Continue reading »]]> Don’t be a Bundy – Support Local Soccer

 
By: Slamo

 
It was late in the second half, mere minutes to go in a 1-1 match; all that was on the line was a trip to the World Cup for Canada. Our keeper snags a weak cross from a Costa Rican winger and switches the field with an underarm tossed to my feet just outside the 18. I head up pitch with the sounds of 40 000 Canadians cheering the squad on. A quick heal touch and spin beats the high defending forward and finds me in space. I push forward unmarked to the mid line before a quick give and go puts me in more space with only the Tico back line between me and glory. Coming down the left side my mind is already made up – the backs are cheating to the runs being made leaving me one on one with the right back. He tries to close me down but the old go to works – a right footed step over and a left footed flick gives me the space I need to curl the ball into the far corner behind the helpless Costa Rican keeper and send Canada to the World Cup.

This was my dream as an 11 year old, as I grew older the dream adapted to something a bit more realistic – a header off a corner or maybe a drive from just outside the box after a nice layoff, but whatever the case it always ended up with me scoring the goal to bring us to the World Cup. Unfortunately the closest I got to this was scoring the winning goal in the District U-17 final against Royals FC – it was a step over and a flick followed by an inside right footed dipping ball that dropped just under the crossbar. My memory won’t let me recall how I got the ball 22 yards from goal but I sure remember striking the ball and looking at the keepers face knowing it was going to find the netting. As a left back I didn’t often get the goal scoring glory.
Anyway, my Al Bundy moment aside, my role in soccer has evolved to supporter and spectator and it is a role I take on with full gusto. For me, I never heard the voice of my Father from the sideline – it just wasn’t that type of supportive family I grew up in. But I remember how much it meant to me when someone else’s Father yelled out my name – or even better one of the guy’s older sister! But again I digress. Now for obvious reasons (at least I hope they are obvious) I can’t take on the role of the older sister but, I am someone else’s Father and if I can play any role in supporting our future generation of not only soccer players but adults I’ll give my all.

 
Recently on the Southsider’s Forum there was some discussion on what it is to be a supporter and it got me to thinking about this in a general way. A big part of the discussion evolved around the residency team playing at home the same time as the Men’s team on the road and the lack of support the kids receive. Several things cross my mind on this matter not the least of which is how far we have to go to reach any sort of cultural impact soccer has on us as a nation. If the Whitecap Residency team was its hockey counterpart the team would have folded or moved to Hope or something for its lack of support. But, that’s a discussion on soccer versus hockey which can be for another day.

When I go to watch the U18 team play I can’t help but make comparison to my Al Bundy moments – first off; we’ve come a long way in developing soccer players in this country and I look forward to the days when the discussions on player selection for the national team doesn’t revolve around one or two players availability and the steep drop off if said player isn’t available, but instead the discussion around which one of our 5 left backs will have the biggest impact. Not in my fanciest memories do I recall my old youth squad playing at such a skilled level, despite our four District Championships and trips to the USA Cup and the Ontario Cup – “four touchdowns, baby”, and the size and power of the boys is impressive to say the least.

 
We all watch the news and I am sure it is generation upon generation that says, “the kids of today….” in some sort of “what’s wrong with this generation” tone – it’s just not safe out there anymore. Well, the kids are all right. They’re out there playing the sport I love and doing it better than I ever did and loving it, probably, as much as I do and they are going to grow up and be good men. Some of them will be professional players and most of them not. Some are enjoying the greatest sporting moments of their lives right now and to them I say bravo – no really – I go watch them play and I cheer them on. I know they hear me because they come over and say thanks. Thanks for supporting me. Well, I am grateful and honoured to have the opportunity to be a part of it.

