The dust has settled on the BCFC championship (Cullen Cup) and the national semi-final and as expected the Langley Rams and Saskatoon Hilltops will meet in the Canadian Bowl Nov 16th in Langley.
The Rams, after being schooled by the Hilltops in this game last year when it was played in Saskatoon have built what head coach Howie Zaron believes is a team capable of running with the Hilltops this time around. Zaron is so confident in this version of the Rams, he has stated that if they can’t give the storied Hilltops a game they never will.
Zaron is right, his team matches up well with the Hilltops, and intangibles like experience in winning on the national stage and being battle tested in the tough PFC to the Hilltops benefit aside, the Rams are in good shape. Add in home field advantage and the Rams might just “nix the 6” and cause the Hilltops to “Dive at 5.” Excuse me for those folks…
Regardless of what team comes out on top, the reality is this year’s likely competitive Canadian Bowl is merely going to mask again the serious issues the CJFL faces. This game will result in the league keep its head on the sand and fail to acknowledge the serious, serious issues it faces.
One competitive game would merely be a band-aide on a league that is bleeding to death.
The CJFL isn’t a true national league with a model that allows its 3 conferences (BCFC, PFC, OFC) to compete at a reasonably competitively balanced level. Rather it is 3 very unique leagues whose strengths and challenges are so diverse that they arguably have no business competing against each other
The CJFL in its present form is akin to single A and AAA high school football teams all playing in the same league. Imagine that… or imagine the CFL playing its NFL brothers south of the border. Single A high school football and the Canadian Football League are great products in what they offer, but they aren’t AAA High School and they aren’t the NFL. Having those respective leagues go head to head, well we know what the results would be.
If you pay any attention at all to the CJFL of the past 30 years, you know the results when east meets west on the national stage speak for themselves. The OFC is pretty much skinned alive when it’s best face the PFC, this weekend’s whitewashing of the Beefeaters by the Hilltops is nothing new. The question is will the CJFL, which survives solely on the strength of team dues continue to muddle along and hope things sort themselves out? Or will it finally create a vision and business plan for growth at best, and sustainability at least. It wasn’t that long ago the league boasted 27 or so teams, but now sits at 18 with good reason to see more retraction on the horizon.
With apologies to those of you who have heard this before, the grassroots football that feeds… and the university football that competes with CJFL teams for players in the BCFC, PFC and OFC are so unique across the conferences that this league is destined to repeat year after year what happened this past weekend in London. The OFC will generally, if not always be 30-40 point or worse underdogs against the west. This is never going to change, never.
Why Ontario doesn’t match up with the west in a U22 CJFL
If you know anything about grassroots (high school and community), junior and university football in Ontario you know that junior football is not on the radar of the typical high school football player. While many athletes on the prairies, and to a lesser degree British Columbia aspire to play junior
football, that simply is not the case in Ontario for many reasons. I won’t put words in the mouth of London Beefeaters head coach Jesse Maddox for this blog, I’ll let him speak for himself on a future podcast but he can tell you succinctly what high school players in Ontario generally think about the prospect of playing in the OFC. It’s not positive.
No doubt some of what ails the OFC can be chalked up to good old fashioned incompetence at the team level both recently and in years past. But, there are also some good football people running clubs in the conference, and no amount of hard work on their part can bring their organizations up to the level of the Saskatoon Hilltops or for that matter any of the PFC teams on a given year. With all due respect to people in Saskatchewan that suggest the Ontario teams should “get their shit together”, or “ask us what we do”…you folks really don’t have any knowledge about how different football in Saskatchewan, or even Alberta is compared to Ontario and how that relates to the inability of even the brightest junior football minds to build an OFC team into even a shadow of a strong PFC club.
The factors that disrupt potential OFC success are too numerous to mention;
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far more universities in the area recruiting players,
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high school community that frowns on junior football
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lottery funds that are so vital to the success/survival of teams in the PFC and to a smaller degree the BCFC are non-existent for OFC teams
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cities that are so big junior football just isn’t going to resonate with enough players to allow it to succeed on the national stage.
I could go on, but these issues simply are not ones that can be overcome by any OFC club on a consistent basis. Could one organization build a team for a short period that can compete with the west? Sure, anything is possible. But that success wouldn’t be sustainable, and it would be a team that dominates the rest of the conference to the point that it causes harm to the conference it plays in.
