Monday
Musings to wrap up 2019
Saturday’s
game between two good football teams, the dynasty and the other looking to
I fully
expect these two teams to meet again in the national semi-final next year when
BC hosts against the PFC. Langley head coach Howie Zaron is as good a recruiter
as there is in junior football, couple that with the momentum the Rams have and
the small roster turnover means they are the team to beat in the BCFC next
year. There is plenty of talk that the
Hilltops are ripe for the picking in the PFC due to 15 players graduating, but
you have to know there very capable 4th year Hilltops ready to step
in.
As for the
business side of the CJFL…
It doesn’t
sound like a lot was formally decided at the AGM, although the executive
committee was given the green light to further discuss a certain number of
“international” players on each roster next season. The initial suggestion was
2 Americans and 3 other internationals although these numbers could/likely will
change. To me it’s interesting that the CJFL is looking at the concept, as the league
points to the direction the CFL is taking regarding overseas and Mexican
players. But unlike the CFL I’m not sure exactly how this helps the CJFL. There
are no TV contracts to gain international viewers, and this won’t help the
issue of attracting high school players that some teams deal with. In fact, it
could actually hurt the cause by taking away roster spots and alienating the
high school community. Not to mention the issue of how these players can work, obtain
visas etc. isn’t easy so the expense of looking after them has to be
considered.
This idea looks
to me to be a bit of a knee jerk decision, one that requires a lot more
consideration before its jumped into, but it and other considerations should be
looked at. Leagues evolve, that’s the way it should be.
In that
spirit I’ll make 4 suggestions that the league should consider, if not
implement. Some are league wide, others conference specific. There seems to be
little appetite for my U20 model that looks at more high school engagement and
a less expensive model with more teams across the country so perhaps it’s time
to move towards more of an elite model that some of these concepts are geared
to.
1.
Partner
with the CFL
Really
partner with the CJFL... We know that some teams in the west benefit in a major
way financially from 50/50 sales, while in the OFC there are not even crumbs
for the teams there. If what I hear is
to be believed, the CFL is encouraging the CJFL to look at the European and
Mexican internationals to go along with their model. If that’s true it’s a good
The CJFL
really isn’t a league that sends players directly to the CFL as the majority
move to university before making that step. Is it possible to change that and become
more of a direct conduit to the big league?
Time for the
CJFL to really start that dialogue and in the process a sponsorship from the
CJFL of $50,000 would be a good start. Even in these days of fiscal restraint
that’s chump change for the CFL but would be a massive benefit to the CJFL. The
CJFL has the potential to offer value to the CFL to earn itself worthy of a
small investment.
2.
Restructure
the CJFL media department
If you have
followed my podcast at all, you know I am not a fan of the marketing of the
CJFL and less of a fan the job Ryan Watters does specifically. It’s a paid
position, not a lot, in the $10,000 range but it’s also not a big job so when
broken down on an hourly basis it’s a good gig.
The “Wattered”
down job that has been happening for years consisting mainly of generic
interviews does nothing to grow the brand of the CJFL, which should be the
goal. Sure, the player in question and his mom loves it but that’s it. It’s job
creation and little more.
Move on from
Watters…
Re-allocate
the $$ among the conferences with the lions share to the OFC to allow them to
bring in someone in Ontario for the next
couple of years to assist that conference to gain some traction and grow its
brand. Each conference should have their own marketing (as the BCFC does) to do
a proper job of branding itself and work together to channel their products in
an organized way from conference sites to cjfl.org.
You need
“boots on the ground” so to speak in each conference handling the job.
There is some
terrific work being done at the team level in some cases (take a look at Winnipeg Rifles and Edmonton Huskies for example). Start sharing and promoting all of it instead
of standing by and watch the CJFL hide the team’s products to spew out its
stuff that no one really reads.
3.
Private
ownership
I’m talking
to the teams I know in the BCFC, but there is logic and merit across the CJFL
to this suggestion. But again because of the recruiting and infrastructure
required to bring players into the conference this is about BC for now.
If BCFC teams
outside Langley are serious about knocking the Rams off in 2020 they should be
aware they are chasing a team that has had their heart broken on the national
stage two years running and will be more determined than ever next year. The
Rams spent some money this year to bring players in from USPORT and will likely
dial that up a notch next season.
Last June in
a conference meeting the teams agreed they were serious about competing for
players against USPORT and willing to spend the money to attract players who
might be considering attending or are already at a USPORT school and looking to
leave. It’s time to step up if they are serious about it.
Recruiting
players in BC and keeping them through to the end of junior eligibility
requires $$, either in terms of scholarships, housing allowances or pure
financial compensation. I’m not talking a living wage, but enough that a player
will be willing to relocate to a small centre in BC. And for the players that
come to the program from out of province straight from high school, teams will
need to spend some $ to keep from losing them before graduation if they are
serious about success on the national stage.
There is a
misconception that junior players cannot be paid, they can, and many have been at
varying degrees for years. Time for the BCFC teams to operate with a business
model geared to making it easier for them to recruit and retain players keeping
in mind the financial commitment players make to move to BC to play football.
Running a
budget in BC to compete with the prairies isn’t impossible under a non-profit
society, but a business group could manage it a lot more successfully.
4.
Remove
the OFC from Canadian Bowl rotation while the OFC works on improving its
product.
This weekend’s
showcase between the Rams and Hilltops was as good an advertisement the CJFL
could hope for and can go a long way to helping the league work on national sponsorship
and more. Unfortunately, history tells us that next year when the winner of the
PFC/BCFC semi-final heads to the OFC all the progress made this year will be
offset by a one sided affair that only serves to harm the credibility of the
CJFL.
That’s not
good for the CJFL, and it’s not good for the OFC.
A few years
back the OFC acknowledged its lack of competiveness at the national level at a
league AGM and proposed a change to the play-off rotation that would see the
conference no long participate in a semi-final game but have a bye into the
Canadian Bowl as a road team only. This proposal was shot down by the PFC and BCFC
for a myriad of reasons, but there perhaps is some merit to a different
rotational change…
Remove the
OFC from the 3 year bye into the Canadian Bowl but guarantee them hosting
rights for the semi-final game.
This would
see the PFC and BCFC champs rotate on an annual basis, one conference travels
to Ontario for the semi-final and the other hosts the Canadian Bowl. This
rotation would give the OFC the opportunity to know they host a national semi-final
game every year while it builds its brand at home, and also increases the
chances the Canadian Bowl is a competitive game. If the OFC champ beats the
west rep there is a lot better chance the OFC will be competitive in the
Canadian Bowl.
I’m not sure
how the powers that be in the OFC will react to this suggestion, possibly it
will be suggested that it’s not fair to the OFC considering 2020 is its year to
host the Canadian Bowl. But if we look back at 2017, the first year the OFC
returned to the CJFL after a three year absence we are reminded the BCFC and
PFC granted the OFC a bye into the Canadian Bowl. It might not have been fair
to the PFC that they gave up 2017 hosting rights, but the opinion was at that
time that giving the OFC the opportunity to host was a good decision for the
league.
That was a
good decision then, requiring that the conference earns the right to play in
the national game is a good decision now.
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