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Two years ago, the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA) was embroiled in a bitter governance struggle. Two opposing forces - the old guard, who wanted to maintain the status quo, and the reformers, who wanted to see the CSA adopt a more progressive, effective governance structure - were at an impasse. The media spotlight was shone on the problem, leading to a groundswell of support from across the country in favour of governance reform. In the end, the greater good prevailed, the old guard were outnumbered and the membership of the CSA voted in favour of change. The result of that struggle now sees the CSA being governed by a diverse, professionally-qualified, functional board of directors. They have done a tremendous amount of work behind the scenes, have empowered staff to do their jobs, and created a unique, inclusive strategic plan that will provide a blueprint for the development of the game in Canada for years to come. A key component of that strategic plan will be alignment of governance structures between the national and provincial/territorial organizations. It sounds complicated, but when it is put into context, it is really quite simple to understand. While the CSAs national governance structure is very much in order, the same cannot be said for the provincial associations, their respective district associations, nor for their respective clubs. A perfect example of this occurred last weekend in Ontario. The Ontario Soccer Association (OSA)s Board of Directors voted to reject a Request for Decision - RFD 2013-009 - that would have seen OSA-recognized non-club academies permitted to participate in the OSAs new standards-based, high-performance youth soccer league (the OPDL) next season. The request for decision was brought forward by the OSAs Technical Advisory Council (TAC), a group of experienced professionals with backgrounds in player development, coach education, high-performance and professional soccer, refereeing and administration. TAC was commissioned by the OSA to conceive and develop the OPDL, and to advise the OSA staff in making technical recommendations to its board of directors. The OSA board gave no explanation as to why it voted against the recommendations of the OSA technical staff and TAC - but it is not difficult to figure out. The vote to deny the RFD was motivated by petty politics, rather than what is in the best interest of player development. With a board composed of 21 district representatives and a seven-member Executive, the OSAs governance structure is fundamentally flawed. The same conflict of loyalty that plagued the CSA two years ago - where provincial association presidents on the CSA board sought mainly to further the interests of their respective provinces, rather than the greater interest of the game at a national level - now plagues the OSA. District representatives on the OSA board defend their own respective interests instead of working for the greater interest of what is best for the game across the province. This vote to deny RFD 2013-009 in Ontario is just one example of the governance problem; similar issues plague other provincial associations. So how does the CSA go about fixing this problem? The ideal solution would be the achievement of a consensus between the national and provincial levels on a consistent governance structure throughout the CSA: each Association would have the same basic structure, with a skill-set, professional board performing a strategic function and management/staff performing technical and program functions. This consensus approach would create the least amount of bad blood, and result in the maximum amount of buy-in by the provinces. An alternative approach is to mandate that each provincial association mirrors the CSAs national governance structure, or some kind of variation that is acceptable to the CSAs board of directors. The CSA board would be wise to consider this option, even while it might not be its first choice. Instituting parallel governance structures at the provincial level need not entail a fight like the one that occurred two years ago at the CSA. There isnt the same uncertainty surrounding the impact of governance reform: the provincial associations are aware of what kinds of changes would have to occur within their organizations. The challenge would be for the CSA to work with the provincial associations to craft unique solutions for each provincial/territorial association, according to the principles of good governance. Canadian soccer supporters would much rather hear stories of our national teams qualifying for World Cups, or of the steps being taken in player and coach development across the country. But governance impacts all of those things. We must continue to work towards implementing good governance structures at every level of the game across Canada - so that decisions like the one made in Ontario last weekend never happen again. http://www.atleticomadridpro.com/Kids-Antonio-Adan-Jersey/ ." Those traits were clear to the 24,071 at Olympic Stadium on Saturday as the Impact dominated the scoring chances but settled for a 2-2 draw with the New York Red Bulls in a battle of still-winless