The semi-final game between the Beefeaters and Hilltops was a perfect example of why the current 22 and below age demographic should be revisited if competitive balance is remotely important to the CJFL vision. Late in the game the play by play crew was talking about the prospects of the London Beefeaters and why they are going to be a threat in the OFC the next few years. They singled out specifically three first year Beefeater players who were standouts for the club and will be around for the next “2-3 years before they move to university.” That is the difference between the Hilltops (and the majority of the western based clubs) and the OFC in general. I’m not sure how many Hilltop players in that game were rookies, and I don’t know how many were standouts, but I know the number would have been very small because the Hilltops talent is so deep. In fact, with the CJFL mandated 40 man inter-conference rosters, the number of rookies or even second year Hilltops in that game would have been low or non-existent. The Hilltops depth means once the play-off kick in their game day roster is veteran laden.
The Saskatoon Hilltops starting QB often doesn’t get that job until his 4th or even 5th season. The Beefeaters starter was a rookie, who very likely won’t be with the club in 2-3 years.
London head coach Jesse Maddox is not one to make excuses, that’s not his style but it’s an entirely different situation for an OFC coach like him who has in the neighborhood of 15 players age 21 and under that all want to move to university next year. And far too many of them will
move to allow the Beefeaters to compete with the west, and no amount of work on the part of the franchises and coaching staff of any team in the OFC can overcome the Ontario culture to retain enough talent to compete with the west. Of course, OFC teams do have some 21 and 22 year old players on their rosters, but the percentage of those players who not only don’t want to go to university but also could never make a university roster is far greater than in the west.
Losing players to the University of Saskatchewan is not something the Hilltops lose sleep over. Th infrastructure they have built over generations, the coaching, the support staff, the clubhouse, the scholarship program the grassroots that feeds the program…all of it means that young men in Saskatoon want to be a Hilltop…forever. Does the club lose a small percentage early? Of course they do, but that number is small, and there is always another player just about as talented waiting to step in.
Simply put, the OFC loses their better players to university at a greater rate than the west…again because of Ontario football culture. And culture is difficult to overcome, especially when its existed for decades and it’s a bunch of overworked, under budgeted volunteers trying to do it.
A 22 and under junior league in Ontario cannot succeed in todays CJFL. Not a chance. Period
If we jump 4 provinces to the west and look at the football climate in British Columbia and how it correlates to the ability of the BCFC teams to compete with the PFC it can be argued that all things considered the BCFC has no business even being a conference in the CJFL. The BCFC and its teams should perhaps be saluted for the job they are doing despite the odds they face.
There isn’t enough high school football being played in British Columbia for junior football on the national stage to succeed.
Wait…what do I mean there isn’t enough high school football? This is the largest province by population in the west, of course there is enough high school football. Let’s open some eyes province by province about high school football.
*Information obtained from provincial websites
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Manitoba (Winnipeg High School Football League that includes Brandon and northern Ontario) plus there is a small rural league of 9 man football.
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29 high schools
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Saskatchewan
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35 schools playing 12 man
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21 playing 9 man
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45 playing 6 man
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Alberta
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107 playing 12 man
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5 playing 9 man
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21 playing 6 man
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British Columbia
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46 high schools
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5 midget team teams (recently started playing 9 man due to lack of players)
The numbers above don’t account for midget football in Alberta, someone correct me if I’m wrong there is a good midget league there? Midget football is non-existent in Saskatchewan and in Manitoba the 50 year old league sadly folded this year.
If you are from the prairies and a member of the football community who can’t understand why the biggest western province in terms of population doesn’t dominate junior football you now know that population doesn’t equate to football. In terms of providing junior football opportunity based on the number of high schools, no conference comes close to the BCFC.
I know that the average junior football observer in the prairies looks down at the BCFC due to the fact the BCFC loses to the PFC more often than not…well, get off your soapbox folks.
If providing a place for young men to pay junior football is the measuring stick for success then the BCFC should be looked at as the leaders. But as we know, this is a national junior league so championships at that level are a measuring stick…and they help pay the bills when it comes to attracting sponsorship.
Now, we know that many of those high schools in every province are in small towns and not necessarily in the backyard of the junior team. But if you look at the number of high schools within say 30-40 minutes of each junior team in the PFC I have no doubt every team in that conference will be able to count about 10-12 high school teams each minimum that are basically in their back yard.
