Hi guys,

First thanks to Nick for the first post and to all captains and players who gave us feedback.

I would like to share with all LOGS players my report that I sent to captains.

PCASA Rec Committee asked me to choose between draw and draft. I picked draft with 11 protected players as the least bad option between two proposed to avoid blowing-up of LOGS.

The Rec committee on the Feb 22nd, 2010 recommended that the LOGS must be balanced by draw or draft to attempt to balance their teams as 3 or 4 are struggling to remain competitive. The proposal put forward by Jasmin Gostevcic, the LOGS Division Manager that LOGS teams will have a draft each of the 10 teams will be allowed to protect 11 players, and the rest will go in a draft where the reverse order of the last summer standings (Summer 2009) will pick first. It was recommended that the LOGS (and Champagne & LOOGS as well) do not play 2 games on the opening week-end, instead, they will play 1 game on each of the first 2 weekends of the season where new referees will be trained. Michele Buchanan will be able to arrange this in order to ensure the new refs get the game action they need to learn the ropes. The season will be extended into mid September, with the LOGS playoff finals not being held at the same week-end as the House League Tournament to allow players who coach or wish to watch their children play in the House League tournament to not have a conflict. Also, Tony Ziukas, Chair of Rec Committee proposed that the first week of July’s Construction vacations will be the Blackout week for LOGS regular season games in order to not have teams struggle to get players out at the peak summer vacation season (Note: pick-up & friendly games will be organized by LOGS Division Manager). Passports will be mandatory for LOGS & Champagne players. As the issue of Metro call ups was raised, it was recommended that certain LOGS & Champagne players be passported regionally in case they would be needed to fill depleted Metro teams.


I talked to LOGS players, all captains, a lot of e-mails have been exchanged and the conclusion is that huge majority is opposed to a draft. There are a few reasons (this is what I received as a feed back and I am agree with):



- Each team is like family. LOGS team built up a core of members over the years with associated friendships, team spirit and team personalities. They do not want to lose any team member regardless of their ability or age. This is something to be cherished, protected and not destroyed.



- The objective is to help weak teams, and not to destroy the good ones.



- We should respect player’s choice of team and try always to accommodate if possible.




Mitch of Selects is opposed to a draft and he does not want to participate in this exercises. But he suggested, if certain teams are perceived to be weaker than others, to allocate the best of the new registered players to those teams. This could be difficult if players abilities are unknown or they want to play on a particular team, but not impossible.



Mauro of Brothers suggested to distribute ant new player that does not care where he plays to the teams according to his skill level (determined by ???).



Aziz will need one good goal keeper and a few new players.



The majority of captains would like to protect all their players who signed for their teams.



Following the updated preliminary list and confirmations from the players captains should be able to tell us if they are missing some players and what kind of help do they need for their teams.



On the other side, stats are giving us clear picture of LOGS and request captains' action. Following the standings 2008 & 2009 a few teams (DEVILS, DRAGONS & SONICS) finished two seasons on the bottom. Is it a problem with age of players, skills level, leadership (captain) or something else?


Regarding the age of players, you will find that average age per team is approx 45 (the youngest team with average age of 41 & the oldest 48). Would you like to balance or keep as it is?




DRAW OR DRAFT? Nothing will be imposed to captains. On the meeting I will recommend to captains to pick only form the list of new players not from the preliminary rosters. Do your best and make friendly draft (trade) between teams. I hope that all captains will be cooperative and find the best solution for all of us.



I will repeat again, if we start to pick the players from other teams without player’s and/or captain’s agreement, the Pandora ’s Box will be open and we risk to blow up the LOGS. We can’t satisfy 100% of players, but if you satisfy majority of 95% you will accomplish the mission given to you by your players and at the end given by PCASA Rec Committee.



It is up to captains.

We would like to accommodate all players. This is recreational, not professional league.




My estimate is more then 200 LOGS players who will play this summer. It means that players are happy & they are coming back for new season.



We will do keep them happy & try to accommodate as much as we can.

I wish you all a nice summer season!

Jasmin Gostevcic
LOGS Manager

I agree entirely with what Nick has said. The essence of LOGS is team bonding, having fun playing soccer with friends, and hanging out after the game and even outside of soccer. (Pacemakers have an annual Christmas dinner at Le Manoir, for example.)

I have some other comments about this bad idea:

* I have been playing in LOGS for only five years, but even in this time have seen teams rise and fall in status. There is a natural ebb and flow to the league. Of the three teams mentioned as previously weak, I see that Sonics are now second! in the LOGS Indoor League.

* Weaker teams can go on a recruitment campaign and ask around at work and soccer contacts to bring strong players onto their team. Players can *voluntarily* move from one team to another, as has happened with the Sonics.

* It takes time for a team to sort out positions. Mixing teams may result in a glut of players at a particular position (e.g. too many forwards, too many mids, too many defence). Then you end up playing a position which is not comfortable for you. This may be fine for 11-year-olds, who should try out different positions, but not for adults. I think we know what is our natural position.

* Having 11 players "locked in" essentially creates a two-tier system. Second-tier players get shuffled around each year, are constantly adapting to a new team both socially and on the pitch. Not fun!

* The draft is not working in the house league! I have witnessed this as my son has moved up from U6 to now U16. There is huge inequality there. In fact, I've felt for a while that they should scrap the draft in those lower levels and just do a complete random draw each year. This would produce more equality. Why would we want to implement in LOGS what isn't working well elsewhere?

* It's clear that the solution is to augment weaker teams with new players to the league. There is some concern over how to discern a new player's skill level, but a simple questionnaire would give you a good idea. For example, how many years of league soccer have you played? What is the highest level league you played in? How would you rate your abilities as a soccer player? beginner, intermediate, advanced. That sort of thing. Not perfect but would give a good indication.

* Finally, the Rec Committee put two options to Jasmin, draw or draft. As he said, he chose the less bad option. By framing the question to him in this way, they are already restricting the choices. What is wrong with the status quo? Have their been complaints? Are we losing players from the so-called "weaker teams"? Is this coming from the players or top-down from the admin, most of whom don't play in LOGS?

* Enfin, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

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