The Canadian Soccer Association

Joe Guest

Working together to achieve excellence

Canadian Soccer Association Official governing body. Over 850,000 registered players in Canada within 1,500 clubs

across 144 districts that operate in 12 provincial/territorial member associations.

Owner of long term player development plan – Wellness to World Cup. Leader of coach, referee and volunteer development. Affiliated with FIFA and CONCACAF.

Vision Leading Canada to Leading Canada to victoryvictory and Canadians to a life-long and Canadians to a life-long passionpassion for for soccersoccer..

Mission To provide leadership in the pursuit of excellence in soccer, nationally and To provide leadership in the pursuit of excellence in soccer, nationally and

internationally, in cooperation with its members and partners.internationally, in cooperation with its members and partners.

CSA Overview

Soccer is the fastest growing sport in Canada Number one participatory sport for boys and girls aged 5 to 14 years old. 44% of Canadian youth participate in the sport of soccer. Equal representation from boys and girls. Only sport to have grown in participation from 1998 to 2005 from 32 to 44%. Over 1 million volunteers dedicated to the sport. Over 1 million registered soccer players estimated by 2013.

On the world stage Canadians purchased the most tickets of non-participating FIFA member

countries for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ Canada hosted 2007’s record setting FIFA U-20 World Cup Arrival of Major League Soccer (MLS) in Canada – 3 teams by 2012 Nutrilite Canadian Championship (Professional Club Championship)

Soccer in Canada

Soccer in Canada

Sport of choice for new Canadians Soccer in Canada provides the ideal platform to speak

to Canadians of diverse backgrounds who understand, appreciate, and love soccer.

With a higher immigration rate than birth rate, New Canadians are becoming a larger part of Canada’s makeup.

Sport is an identifier for New Canadians along with religion.

New Canadians represent the world, and identify with the world’s most popular sport, Soccer.

Soccer in Canada

National Objectives CSA National objectives, in conjunction with the

Provincial or Territorial Associations, are to : recruit, train, and retain sufficient referees so that all competition

matches under the jurisdiction of the CSA or Provincial Associations will have qualified match officials;

monitor the suitability of match officials for the various levels of competition;

improve the performances of match officials by regular training, education and assessment;

provide an in-service education and training programme to satisfy the needs of match officials for today’s modern game, appropriate to the level at which they are officiating;

National Objectives

encourage match officials to maintain a high level of physical and mental fitness at all times;

conduct regular physical training programmes for match officials; work with National or Provincial Training Centre Directors to

deliver referee development alongside player development; and, raise the profile of soccer, officiating, and the Laws of the Game,

in schools and other educational institutions

Recruitment and Retention

• Recruitment not the issue

• Retention far more difficult

• Trial in one Province non-return interview in 2009– abuse by coaches and parents– only did it for money– not fun– too much pressure to referee too many

games

Training

• Practical vs Theory• Video Review• Access to match by match analysis and feedback sessions• Best practice sessions• Performing under pressure• Player management strategies• Media training and communication skill development• Decision making training• Sports psychology training and development• Lifestyle Management• Self-analysis and critical appraisal

Instructors and Assessors

• Accreditation scheme; termed certification• Credibility for the programme• Providing the material; monitoring the delivery• Assessment standards linked to performance

expectations by classification• NO Pass/Fail ~ strengths and areas for

improvement• Assessing as a method of delivering instruction

between periods of formal training

Succession planning

• Demographic blip

• Long term aims goals

• Talent identification – use national events to bring together officials

of similar experiences

• Coaching

• Working with elite athletes

Refereeing is about managing an event; convincing the players

that you know what you are doing; and thereby guiding a

small mass of humanity through 90 minutes of high emotion to a

safe conclusion

Questions?