Major League Soccer teams. Custom Atletico Madrid Jerseys . The Big Man finished 3-1 in Week 19, and sits at 53-24 on the season. Now Schultz is ready for more action. http://www.atleticomadridpro.com/Kids-Blank-Jersey/ .Fiji striker Roy Krishna scored in the 14th minute to give Wellington its fourth win, along with a draw, from its past five matches, putting the Phoenix fourth but only a point behind third-placed Adelaide. http://www.atleticomadridpro.com/Kids-Stefan-Savic-Jersey/ . “Momentum is only as good as the next days starter,” the long-time Baltimore Orioles manager famously quipped. http://www.atleticomadridpro.com/Kids-Gelson-Martins-Jersey/ . -- James Harden scored 31 points, including 25 in the second half, and the Houston Rockets dug out of a double-digit, first-half hole to beat the Orlando Magic 101-89 on Wednesday night.ABBOTSFORD, B.C. -- The Grand Rapids Griffins made a statement Saturday that the defending American Hockey League champions intend to make another long playoff run. Andrej Nestrasils three-point night helped Grand Rapids to a 7-2 win over the Abbotsford Heat and a 2-0 lead in its best-of-five first-round series. The third-year pro scored his first two career AHL playoff goals and added an assist in the blowout victory. "Hes been good," said Griffins captain Jeff Hoggan. "He was in Toledo (ECHL) last year but hes a skilled player. When we lose guys like (Tomas Tatar) and (Tomas) Jurco, guys who go up to the Red Wings, we need somebody to fill that role and hes done a fantastic job for us." The Griffins now head back home in hopes of a sweep after taking both games at the Abbotsford Centre. The Griffins won 2-1 on Friday in double overtime. "Yesterday was the first game of the playoffs, so everyone was kind of nervous," said Nestrasil. "I felt that sometimes we were trying to make plays, even if they werent there. Today we started a little more simple and it came out of that. We didnt let them shoot. They scored two first-period goals, five shots on net, so were going to try to play better defensively, because when you play well defensively you get the offensive chances after." Ryan Sproul, the Game 1 overtime hero, and Teemu Pulkkinen each had a goal and two assists for Grand Rapids while Trevor Parkes, Cody Emmerton and Hoggan also scored for the visitors, whose parent club Detroit was eliminated from the NHL playoffs and is expected to send some bodies back for Game 3 on Wednesday. "Weve got some talented young guys back there," said Hoggan of rookie defencemen like Sproul. "This is the time when you want to see what theyre all about. Playoff hockey is the toughest hockey. For them to step up, its going to be huge for us to go on and go far. We know theyre capable and theyre doing it at crunch time." Petr Mrazek had to stop just 15 shots, compared to his 55-save performance the night before. Max Reinhart had a goal and an assist for Abbotsford, which may have played its final home game after it was announced last week that the franchise wwill not be back in the city next season.dddddddddddd. Emile Poirier had the other goal, while Joni Ortio stopped 25-of-30 shots before being pulled. Doug Carr mopped up, making 14 saves. Though the Heat were embarrassed on home ice, and cancelled their regular post-game presser, the Griffins know that Game 3 wont be easy. "We have to make sure its hard for them to get opportunities," said Nestrasil. "Every chance, they need to earn it and make sure they have to come through us all the time." Abbotsford opened the scoring at the 7:40 mark of the first. Reinhart stepped into a shot in the high slot. Mrazek kicked it right to Poirier, who quickly brought the puck to his forehand and snapped it blocker side for his first professional playoff goal. The visitors, however, tied the game not long after. Mattias Janmark drove hard to the net and centred for Parkes, who chipped it by Ortio for his first AHL playoff goal at 10:13. The Heat regained the lead with a power-play goal at 15:32. Reinhart tried to centre for Ben Hanowski but it ricocheted off the skate of Brennan Evans. Just 35 seconds later the Griffins again drew even when Sprouls one-timer from the point was deflected by Nestrasil. Grand Rapids scored a short-handed goal late in the first to take their first lead. Emmerton made a move around one defender, then fought off another and chipped the puck past Ortio while falling to his backside, giving Detroits 2006 second-round selection his first AHL playoff goal in five years. Hoggan doubled the lead two minutes into the second period when he took a cross-ice feed from Pulkkinen and fired a wrist shot over the glove of Ortio, giving him 14 career AHL playoff goals. Nestrasil chased Ortio at 11:19 of the second, snapping a shot short side from a bad angle. "I just wanted to dump the puck in, but nobody came to me," said the Prague native. "I was basically walking into the zone. I just threw it at the net and it went through. Im glad I can score a goal like that. Im glad we scored a lot of goals because it gives the guys confidence." Sproul scored a power-play goal at 6:45 of the third and Pulkkinen added another on the power play at 12:09. 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