In the BCFC the numbers get even worse for their clubs as the majority of the high school teams are in the lower mainland and a good distance away from a junior team. Even the Langley Rams, the club that benefits from the largest high school contingent can only count 5-6 teams in Langley and towards Surrey and Delta to the west. If the Rams recruit half an hour east towards Abbotsford/Mission they have another 4 high schools but that area is also just a half hour away from Chilliwack to the east so there are two clubs battling it out for talent. The Rams do recruit west across the Port Mann bridge towards big city Vancouver but that is by no means the Rams “back yard.”
Looking at the situation for the other 5 BCFC teams…
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The Valley Huskers have 2 high school teams and a nine man midget team in Chilliwack before they head west to Abbotsford to fight with Langley.
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The Westshore Rebels and VI Raiders each have 3 high school teams and a midget team within half an hour.
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The Okanagan Sun has 4 high school teams in their city and another 2 that are 45 minutes away in Vernon
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The Kamloops Broncos have just a single high school team in their city and another 45 minutes or so away in Salmon Arm.
The small communities that are home to 5 of the 6 BCFC teams don’t provide enough players for their teams. The only reason the BCFC teams are able to survive is by recruiting for players east of
British Columbia. That involves manpower, billeting, jobs and expense that for the most part are foreign to PFC teams. This is nothing new in the BCFC, it’s been going on for decades but has become more critical in recent years as the number of high school teams has decreased to today’s number from north of 70 in years past.
The concept of BCFC teams building the Saskatoon Hilltops Culture is simply not in the cards because such a large percentage of team’s rosters have to relocate from the prairies or Ontario every year when football season starts. Some players stay in town, but regardless…the athletes are to a degree “putting their lives on hold” for 4-5 years of junior football because they aren’t in their home city. Plus, the club doesn’t have the benefit of the players family in town to support the fan base…that large part of prairie football culture is difficult to achieve in BC.
Making matters more challenging for all teams in the CJFL, but arguably most damaging to the prospects for success in the BCFC is a change made to its eligibility rules by USPORT 10 years ago.
When USPORT mandated its athletes could continue to have 5 years of eligibility but to an age maximum of 24 (25 if the player was born after Sept 1) it was a game changer for the CJFL. A game changer that to this day the league has failed to react to and that’s why the unbalance between conferences is worse than it’s ever been, and that’s why the league is in my opinion at least, in trouble.
Up until 1973 the maximum age for CJFL players was 21 but it was increased that year to 22 that is still at today when university football raised its age eligibility rules. THE CJFL adjusted its model to what university did….
Up until 10 years ago when USPORT lowered its eligibility rules a CJFL player could graduate from junior and move on to 5 years of university if they so desired. Many people questioned the logic of allowing a 27 year old to play university football as it really put players graduating from high school who went straight to university at a serious competitive disadvantage. In the 1990’s and early 2000’s the number of players graduating from junior to university began to increase dramatically, and the interesting story of an older player on a university team turned from a novelty to the norm. When the Manitoba Bisons won the Vanier Cup in 2007, its was joked that their team was actually older than the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. This type of dominating presence of older junior grads eventually led to the recent USPORT change.
In my opinion, the USPORT decision to lower its eligibility was a good one, but of course different people have different opinions on how old a university athlete should be. But regardless, it’s not up to the CJFL to determine USPORT rules, but it is arguably prudent for the CJFL to consider how USPORT rules may negatively or positively affect its product.
That’s something the CJFL has never done. The CJFL raised its eligibility rules as a reaction to USPORT in 1973…why has nothing been considered the last 10 years, especially in light of the mess the league finds itself in now? “Mess” is my word, buts that’s what it is, let’s not kid ourselves.
So, how does USPORT eligibility affect the CJFL and why should an age change be considered?
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Teams like the Saskatoon Hilltops that have done an incredible job of providing opportunity for their players and thus see a higher percentage of their players graduate at 22 will have a higher number of older players, and a higher number talented players than other CJFL teams on average. This creates a serious, serious problem to the leagues competitive balance.
