What is very RIGHT with Canadian Soccer?

Numerous articles have been written over the past ten years about what's wrong or missing in Canadian soccer.  And I would agree with many of their points.

But what about what's right with Canadian Soccer? Is it that bad?  If it was, why are so many people playing and coaching?

I know we are not rippin' it up  (I wish we were) when it comes to International competition, but does that mean there is nothing worthwhile on a daily basis?

Some people need you to believe there is nothing right with Canadian soccer and they have the fix.  Some recruit-crazy youth coaches want you to believe that whatever is wrong with Canadian soccer is not wrong at their club and what they have that's right doesn't exist anywhere else.

For me, I have trouble seeing a lot of wrong in the big picture.  I've played a lot, worked with 1000s of players, met their wonderful parents,  mentored coaches and been mentored, succeeded, failed, laughed, smiled, cried, yelled, been

A great coaching skill - LISTENING

Did you hear that?  Or are you too busy being "in charge"?

A lot of people mistaken coaching as strictly passing on what you know to the player.  Through robotic session delivery and long-winded game speeches, coaching can easily become like radio, transmitting only, never receiving.

When coaching, the flow of information has to be bi-directional, regardless of the age, gender or level.

Players have something to say and if you're not listening, you're missing out on very important indicators when it comes to assessing your group.

Stopping to listen is not a sign of weakness, but failing to listen is.  Allowing information to flow back to you and processing it properly will deepen your understanding of what your doing and strengthen the level of trust with your players.  It will raise your level of understanding with respect to the age and level you are working with.  (By using the information available through LTPD resources, you can build off the information already compiled by others.)