The Province newspaper
reports that Peter Montopoli, CSA General
secretary, has announced that the Canadian women's soccer
team will have a new coach by mid-September,
2011.
Montopoli
was in Vancouver to announce the release of
tickets for the January 2012 CONCACAF Women's
Olympic Qualifying tournament, which will
run January 19-29 at B.C. Place. The games will be
played on the new Polytan artificial
turf being installed in BC Place and the
stadium will have a lower bowl soccer
configuration of 20,000-plus.Tournament packages go on
sale 9th September 2011 with a focus on "an affordable
family experience." Package prices range from
$69-125 for six double-headers, the
semifinals and final. Individual tickets
will go on
sale in late October, after the official
draw.
The CSA has been searching
for a coach since Carolina Morace left the
program. Montopoli said that the CSA is working through
a short list of candidates
and would appoint "the best possible coach with
international experience," before a
pair of friendlies against the United States on
17th and 22nd September 2011.
"We're comfortable with
where we are in the process and we believe
we'll get the right coach," he said. "We're
close." It's a crucial decision
for the CSA. Canada is set to host the
Women's World Cup in 2015, with Vancouver
expected to be one of the major centres for
games. Seven cities remain
candidates to host and FIFA will make site
inspections next month.
Aside from September's
friendlies, Canada will use the Pan
American Games in October 2011 in Guadalajara,
Mexico, as a tune-up
for Olympic qualifying in Vancouver. Canada, this week, was
drawn into Group B for the Pan Am Games,
along with Brazil, Costa Rica and Argentina.
Montopoli
said that in the longer term, discussions of how to move the women's
program forward should include potential
Canadian franchises in Women's Professional
Soccer. "I think the new coach has
to assess all that to see what will give
them the best opportunity for results," he
said. "I think the idea is to have the team
together more often."
Canada, the reigning
CONCACAF champion, will be competing for two
London 2012 Olympic berths in January. The tournament will
feature the top-ranked U.S., as well as Mexico, three
Caribbean teams and two from Central
America. Read more at
mweber@theprovince.com
The Vancouver Sun
reports that Canadian Soccer Association
General Secretary Peter Montopoli says
that whomever becomes the new head coach
of the Canadian women's national soccer
team next month will hold more training
camps in Canada, Reacting to the pleas
of the players in the WNT, he said "Certainly the camps will
be held in Canada more often."
In hindsight, critics
have questioned the extended training camp Morace held in Italy before the World Cup. Montopoli
said the idea was on "solid footing"
because it was designed to have the team
together more often," and in Europe
there are more opportunities to find
competition. But North America
now seems to be the preferred option
now. More training camps
will be held in North America, "but we have to work
within the weather
conditions of Canada," Montopoli said.
"Sometimes Florida and California seem
to be more attractive at certain
times."
Montopoli says coach Morace's departure
provides a "unique opportunity to bring
in a fresh approach. "It's unfortunate but
the world of national coaches does
change very frequently, probably more
than with club teams," Montopoli said.
"We work within the parameters that
we are
given."
Read More at
bconstantineau@vancouversun.com