Alex Rowley- U18 Residency Midfielder from Maple Ridge

They’ll go to University or get jobs and many of them will have soccer playing kids and they’ll coach soccer and some of them will remember the games they played when they were 17 and 18 and think how great it was to hear someone yell out good job Ben or Alex or Jason or… and maybe that support will mean more to some than others and maybe the power of positive psychology or the theory of paying it forward or whatever aura one believes in will take hold in one player and that player will become a great person or at least a better person than he will otherwise have been or maybe that player will really give that 115% and become a better player than he would have otherwise been or maybe none of that will happen and I will have just had a good time watching some good soccer and cheering on some great kids.

 
All I really know is it feels good when someone supports you, whether it’s at work or home or really anywhere in life – doesn’t it feel good, no matter how cool you may be or whatever life you’re leading doesn’t it feel good to have someone say good job or well done? It’s great to give that feeling to someone too – it’s free…I mean it’s really free – the matches are free and it certainly cost you nothing to yell out your support.

 
Some of the boys are on the verge of professional soccer careers, they have given everything to reach the level they are at like all of the boys but they just have that little something extra, that little flair, that little extra reserve of determination that separates them from the rest of us – physical ability not withstanding of course. Only they themselves know what motivates them, but I am sure cheering them on and letting them know how much we appreciate their effort and hard work, at very least, doesn’t hurt. Maybe Al Bundy really could have been someone if we were there to say “keep it up Al” and let him know how much we support him.

 
Support can be magic. It can be the difference between failure and success and often is. We see the USA crowds with their high school and University sports and we see greatness come from those fields and we Canadians fail to see a connection between the two or we choose to ignore it or we just don’t care – or we support for ourselves. Yeah, it feels good to support, but support is a selfless act or it fails to be support. We support for others – we are there for them or at least we should be.

 
Deep in my heart I still dream of that match winning goal only now it’s not me scoring it. But I hope I am there when it happens and I hope that person who scores it knows how much I appreciate the work they’ve put in towards making that goal happen. We tend to be a nation of Peggy’s, why is that? Al is out there giving it his all everyday – let’s cheer him on while there is a chance to make a difference.

 
I don’t have hard facts or evidence to back up how much support means to performance but I know I appreciate it myself and I am pretty confident that I am just a normal everyday guy who is doing all right – so I’d guess that most people enjoy a little support. So why wait?

 
Canadians love their heroes, but we tend to wait until they are heroes to love them. Let’s be a little proactive let’s cheer on the heroes of the future and see if we can’t help them become just a little bit better than they would otherwise be. Let’s get that goal – let’s win that match. Support the future generation – support the advancement of our nation – support the evolution of the human race – support local soccer!

Continue reading »]]> By: Slamo

The thing with the human race is that we tend to notice the spectacular or the inadequate, yet it is usually the banal and mundane that makes life work. A smooth sidewalk is nothing compared to a beautiful west coast sunrise or sunset. Most of us don’t open a door and then take a moment to reflect on the beauty of the mechanics of the door. The hinges that are perfectly aligned, the door knob at just the right height so we can instinctually reach for it and twist it without a thought, the smooth weight distribution that makes for the level swinging of the door, the sturdy frame and on and on it goes – such a marvel of our days that go completely ignored – until the effing thing doesn’t work, yes? Stupid door. Or how about that crack in the sidewalk that causes the stumble. Didn’t notice that sidewalk much the last million stumble free steps, but that last one!!
Early in the first half of the first game of the season against Montreal, I believe “Boundary Road” was still being sung by the Southsiders, a ball was played forward by a Whitecap player from the backline that tried to bypass the midfield and lead to an early attack – I’d think based on the goal a couple of minutes later, that was also a long ball to a forward, that this was actually a planned play which is another marvel in itself – imagine the club coming onto the pitch with a plan in place. Anyway, in this earlier play, the Montreal midfield cut off the forward ball and sent Nyassi on a counter. The back line formed in the half second available, Jun Marques Davidson filled the hole behind the back line,Martin Bonjour positioned himself to force Nyassi to move to his right – and a closing in Jay DeMerit – or to his left foot. Nyassi chose his left foot and rolled a harmless ball into Joe Cannon. My reaction to the original pass was – “oh oh”.