Every time I bring up this discussion it seemingly paints a target on the back of the Hilltops, and fair enough I guess that’s what it is. But on my part there is no envy, no jealousy of the Hilltops, I have all the respect in the world for that organization for what they have built. I’m not suggesting that we limit what the Hilltops are able to spend, I’m not suggesting that we cut the legs out from the organization to bring them “down to the other team’s level” as has been suggested…
I’m suggesting that a model that a league operates with should take into account, at least to some level what’s its teams are capable of due to their market conditions…the CJFL doesn’t do that.
Do you think the game between the Beefeaters and Hilltops did anything to help Maddox and the Beefeaters recruit or retain its players? No, it had just the opposite effect and much of the optimism in that city’s football community after the OFC championship will have turned to apathy, or worse, disrespect of the OFC and Beefeaters product.
Look at what the NHL does to create parity, and while it may seem ridiculous to compare the CJFL to a professional hockey league, my point is there are rules in place that allow teams in smaller, less desirable markets to have a chance. The Winnipeg Jets will generally not be the team of choice for free agents. Winnipeg will generally be second fiddle to the Rangers, the Kings, the Ducks, the Leafs, the Golden Knights (especially the Knights because of lower tax rates in Nevada) and most other NHL teams for free agents. The Winnipeg Jets will always be at a competitive disadvantage for players because its Winnipeg. But because of a draft, because of a salary cap, because of revenue sharing, teams like Winnipeg have an opportunity. If not for those rules geared to making all teams viable, the Jets wouldn’t exist…as they didn’t for many years when the NHL didn’t have the rules they do now.
The Saskatoon Hilltops will ALWAYS be the dominant franchise in the CJFL regardless of any age limit and that a good thing. The excellence and professionalism of that organization can make other clubs better as they strive to emulate the Hilltop way. But, current CJFL age rules are akin to an NHL without salary cap and revenue sharing. The rest of the PFC will always be a step behind the
Hilltops and a step ahead of the BCFC and the OFC because their situations are overall a bit better than what those conferences deal with. But let’s at least give the rest of the PFC tools to get a little closer to the Hilltops…and let’s give the BCFC and OFC tools to get a little closer to the PFC.
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Current CJFL age rules put a team’s success at odds with a player’s goals if the player aspires to attend university and play football.
If a player graduates from junior and moves to university he has just two years university football remaining under the new USPORT, hey life is all about choices so maybe there is nothing wrong with this fact. But the fact is also that a CJFL team is really placed in a conflicting situation when a player who is scholastically and athletically capable of playing university football.
What does the coach say to a player who asks the question “Should I go to university?”
If the player really is ready the coach should of course say “go young man.” But the loss of the player really is working against the best interests and potential success of the team. Helping players move to the next level, university football has always been part of the model of the CJFL. But since the USPORT rule changes a player’s scholastic success is more at odds with than ever.
One of the biggest examples of a CJFL team’s willingness to help drive a player to the next level, but at its own detriment is the Kamloops Broncos, a franchise that joined the CJFL just a year before USPORT eligibility changes. The Broncos have long been in an unenviable situation competitively. The franchise was born as high school in Kamloops began it’s decline and as more of the BCFC teams were becoming aggressive in recruiting players on the prairies, a spot where the Broncos also had to scour for players to survive.
As the club struggled to compete in the BCFC (14-55-1 over its first 7 years) the Broncos more and more developed a model to attract high school players as a team they could start for as a rookie and hone their skills for 2-3 years before university. They did this out of necessity as much as anything as it was one way they could attract players. Because the Broncos were not winning, and because the players were already making a sacrifice of moving from home anyway, the appeal was, and continues to be to leave junior early for university. And the Broncos support that, and full credit to them. They are doing a good thing for their athletes, but will consequently never win a BC title, let alone Canadian Bowl.
The Broncos are in a catch 22 situation. They are providing opportunity for players but at their own detriment. Of course, the Broncos are not alone here, this is an issue faced by the majority of CJFL clubs, but some teams are in a worse situation than others.
An age change that essentially “pushes players from the nest” at an equal rate is good for the viability and reputation of the CJFL. That’s how other junior sports work, the fact that the CJFL and its “relationship” with USPORT sees different teams lose players at different rates has never been addressed.
Most CJFL teams are resistant to considering an age change for their own reasons;
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Some teams are concerned about the loss of junior football opportunity for 21 and 22 year players.
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This concern is understandable, but my response is that the only concern should be the health and viability of the CJFL. Presently the league is not healthy, not by a long shot.
