Realmadridccfan posed the following question last week which I said I would answer at a later date. "How do you interpret the Canadian Soccer Association's handling of trying to find a head coach for the Men's national team"?

Real – here are my thoughts. 

An absolute embarrassment for an organization that is stuck in the 19th century let alone the 20th. The governance of the CSA is archaic and if you wanted to design an organization to ensure that no one is ever accountable for any action or inaction you would use the CSA model. A remedy?

A) The board should include a significant number of independent directors that are not beholden to provincial interests.

B) The title of president should be moved to the CEO position and the volunteer leader of the CSA should be the Chair.

C) The Chair needs to have the courage to articulate a strong and cohesive vision for soccer in Canada and to “speak” to the grassroots over the heads of the parochial interests that have dominated Canadian Soccer for even longer than I have been around.

D) Canadian Soccer at all levels has to start placing people in positions of power whose vision extends beyond just getting themselves elected.

E) The board of an organization is responsible for setting the strategic direction and then passing the responsibility for reaching the goals to the CEO. Check out the very tired looking CSA website. The only piece that I could see that has anything to do with strategic objectives covers the period from 2001 to 2005. If that is the latest document that means that the CSA has not reviewed their objectives for over six years. Any organization worth its salt has a rolling plan that is constantly reviewed, measured, updated.

F) The priority should have been given to hiring a qualified a respected CEO.

G) The CEO should be hiring the MNT coach as well as the other NT coaches – just like any other staff member. In turn the CEO is held accountable for the performance of his or her staff.

Apart from that I have no thoughts on the matter.

Follow up - I found this an interesting article.  

SUM explores options in Canada

By TRIPP MICKLE

Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal – May 7, 2007

Major League Soccer and Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment executives are discussing the creation of a new arm of Soccer United Marketing — SUM Canada — less than two weeks after the league’s Canadian debut.

Through a licensing agreement, MLSE already represents marketing rights in Canada for the league and its 13 teams, but extending that licensing agreement to all SUM operations would allow MLSE to represent other SUM properties and become a turnkey sales force for soccer in Canada.

“Although the discussions are in their preliminary stages, we at SUM look forward to working with MLSE as we begin looking at commercial opportunities in Canada that make sense for our business,” said SUM President Doug Quinn.

 Both MLSE and SUM executives are encouraged by the possibilities of a SUM Canada after seeing the response to Toronto FC in its first season. The team is the first in MLS to sell out of season tickets and is positioned to become the first to sell out every home game.

If created, the operation would mirror the NBA’s venture in Canada, said Tom Anselmi, MLSE’s chief operating officer. MLSE currently pays the NBA a fee to sell the league’s marks in the Canadian marketplace. Since 2005, it has sold exclusive Canadian partnerships with Juicy Fruit for gum and Speed Stick for deodorant/antiperspirant.

“Right now, there’s more of an appetite for basketball,” Anselmi said, “but we may do something similar with MLS.”

To date, MLSE has sold team sponsorship packages only for Toronto FC. But Anselmi believes there will eventually be interest in acquiring rights to the MLS logo and players, especially should Toronto be awarded an MLS All-Star Game in the future.

 Ultimately, MLSE would like to emulate the SUM model and become one-stop shopping for soccer in Canada in the same way SUM is for the sport in the U.S. The goal would be to acquire the rights of the Canadian Soccer Association, which is currently represented by Soccer Canada Properties, a joint venture between IMG Canada and CSA.

 If MLSE could acquire those rights, it could represent CSA in the marketplace along with MLS and Toronto FC, reducing competition for soccer sales.

 Ultimately, the form of a SUM Canada venture will have to be determined by the board of governors’ business development committee, which then would have to take it to the full board for approval.