CSA Strategic Plan and Priorities, Our Club’s Perspective

Courtesy InsideSoccer Magazine

By Neil Brown Oakville Soccer Club

This document was presented at the 2008 OSA AGM Seminar: Canadian Soccer Association Strategic Plan. The author is Neil Brown, President of Oakville SC and partner at Deloitte & Touche. His office was the one that prepared the “infamous” report for the CSA. It never saw the light of day until it miraculously showed up on the Canadian Soccer Federation website.

CSA’s Strategic Plan is long overdue
We hope that it will provide long term direction, lead to the adoption of guiding principles, establish priorities & timelines, provide stability and credibility, identify challenges, serve as reference and guide, define boundaries and operational responsibilities, provide the framework to measure success.

Sport in Canada has changed rapidly and set to change a lot more over the next decade. Future changes cannot always be foreseen but the CSA had produced an important orientation document on Long Term Player Development: From Wellness to World Cup that needs to be taken into account when planning the future direction of Clubs such as ours.

CSA should have a strategic plan to help concentrate on the long term interest of the sport rather than have to react continually to things over which it has no or little control.

There will always be a limit on the amount of resources available to the CSA – and to Clubs – to do all the things it would like to be able to do. So the third purpose of strategic planning is to identify the key elements that will deliver desirable long-term results most effectively.

The CSA is not alone in having to make do with limited resources. So the fourth reason for having a strategic plan is to build effective partnerships.

What can this plan deliver?
· An opportunity to channel the passion and energy — clarity of purpose at all levels of the game, long-term sustainability and efficiency.
· A strong and integrated structure — deliverables with benchmarks.
· A capital plan (investment strategy). An operating plan. A technical plan.
· Accountability and transparency.

What the CSA Strategic Plan is expected to deliver?
· A Vision and Mission based on consensus, shared values and agreed priorities – a clearly defined purpose, expressed in a way that the entire Membership, not just the Provinces and Territories – and Partners understand and wholeheartedly support. The proposed CSA Vision and Mission Statements are a step in the right direction, but can only be successfully achieved through partnership and consultation with the Clubs.

· A clear statement of realistic objectives with achievable outcomes and how they will be delivered and measured – in other words, an action plan with clear targets, timelines and budgets. This appears to be lacking in the current documents and needs to be addressed before resources/funds can be allocated for implementation.

· A dynamic organisational structure based around effective people with the skills and resources to implement the action plan effectively — long-term sustainability. The best plans are short, simpleand implementable. A dynamic, ongoing and systematic process, which is never finished CSA seems to be reacting to short term National Team objectives but not envisioning/prioritising/building a strong feeder system.

· A way of building consensus and shared ownership on what constitutes a desirable future and how to achieve it, giving real purpose to the organisation. CSA remains focussed on National Teams however, the plan doesn’t contemplate substantial change despite the fact that the current system has failed for over 20 years.

· A working tool to focus on outcomes and deadlines, using hard facts wherever possible.
The 21 pages of the Strategic Plan and the 29 pages of Strategic Activities lists 42 Priorities and 201 Strategic Activities. Are we spreading things too thin? Can we focus our limited resources more appropriately?

· A way of building effective interaction first within the Canadian Soccer Community, then with other bodies, partners. We need to get our own house in order before anything else. Interestingly, the CSA Strategic Plan doesn’t even list CLUBS under Member Interaction and Priorities, but has FIFA, CONCACAF and other Countries even before Provinces. Attending FIFA Congress and dialogue with FIFA President and various staff is #1 & #2 priorities for Membership Interaction. What about Clubs?

The Canadian Soccer Structure is BROKEN and needs to be FIXED NOW.
Investing more financial resources into a failed system doesn’t make sense in any business. CSA is no different.

Having a $25 million+ dollars budget as a 2013 Milestone is an odd measurement/target. This should be the means to an end and not the other way around. Hosting an event such as the Women’s World Cup will deter from more pressing priorities and is again a one off activity with little long term impact.

Our Priorities MUST Be The Players And Their Environment
Pyramid of Play and Level of Competition
Players can’t become better without proper ongoing competition in challenging environment. This must happen at the Club level to reach a broad number of players rather than through more – and expensive – international friendly games.

Provincial & Regional/District leagues currently dilute the talent Levels; these leagues do not offer consistency in their on field Play.
A national league structure is required which enhances & nurtures player development. A league structure without a promotion & relegation focus would help address the issue of player movement. CSA must show leadership here and not accept status quo.

Player Development and Identification
A better scouting system where players are viewed during league play and training sessions within their own training environment – clubs. A commitment towards the Club system to develop players and not one thatdoes not allow the player to participate with their club team for 6 months.

A program which brings the identified players together periodically throughout the year, not semi-permanent Regional/Provincial programs. A program which consists of the most qualified coaches available to work with the best players.

Player Movement for true LTPD
To create competitive players they must continually be challenged and train in a competitive environment. The CSA should take the lead in implementing a system that enhances player development.

Players should be registered to an age group within the Club, not teams, they should be allowed to play up or down within that age group (A-B-C teams), requiring players to compete weekly/daily for a position on the highest team. This rewards players for hard work, improvement, drive, passion, determination, desire — under the current system there is no incentive.

Clubs should also be rewarded with player development/transfer fee.

Coaching Development
Quality coaching is key to Player Development and more professional opportunities must be created to have a true impact. This should be a top priority.

Qualified TD/HC’s of Clubs should be allowed to deliver all Provincial Level coaching courses to their club coaches. Clubs should be allowed to schedule courses around the demand of its club coaches, not programmed around the schedule of the PA. The CSA should establish a national structure and curriculum for coaching development.

Investing in a network of professional coaches working together to develop and identify player across Canada will deliver more long term results than the current system of Silos and Fiefdoms.

Referee Development
Quality refereeing is critical to the successful development of players and coaches. This should also be a top priority. The CSA should continue to develop and enhance the curriculum and structures in place for referee development.

So what about the proposed $5 fee increase?
For a club of our size this means an incremental cost of about $53,000. Our 2009 budget has been set and approved as have all of our program fees. For this amount, we could invest in an additional 5 Development Directors to work with our developing players.

We have seen no articulation of how this money will be spent and what spending allocations will be. We have seen little that addresses the opportunities to streamline the entire administration of the game in this country.

CSA – A crisis of confidence?
Recent history and a perceived lack of transparency contribute to a lack of confidence that additional player dues will be directed to the appropriate programs in a prioritized manner. All stakeholders involved in the Canadian soccer community need to work together to restore confidence in the system and focus on improvement.

The money in the system sits on the balance sheets of the Clubs and there needs to be a mechanism to ensure funds are appropriately distributed to the key levels. Detailed action steps for each priority must be developed, shared and implemented!

Suggestion: Clubs place incremental fees into a Trust Fund to be distributed to fund specific plan initiatives based on detailed action plans.

In Summary
Focus and Resources are required from CSA on the structure that actually delivers programs and LTPD. More club involvement is necessary. This should be the #1 priority.

Governance reform is needed to regain credibility. Transparency and accountability are a significant issue of concern. What is the plan here? Is this issue acknowledged?

Commitment to fixing the current structure is required rather than gambling on short term results. Other than having a $25 million annual budget, what is CSA’s investment strategy?

Before asking for new membership fees, CSA must start changing and delivering. Program deliverables, timelines and budgets!