Joe smoothers the ball, Jay takes a deep breath, the back line turns up field as does JMD, but then JMD turns back towards Joe and holds his hands up in a gesture that gives me a great deal of confidence in this team. This was almost a carbon copy of the play against Sporting Kansas City last year at the end of the first half that led to Bad Bunbury’s (as opposed to Alex) goal and in retrospect cemented our season in cracked sidewalks and broken doors. It was exciting for sure the comeback against SKC was a thrill but in a chaotic way the same way a roller coaster is exciting.

The gesture was simple – “that’s over” it said. The sidewalk is smooth and the doors are working we just need to keep taking steps and walking through the openings. No one to blame for shoddy workmanship – it’s just one of those things that happen sometimes. Every once in a while we stumble and we look back at the sidewalk behind us to see nothing…no crack, no sticks or roots – just a simple stumble.

That the Caps attempted a similar play 20 seconds later before finally allowing us a glimpse of the spectacular sunrise with the LeToux goal a minute or so later on, yet another long ball attempt, showed the appreciation they had for a smooth sidewalk and working doors. Sidewalks only get smooth with hard work and a good plan. Doors only work with craftsmanship and look good with artistry. Camilo’s sunset goal was a result of opening the field and laying the sidewalk foundation – the ball stayed on the carpet and space became available because of the mundane, the banal, and the calmness of the squad. The door opened by the smoothness of a handy carpenter and Camilo added the French stained windows with the artistry.

In between, Sunrise and Sunset was all that happens in a day but goes without fanfare. Justin Mapp had a free chance on his strong foot when Gersh got caught ball watching – he sent it high when Bonjour, Rochat and Davidson closed down and pressured him a bit, but look to the right of goal. Dede tracked back to take away the right wing option – even though after the attempt on goal he makes a bit of a gesture obviously wondering how he was the last man back in that situation. He was the last man back.

Bonjour gets turned and Arnaud should have scored – no yelling no pointing – no “what the hell-ing”…Nyassi with another chance – no big deal…YP clears a header off the line. That’s what he is supposed to do. This is how we act when we walk down a smooth sidewalk or walk through an open door – we act like things are the way they are supposed to be.

So a week after first kick we walk on down the road to LA to play an away game against a bad Chivas team. A team made worse by injury and inspired only by the 400 college students who were given free tickets to attend the match – to give their proverbial 110% in a cracking soccer atmosphere with whatever pride a man can muster playing for the “Goats”.

The game was there for the losing, or drawing, from the get go. Wet, tall grass slowed the game and took away any skill advantage the Caps may have had. The previous week’s victory was a perfect opportunity to settle for a sleepy away point and wax poetic on the difficulty of earning away points and the importance of any road result.

Sometimes in life we wake up and we’re sleepy and don’t really feel like going to work or school or wherever we have to go. But, we just start to move and we open doors leaving the bedroom, going to the bathroom, leaving the house, we walk down sidewalks and we end up getting to where we are going despite how we might feel about the day. We complete all our task and the day ends. We develop a confidence that we never consider – the confidence that no matter how sleepy or cranky or however bad you may feel that the doors will work and the sidewalk will be smooth enough to walk on without stumbling and breaking an arm.

The victory was the type of victory a good team earns without obvious effort. It was a good road win. Sure there was some good goal keeping that kept us in the match – but that’s what is supposed to happen. The smoothest sidewalks are made by people with great skill in sidewalk making who go through life uncelebrated. They are just doing their job. The game was by no stretch of perception a pretty game – definitely not a sunrise nor a sunset. But if you take a moment and look you can see the sidewalk was smooth and the doors were working. Everyone did the little thing that needed to be done that no one off the field saw – and that is what builds a winning team’s identity. When each man can look in the other man’s eye and just know.

This is the subtle confidence that makes way for all other greatness to strive. The confidence of a parents love and support allows for a child to reach greatness. Without that base confidence all other confidence is fragile – the confidence of great talent is based only on that talent and strives on the moment previous; for greatness to be truly great – there needs to be the foundational confidence that is shown when a man is proud of being the best sidewalk builder or the best door maker because he knows underneath that he is still great.