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A vibrant and growing CJFL has the potential to in the long run create provincial 21 and up leagues and perhaps provide more long term opportunity for older players.
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Some teams suggest a younger CJFL will hamper the CJFL role as a route to the CFL.
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If the CJFL goal is to send players directly to the CFL then the league is failing miserably. 1 player every 10-15 years from the CJFL to CFL is a fluke not a model the league should be proud of.
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Some teams are concerned there are not enough players to fill 20 and under rosters and don’t trust USPORT teams to “support” the concept of a younger CJFL that works well with USPORT so that both leagues benefit.
Listen to part 3 of podcast with Manitoba Bisons head coach Brian Dobie
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This is a valid concern for our clubs as they understandably look at the loss of 2 years of players as a major blow to their roster sizes. As the podcast with Dobie discusses, a younger CJFL would be a better option for younger players than USPORT, and a better option than the CJFL is now. The CJFL arguably would attract far more younger players than at present.
But…make no mistake USPORT, in my mind has a responsibility to work with the CJFL as both
leagues working in unison could provide something better for post-secondary football players to aspire to, a true working relationship between the leagues would benefit them and be good for student athletes as well. USPORT teams outside of Quebec have been hamstrung by the USPORT eligibility rules as much as the CJFL has. Universities like Laval and Montreal benefit from the existence of CEGEP and the older players it provides.
Conversely, USPORT teams outside Quebec madly recruit and work to tie up high school players before their competitors do, in the process swelling their rosters with north of 90 players, many of who will never dress for the university but would be valuable to a junior team. The end result being that when an OUA or Canada West team meets Quebec in the Vanier it is about 2 years younger than the Quebec champion. If USPORT was smart, it would appreciate the gem that is the CJFL and work with it as a CEGEP alternative. USPORTS eligibility rules are slowly killing junior football and thats bad for business all around.
U20 CJFL...Better for USPORT…Better for the CJFL…Better for the the growth of football
Imagine if USPORT adjusted its own model to support and work with the CJFL to help develop it as the ideal league for U20 players. The CJFL could become THE home for U20 players, a league that every player other than absolute blue chip player or university ready student would aspire to. Such a CJFL could become a league that allows it’s athletes to “stud out and dominate” in and become a true recruiting ground for not only USPORT, but NCAA as well.
And at the same time giving more CJFL teams the ability to work on a level playing field…because this playing field could work in all 5 CJFL provinces.
And in the long run that could well equate to more teams in all 5 our of CJFL provinces. Right now, based on surveys I conducted with high school coaches in the spring, about 10% of high school players pack up playing after high school.
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Can we increase that number?
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Would more 19 year old players be interested in playing junior football if they weren’t competing against 22 year players and thus often sitting on the bench.
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Could the CJFL, because it appealed to more post-secondary players grow its product and increase its number of franchises?
The CJFL needs a vision, it needs a goal, that’s how businesses work. The CJFL is ultimately a business because it’s a national league with the major commitment of putting on two interconference games a year. Yet, its operating like a bantam football league…collecting team dues and having teams play. That’s it, that’s how this league works…
Last week at halftime of the London/Hilltop game, CJFL commissioner Jim Pankovich was interviewed and asked what the CJFL was doing to improve the competition level of the league. Pankovich’s response was that the league “ has 18 teams across the country and that every one of them when they start the season has a chance to compete for a national championship.”
Sorry Jim, that’s like saying a homeless person can be Mayor of the city if he works hard.
He went on to say the league is working to raise standards and “have better film for the players.”
If better film for the players is something the CJFL is proud of and if the CJFL thinks that’s the key to the league’s success then the CJFL doesn’t get it.
It’s time to put the 8 track away and realize 2020 is 2 months away.
There are teams that are quietly starting to admit that this level of unbalance in the CJFL has to stop. There are teams that are quietly starting to admit that maybe it time something drastic is looked at, that maybe it’s time to press reset on the CJFL business model. By my conversations there are upwards of 6 teams that’s are asking themselves “How would this look?” and that’s a start.
CJFL Deputy Commissioner Paul Shortt, who has been around this league longer than anyone will agree something has to change. He will tell you the concept of U20 should be looked at and that the U22 “lunch bucket” CJFL is past its best before date if the league really does want to be something better than it is.
Or maybe the homeless guy will be mayor.
