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This was supposed to be the best group of young players that Canada had ever assembled; a squad composed almost exclusively of players in professional club and academy environments. Qualification for the FIFA U20 Mens World Cup being held in New Zealand in May was supposed to be a question of when rather than if for Canada – little more than a formality. So when our under-20 mens team crashed spectacularly out of World Cup contention on Sunday – losing a must-win qualifying match to Cuba by a score of 2-1 – the inevitable question must be asked: Who is to blame? I dont blame the players for failing to qualify – they are just kids. They will probably be the first to admit that they didnt perform up to their abilities and while Im sure they worked hard and went into each game fully prepared and with the best intentions, for a variety of reasons, they didnt perform. I dont blame the coaches, either – although they will probably admit that they, too, could have made different decisions along the way that may have altered the outcome of the qualifying tournament. Coaches are the most self-critical group in soccer, and Im sure there will be many sleepless nights ahead for head coach Rob Gale and his team of assistants, questioning every decision they made along the way. I dont blame the Canadian Soccer Association – the target of every ill-informed critic whenever one of our national teams falls short of expectations – at least not directly. There is little more that the CSA could realistically be expected to have done to prepare this group of players for World Cup qualifying, and our governing body cannot be called out for every poor result in every age group with every national team that takes the field. But indirectly, our repeated failures in the international arena can only be fixed by the CSA – because they are the only entity in Canada that has the power to do what needs to be done to improve the development of players in our country. If these results were happening in hockey, we would have a national inquest broadcast live on every network from coast to coast. The phone-in lines of every radio show across the country would be lit up with callers demanding a change, demanding a fix. No stone would go unturned in our collective desire to right this wrong, to return Canada back to its rightful place atop the throne of the hockey world. Fans would storm the offices of Hockey Canada, demanding that a plan be put in place to restore our national pride. But this isnt hockey - and therein lies our problem. While soccer is the sport played most by Canadians, it does not hold our collective hearts. We do not have the same national passion for our international soccer results as we do in hockey. In fact, the news of our failure to qualify for the U20 World Cup will barely register on anyones radar. It has been four days since our mens U20 team failed to qualify for the World Cup – and not a single word has been written about it. The apathy towards our international results is why nothing is going to change. Youll never hear angry fans calling in to radio shows demanding that the coach who presided over our latest failure be fired. Youll never see angry fans protesting outside of stadiums demanding that the CSA do something – anything – to help the countless volunteer coaches who are trying to teach the next generation of Canadian kids how to play the beautiful game. When it costs $950 to take a Provincial B licence, it is little wonder that there are so few qualified coaches in Canada. Because this public pressure will never come, the CSA will keep its head down, do nothing, and wait for the few people who do care to simply go away. We do not have a soccer culture in Canada. Kids dont grow up dreaming of playing professional soccer, of playing in the World Cup or of winning the games greatest prize. They dont dream of pulling on the Canadian jersey and leading their country to glory on the international stage. Its a bit perplexing, really. Canadians love soccer – just look at the number of Canadians who passionately watched the World Cup last summer, or who watch the UEFA Champions League each year. Canadians just dont love Canadian soccer. Some people believe that this is because we lack our own domestic professional league. They believe that a top flight Canadian league – as opposed to what we currently have, which is three Canadian teams (made up of mostly American and foreign players) playing in an American league (MLS) – is the panacea that will fix our woes. That belief is very na?ve, because it is based on the assumption that the only way for Canadian soccer to succeed is to mirror what is done in other, successful soccer nations. The logic goes like this: Nations that qualify for the mens World Cup on a regular basis all have their own domestic professional leagues. Therefore, in order for Canada to qualify for the mens World Cup on a regular basis, Canada must have its our own domestic professional league. This train of thought is fundamentally flawed, though, because it fails to take into account a very important factor: We are a unique nation that requires a unique player development system. While we do need our own professional league in the long-term, forget about the top of the pyramid for the time being - the bottom of the pyramid is where the real problem lies. For decades, the CSA has taken a hands off approach to youth player development. There are many reasons for this, not least of which is our nationwide governance structure – an upside down mess that puts all of the power in the hands of the people at the bottom, rather than in the hands of those at the top. The byproduct of this governance structure is that is it virtually impossible for the CSA to mandate change – in large part because a significant portion of the CSAs operating budget comes from player registration dollars (which pass through the hands of the provinces on their way to the CSA). Because of this, the tail wags the dog when it comes to player development. The provinces, rather than the CSA, hold all the power. The provinces do what their districts want them to do; the districts do what their clubs want them to do; and the clubs do what their customers want them to do – which is rarely what is in the best interests of player development. The result of this is a broken, fragmented development system that has sunk to the lowest common denominator. Important player development decisions have been left to the provinces, districts and clubs to figure out, a method of self-policing that has failed miserably. The win-at-all-costs competition structure that has existed for decades in Canada has encouraged the hoarding of athletes with size, speed and strength, rather than the encouragement of skill in young players. While unqualified, untrained coaches failed to teach players the skills they needed to succeed in the game over the long-term, these coaches were allowed to thrive – to succeed, for lack of a better term - because they were able to recruit the biggest, strongest, fastest players needed to win in youth soccer. The success of these coaches masked the fact