A crack will show in a long season and a door will creak. That’s just the way it is. Greatness is a positive reaction to failure. Sort of like winning a game on the road that you didn’t really deserve to win with nothing on the line and no reason to fight. Greatness is the confidence that failure is impossible and victory is inevitable. Confidence is supported by an air that is carried by an individual or group and is understood only by that individual or group and presents itself to outsiders as luck. Luck aids preparation and preparation breeds confidence – we’re going to win a lot of games this season. I just know it.

Continue reading »]]> Vancouver – This weekend the Vancouver Southsiders will be joining fellow Independent Supporters Council (ISC) members across the league from the United States and Canada in stance against racism, in recognition of The International Day For the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (March 21).

On March 24, at the Vancouver Whitecaps v DC United match, after the National Anthem, we will raise red cards to show unity against racism and homophobia in soccer around world and here in Canada. We are hoping all Whitecaps supporters and fans will join to recognize this International Day and take a stand against Racism. The Independent Supporters Council are working with all its member groups to ensure that the same Tifo is displayed in stadiums across the entire league.

Prior to kickoff we will be distributing red cards to those in sections 248-254 of BC Place. We hope that fans in other sections will bring their own red cards if they do not sit in one of those areas. Just after the anthem we ask all fans to raise them in the air and hold them until first kick, to ‘Show Racism The Red Card’.

Soccer in North America has a dynamic and rich history that is multiracial, and embraces the strength that comes with its diversity. The history of soccer here is unique from other parts of the world, in that a philosophy of inclusiveness has always been apparent in all of its aspects, including players, supporters, and management.

As soccer continues to grow in the North American continent, it is imperative that each of us take responsibility in ensuring the diverse heritage and culture of the sport continues. There are many recent examples in Europe and some in the United States where racism and homophobia have reared its ugly head.

Show Racism the Red Card works to increase players, management, and supporters’ understanding of the inclusive heritage and diverse culture of soccer in North America. To promote young people’s participation as active and responsible citizens in a growing multi-racial and diverse society. Provide tools and resources for management, supporters, and players to respond to bigotry in positive ways. Harness the high profile of top soccer players as role models to grab the interests of and educate the larger community on issues of inclusion and opportunity. Involvement of the leagues and/or teams to adopt anti-racism measures and inclusion of policies and practices, both on the field and in the stands. Providing team and league management the tools and framework to be able to swiftly deal with incidents of racist abuse and insults in a uniform manner. Showcase the unique strength of soccer in North America due in part to its diversity.

ISC- The Independent Supporters Council of the United States and Canada was founded in 2009 to advocate for the fair treatment of home and away supporters, promote supporter culture, and oppose racism and bias in the stadium. It now members now include twenty-nine Supporter Groups from MLS, NASL, USL-Pro and PDL clubs.

The Vancouver Southsiders are the largest independent supporters group for the Major League Soccer Vancouver Whitecaps FC. The Southsiders stand, sing, and above all else, have support the players on the field since their founding in 1999.

###

Continue reading »]]>

Commissioner Garber,

We are writing on behalf of the Independent Supporters Council, a group made up of twenty-seven American and Canadian supporters groups, including supporters from almost every team in Major League Soccer. Our mission is to advocate for fair treatment of home and away supporters at all levels of American and Canadian soccer.

Our members and supporters across the league are alarmed by the recent punishment handed down by the league office to supporters groups of the Houston Dynamo, including ISC member the Texian Army. We, representing supporters from across the league, support the Texian Army’s official response to this matter and ask that the league meet with the Texian Army and the other Houston supporters’ groups to review this unnecessarily harsh action.

