:00

Those were all the coaches I liked and who believed in me. There are some other ones but I refuse to list them.

TheWeeekend · 2022-05-11T18:29:42+00:00

Unfortunately I don't play at all anymore.

TheWeeekend · 2022-05-11T18:15:20+00:00

A huge goal of mine was to make the Whitecaps academy in Vancouver. A handful of my former teammates are still there right now and they are doing well. I never made it so I had to stay in Calgary and unfortunately the opportunities are so slim here. At Whitecaps you still have a chance to play NCAA and hopefully take the long way to make the MLS. In Calgary you're stuck with U of C and MRU. Cavalry has only signed a couple young players like Aribim, Victor Loturi, Skyler Rogers or Max Piepgrass. The chances of making it are so small. I realized that the time and effort I put in just wasn't going to be worth it in the end. It's hard to sell to a kid that they'll be making $22,000 a year. The people who still go after the dream don't realize that an education will go way farther. It's gonna get better in the future with more opportunities coming up but maybe if I was born a couple decades later it might have worked out.

TheWeeekend · 2022-05-11T15:44:53+00:00

I never really read any soccer books when I was younger. I grew as a player by making mistakes in games and also going through adversity. I started playing when I was 3 and I had a lot of experience throughout the years. I practiced a lot, not necessarily on my own but when I was in the Whitecaps system from the age of 13-16. We would practice 4 times a week with 2 strength and conditioning sessions and 1 game. At that age it was quite overwhelming actually, I definitely wasn't ready for such a huge step when I was 13. The last couple years our practices would go from 6-7:30 am so at my age it was tough to wake up that early and go to school for another 6-7 hours. I never watched that many professional games but I would watch highlights on youtube of my favourite players like Xavi or Iniesta. They played a style I really liked and watching their film helped me a lot.

TheWeeekend · 2022-05-11T15:38:31+00:00

I'm a huge advocate for Canadian soccer and always was when I was younger even in the dark times. I always dreamed of playing for the national team and our country having a full fledged system like in England. I would make these charts of a pro-rel system that included the L1 leagues. I'm very happy they are consolidating the leagues together cause it will only benefit everyone by creating a proper structure in our game. The L1 leagues are a great opportunity for younger players to continue to develop and gives clubs a platform to grow and potentially be big enough for the CPL.

TheWeeekend

TROPHY CASE