that their players failed to learn the fundamental skills required for long-term success in the game. For decades, we have been producing players who are technically, tactically, physically and mentally lacking the skills needed to succeed at the most competitive levels of the game. The proof has been there for all to see for years and years, yet the CSA has been powerless to address the underlying issues. Canadian teams – both male and female – have been routinely outplayed and overmatched technically, tactically, physically and mentally against countries with a fraction of our resources. Why? Because those countries – either through their existing footballing cultures or through proactive steps taken by their governing bodies - focused on teaching skills to their young players, and we didnt. We have done a terrible job of developing young soccer players in Canada, and a domestic professional league isnt going to fix that. If you disagree with that statement, if you think that a professional league will fix our player development woes, take a look at the current composition of our three Canadian MLS teams. Of the 26 players listed on the Vancouver Whitecaps senior roster, six are Canadian – only one of whom (Russell Teibert) played regularly in MLS last season. Of the 25 players listed on the Toronto FC roster, seven are Canadian – only one of whom (Jonathan Osorio) played regularly in MLS last season. Of the 29 players listed on the Montreal Impacts senior roster, seven are Canadian – only three of whom (Patrice Bernier, Maxim Tissot and Karl Ouimette) played regularly in MLS last season. If Canada, as a nation, was doing such a wonderful job of developing professional calibre players, why are these rosters not loaded with Canadians who are playing week in, week out? (Lets ignore the fact that in order for Canadas mens national team to be competitive at the international level, it must be stocked with players who are starring in MLS, rather than with players struggling just to get a game.) The problem isnt that we dont have our own professional league; the problem is that we dont produce players good enough to play professional soccer. And the solution to that problem lies at the bottom of the pyramid, not at the top. Until the CSA can wrap both of its hands around grassroots soccer and completely overhaul our player development system – and that incorporates a wide range of topics, from coach education to training curriculum to competition structures - nothing will change. We will continue to struggle at the international level, we will continue to produce a fraction of the players that a nation with our resources should produce, and we will continue to hang our heads in shame when we tell people we are involved in soccer in Canada. 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LOUIS -- Joe Thornton and the San Jose Sharks won the matchup of unbeaten teams.SEATTLE -- Superlatives will be scarce come September if Masahiro Tanaka continues this pace. For now, Joe Girardi and the rest of the New York Yankees are just thankful they have the Japanese right-hander pitching like one of the best in baseball. "Hes been really, really big. You look at the numbers hes put up, the wins that he has, the distances hes given us during the course of the season," Girardi said. "Hes meant a lot." Tanaka added another notch to his stellar first two months in the majors, striking out 11 and tossing a complete game Wednesday night as the New York Yankees beat the Seattle Mariners 4-2. Tanaka became the second pitcher in baseball with 10 wins and won his fourth straight start. It was on the verge of being possibly his most impressive performance of the season before giving up a two-run homer to Robinson Cano in the ninth inning that ruined the shutout. That only made Tanaka more determined to finish off his second complete game of the season. He struck out Kyle Seager and Logan Morrison to finish off the victory. "Obviously I wasnt very happy about that home run, but at the end Im pretty satisfied I was able to go all nine innings tonight," Tanaka said through a translator. Tanaka allowed six hits, walked one and leads the AL with a 2.02 ERA. He tied for the wins lead with Torontos Mark Buehrle, who is 10-2. Tanaka has allowed only four earned runs in the past 29 2-3 innings and hasnt given up more than three earned runs in any start. That number would be less if not for Cano hitting his third homer of the season -- and first at Safeco Field -- in the ninth. James Jones reached on an infield single with one out and Cano hit a drive out to left-centre on the first pitch. "He was dealing. He was the same guy you see on TV," Cano said. "He put the ball where he wants. Hes filthy." Tanaka cruised from the start. It took the Japanese rookie 15 pitches to get through the first two innings and 26 pitches setting down the first nine Mariners in order. Seattle got baserunners in the fourth when Jones and Seager singled, but the threat ended when Morrison struck out on a check swing. It also started a strikeouut binge from Tanaka.dddddddddddd Beginning with Morrison, six of the next seven outs came via strikeout. Tanaka struck out the side in the sixth, getting Cole Gillespie and Endy Chavez swinging before capping the inning by getting Jones looking at strike three. Cano broke the strikeout streak at five when he grounded out to open the seventh. Seager then walked on four pitches, the first walk issued by Tanaka. But Morrison grounded into a double play and Tanaka was through seven innings on just 79 pitches. Tanaka also wiggled out of trouble in the eighth after Mike Zuninos double and Brad Millers single. Just as movement started in the Yankees bullpen, Gillespie lined out and Miller was doubled off first base to end the inning. Tanaka was given an extra day of rest after a rainout on Monday in Kansas City. That ruined a possible matchup against countryman Hisashi Iwakuma, but Tanaka said the rest was helpful. "I never really thought about it going into the season. I just thought about taking it game by game, just trying to go out there and do the best that I can each game," Tanaka said. "As a result this is where I am." All the offence Tanaka needed came from Jacoby Ellsbury and Mark Teixeira. Ellsbury extended his hitting streak to 15 games with an RBI single in the third. Two innings later, with Seattle starter Chris Young (5-4) struggling, Mark Teixeira hit a three-run homer that barely cleared the wall in right-centre field. The game-breaking shot was Teixeiras 11th homer of the season. But all Teixeira wanted to do was rave about Tanaka. "If he keeps this up, hes going to have one of the greatest first years in baseball of any pitcher that has ever played this game," Teixeira said. "I would love to see it." NOTES: Derek Jeters stolen base in the first gave him 350 for his career. He had two steals in the game. ... Seattle Seahawks DE Cliff Avril threw out the ceremonial first pitch. Teammates QB Russell Wilson and LT Russell Okung were on the field watching pregame batting practice and talking with players from both teams. DT Brandon Mebane and DE Michael Bennett were also in attendance with Avril. ' ' '