We have no issue with the league taking individual action against individual fans who violate stadium policy at any league stadium. As we understand it, there have already been individual bans issued to some Dynamo supporters responsible for the problems at the MLS Cup. We do not take issue with the individual bans. But we object to the league taking retaliatory action that serves only to harm supporters’ culture in Houston. The statement from MLS read “As of March 1, Dynamo traveling supporters will not be permitted to utilize items listed as Supporter Group Exemptions in the MLS Prohibited Items policy (e.g. flags, banners, confetti, drums).”

Banning flags and drums will not stop individual fans from smuggling smoke into the stadium or throwing prohibited items on the field. Cutting off safe, legal avenues of support does not punish the flashlight throwers. Instead it punishes supporters who spend their own time and money making flags and banners, and creating the atmosphere that the league loves to promote. Such broad-based punishments do not address the troublemakers. All this action does is punish the majority of supporters who show the passion and dedication you claim to value.

Furthermore, the Houston away supporters’ section at the 2011 MLS Cup was a supporters’ section in name only; it was a mixed group of fans, including both members of supporters groups and unaffiliated fans. It is one thing to ask the supporters to police themselves; it is not reasonable to ask them to police every Dynamo fan, especially on a trip where they were not given the opportunity to organize or screen the attendees.

We ask that the League:

1) Does not hold supporters groups responsible for the actions of unaffiliated fans. Hold the individuals who behaved poorly accountable without punishing good supporters groups.

 
2) When supporters do travel, take attacks on them as seriously as you do incidents involving them. Traveling fans are regularly treated to racist chants and thrown items, not from other supporters’ groups, but from other fans in the stadium. They do not receive support or follow-up from security or the front office at these stadiums. This does more to contribute to ugly incidents like we saw at the MLS Cup than any number of flags or banners.

 
3)If the league intends to punish supporters for incidents at games, work directly with the leadership of the affected supporters’ group first and give them an opportunity to appeal, rather than simply announcing an open-ended ban.

 
Banning flags, banners, and drums will do nothing to further the goal we both share: creating the best possible atmosphere in every American and Canadian stadium. No amount of heavy-handed bans and restrictive security measures will stop someone from throwing something on the field. That is an element that we must work together to eliminate. Work with us, not against us. Only by working with your supporters, instead of against them, will we build a relationship of mutual trust & respect and accomplish our common goals.

Sincerely,

The Independent Supporters Council

cc: Evan Dabby, Jon Radke, Brent Delgado, Art Castro, Christoph Schoenbeck

ISC Contact: Jimi Butler, ISC liaison to MLS – 202-549-6123 -

Continue reading »]]> PORTLAND, Oregon – Soccer rivalries are known for their intensity, but leadership of soccer supporters groups from across the US and Canada set aside their rivalries last weekend in Portland, Oregon for the Independent Supporters Council (ISC) conference.

The ISC works to promote supporters’ culture in North America, and defend the rights of soccer supporters. Over the weekend, representatives of supporters of 16 of the 19 teams in Major League Soccer discussed issues facing supporters, and revised and ratified the Independent Supporters Council Charter, including the Supporters Bill of Rights.

“By speaking with a singular voice for all recognized supporters groups regarding issues that may be specific to one group, but that affect all, ISC can effectively use the collective leverage of all groups to protect the interests of each individual group,” said Jason Corliss board member of Red Bull New York’s Viking Army SC.

“MLS is beginning to appreciate the role of supporters, and aren’t just marketing the game to soccer moms any longer. It’s a step in the right direction, but we want to make certain all supporters can safely and passionately follow their team wherever they travel,” said Abram Goldman-Armstrong, a founding member of the ISC and board member of the Timbers Army 107 Independent Supporters Trust, which hosted the conference in Portland.

ISC initiatives include:

• Coordinating an annual ISC conference open to delegations of supporters from all clubs in the United States and Canada, including in MLS, lower-league levels and women’s soccer.
• Tracking incidents and advocating for stadium security trained to understand supporter culture.
• Developing clear, consistent guidelines and fair ticket allocations for traveling supporters.
• Organizing the administration and funding of a new MLS Supporters’ Shield trophy.
• Advocating for an MLS schedule that is favorable to traveling fans, especially rivalry games.
• Working for the adoption of a league-wide Supporters’ Bill of Rights.

Media contacts:

Brett Graham, Vice-President, Vancouver Southsiders
ops@vancouversouthsiders.ca

Jimi Butler, ISC liaison to MLS
roadtrips@screaming-eagles.com

The Independent Supporters Council was founded in 2009 to advocate for the fair treatment of home and away supporters, promote supporter culture, and oppose racism and bias in the stadium. www.soccersupporters.org

The Vancouver Southsiders are founding members of the ISC. They are dedicated to increasing the voice of supporters and fans and supporting the growth of soccer in Vancouver and Canada.
www.vancouversouthsiders.ca

Continue reading »]]> Cascadia supporters groups announce 2012 Cascadia Cup rules, call
for balanced schedule.

The supporters groups from the three Cascadia MLS clubs have agreed on new rules
for the Cascadia Cup after MLS moved to an unbalanced schedule in 2012.

The Emerald City Supporters, Southsiders and Timbers Army agreed that all
matches will count towards the Cascadia Cup, even though the new unbalanced MLS
schedule means each team will play a different number of home games against their
Cascadia rivals this season.

“We all agreed that this was the simplest format, one that all fans will find easiest to
follow,” says Brenton Walters, Southsiders spokesperson.

Portland Timbers will host both Seattle Sounders and Vancouver Whitecaps twice,
Vancouver will see Portland once and Seattle twice at home, and Seattle will only
host each team once.

Despite this imbalance, the three supporters groups agreed to count all matches
equally in order to keep the 2012 Cascadia Cup format simple.

“It’s unfortunate that the league didn’t work out a balanced schedule for the
Cascadia teams,” says Garrett Dittfurth of the Timbers Army. “We think the league
should fix this for next season so that no team has an unfair advantage in Cup
matches.”

The Cascadia Cup will be awarded to the team with the most points after all matches
have been played or when there is a clear winner. In the event of a tie, the Cup will
be awarded to the team with the best goal differential.

Should the MLS schedule remain unbalanced in 2013, the Emerald City Supporters,
Southsiders and Timbers Army insist that it should allow for a fair distribution of
the home and away matches amongst the Cascadia clubs.

“Cascadia is home to the oldest and strongest rivalry in North American soccer,
and the value that the supporters put on the Cascadia Cup reflects that,” says Greg
Mockos of the Emerald City Supporters. “The league should pay attention.”

Background:
The Cascadia Cup was created in 2004 by supporters groups of the three Cascadia teams, and is awarded annually to the best team in the Cascadia region. Seattle and Vancouver have each won it three times, Portland has won it twice.

2012 Cascadia Cup schedule:
With the unbalanced 2012 MLS schedule, Portland plays four home and two away matches, Vancouver plays three home and three away matches and Seattle plays two home and four away matches.

• May 19: Vancouver Whitecaps v. Seattle Sounders
• May 25: Portland Timbers v. Vancouver Whitecaps
• June 24: Portland Timbers v. Seattle Sounders
• August 18: Seattle Sounders v. Vancouver Whitecaps
• August 25: Portland Timbers v. Vancouver Whitecaps
• September 15: Portland Timbers v. Seattle Sounders
• September 29: Vancouver Whitecaps v. Seattle Sounders
• October 7: Seattle Sounders v. Portland Timbers
• October 20: Vancouver Whitecaps v. Portland Timbers

(Home team listed first.)

Full Cascadia Cup criteria:

1. Greater number of points earned in matches between the teams concerned
2. Greater goal difference in matches between the teams concerned
3. Greater number of goals scored in matches between the teams concerned
4. Reapply first three criteria if two or more teams are still tied
5. Greater goal difference in all cup matches
6. Greater number of goals scored in all cup matches
7. Smaller number of disciplinary points in all cup matches (yellow = 1 point, red = 2 points)

Continue reading »]]> At Last Night’s Board of Directors meeting, I was thrilled to be unanimously elected as President of The Vancouver Southsiders.

These literally are big shoes to fill after the wonderful two years we have been led by John Knox aka Johnnie Monster, but I will do my utmost to ensure that we continue to grow and remain the most visible supporters in Vancouver and the No1 Supporters Club in Canada.

Continue reading »]]> This last weekend I had the great honour and privilege of representing the Vancouver Southsiders at the MLS Supporters Summit in Los Angles. I attended many meetings between supporters and with MLS Officials.

Independent Supporters Council of the United States and Canada was a
meeting held at a Mexican restaurant close to the Home Depot Centre.
This was the third annual general meeting of the group and was
attended by supporters groups that belonged to the ISC, both press and
club officials were NOT allowed in.

At this meeting issues and best practices were discussed.

It was very clear that scheduling was the most important topic to the group.

Almost everyone was in agreement that a Balanced Schedule is what the fans wanted.

There was also displeasure of Derby matches being scheduled midweek, and thus not
allowing away fans to travel in good numbers. There also seems to be a

league wide problem of rescheduling and moving reserve matches which the group feels needs to be addressed.

The second biggest priority of the group was pushing for larger away allocations. The group would ideally like to see the amount increased to the FIFA recommended 5% level.

After that the leaders of the MLS Supporters groups attended a meeting at the Home Centre Presidents room with club supporters liaisons and was lead by Evan Dabby, MLS Senior Director of Operations. At this marathon meeting a wide variety of issues were discussed. This included most thing from the ISC meeting as well as how to improve communication, possible the establishment of Supporter Sub Committees, and enhancing game day experience.

That evening La Dolca’s Massimo Cusano and I met the Whitecaps FrontOffice for dinner. In a more casual setting some of the issues discussed earlier in the day on a more local level.

On Sunday Morning I attended a meeting on the future of the Supporter’s Shield. The current shield isn’t a shield at all, and is rather small. A KC Supporter has spearheaded a campaign to replace this with something better. This would be funded by the supporter groups.

Later that morning about 150 supporters attended the “Supporters Summit with MLS Commissioner Don Garber”. This is the session which was streamed online. I won’t go into too much details as most of you likely watched online, but about half the session was spent with people questioning the new imbalanced schedule. The paper I wrote on how the league can reduce travel and keep a Balanced Schedule was mentioned several time and was handed to the Commissioner at one point. Other things that were brought up were the future of friendlies and adopting a NHL style transparency to discipline actions.

If you would like more information about any of this please contact me privately as much that was discussed is somewhat sensitive.

Continue reading »]]> I’m a Vancouver Southsider but I enjoy the taste of prawn sandwiches too much to give them up. So it was that on Sunday, when the Whitecaps started life in BC Place against the Portland Timbers, I was sitting up in the press box, stuffing popcorn into my face like it was oxygen and watching the game from above.It was a beautiful place to watch the game. BC Place looks like a real soccer venue, with the retractable seats extended near the touch lines and the elegant new plastic pitch showing hardly a trace of the throwball game two days earlier. The only thing missing was one of the soccer teams: the Portland Timbers showed up but, sadly, the Vancouver Whitecaps seemed to have sent eleven statues instead.More important, it sounded like a real soccer venue.I was standing amongst the Southsiders for the last stand at Empire Field two weeks ago and, though I and many of you chanted ourselves hoarse, our noise vanished into the night air with our team’s defense while, to the northwest of us, Seattle’s Emerald City Supporters boomed and echoed. They had a lot more to cheer about, of course, but it was still disheartening. All of the talk was “it’ll be a lot better at BC Place”, but I was not optimistic.

Well, it was better. A lot better. The Timbers Army was assembled through open doors to the left of me, close enough that I could have thrown a beer at them. They’re justly recognized as the best supporters in Major League Soccer and their “our house in the middle of BC” was a big, if geographically inaccurate, hit. But it seemed like they’d just be getting into their groove then, in a dense little wedge in one corner of the vast concrete stadium, there’d be the boom of “WE’RE BLUE! WE’RE WHITE!”

There was no question whose house it really was.

Visually, audibly, the support was a treat to watch from afar. Was it the way the Southsiders were concentrated into a smaller area? Was it the carefully-designed and labouriously-crafted tifo which got the game started off right? Was it the building itself? The megaphones? A sense of occasion, of purpose? Whatever it was, it was hard not to leap to my feet and join in “Boundary Road” as it rang, clear and true, across the stadium. I knew exactly when it was the eighty-sixth minute.

The Southsiders still have room to grow and improve. But too many people to name in both the Southsiders and the Whitecaps have done yeoman’s work getting us this far. There’s been so much growth, so much hope, so much promise over the last year that it was remarkable to see it coming together, to see the tifo and the flags and hear the chants and songs of fans ten times more exuberant than the team they were supporting.

It was much more meaningful than a mere stadium; we’ve seen three of those in twelve months. Stadiums come and go, but Southsiders are forever.

Ben Massey, aka Lord Bob
http://www.eightysixforever.com
Follow him on Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/Lord_Bob

Continue reading »]]> I’m sure everyone realizes what an amazing and awesome event last Sunday afternoon was.

To think that this time last year the Southsiders were a bunch of a 100 or so people standing in the rain behind the net at Swangard out in the ‘burbs.
Now we stretch back for over thirty rows in a multi million dollar, state of the art facility in the heart of downtown Vancouver.

What I think is even more exciting, is the way we have stepped up our game and have created a spectacular atmosphere that we can all be proud of.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone of you who helped bring together what was historic moment not only in our lives, but for the Whitecaps, the Southsiders and the City of Vancouver.

All of you who sung and screamed at the top of your lungs out for the full 90 are to be commended. We may have woken up with sore throats and a raspy voice on Monday morning, but I think it was well worth it.  I would like to give a special thank you to our Head Capo, Pat aka AJAX79, ably assisted by Kris and Dan for leading the chants. I’m sure everyone agrees that they are steering the atmosphere in the right direction, which will only grow and improve in time. A huge thanks to our drummers Massimo and Chris for drumming in time which I believe really helps everyone keeps in time.

For those Southsiders who volunteered their precious time on Saturday to help with the game day presentation, a huge thank you from myself and the club.  For those of you unaware of it, those little Whitecaps flags were placed by thirty-five Southsiders who now know BC Place inside out.

A massive thank you to the crew who helped set up the Tifo in the evening. Adam who created the amazing tree for the bonfire together with Kris in the Southsiders arts and crafts department. Adam also took it upon himself to create ‘Disco Valentine’, which if you ask me is bloody brilliant. I also need to thank my fellow board members who have been working their asses off all season long to get us to where we are today. 

I think we all also need to thank the Whitecaps FC, whom without their co-operation we would have achieved all we have.
Firstly to Gary Chung and Roberto Carbrone from the Whitecaps FC Ticketing Team for helping many of us move our seats in order to make more compact sections. I strongly believe that this extra effort on their part has allowed us to really come together as a group at the Stadium and in time organically grow. From the Whitecaps Marketing Department I also really need to thank Caitlyn for the tour and Shawna for the Graphics.

More than anyone I need to thank Hillary Campbell at the Club as well as her team, including Jodie and the ‘Poncho Men’. They worked around the clock to get their stuff ready but made time to help the Southsiders had everything we needed to achieve our goals. Hillary even offered to personally go back to Empire with me at midnight Saturday night to go looking for some missing tifo items. Without all their hard work, your match day experience wouldn’t have been nearly as spectacular.

We do not need to rest here. We still need to grow bigger and louder, and with your help I know we can.

You’ve had a few days to rest your voices, we now need to get ready for the next match on Thursday and for the remainder of this season.

Come on You ‘Caps

Brett Graham

Vancouver Southsiders Director of Stadium Operations
Vancouver Southsiders Vice President