totally meaningless.
I disagree. Canada made it to the second round of the World Championships for the first time ever. That is not meaningless that shows improvements and a step in the right direction. In the end the ultimate goal is to win gold and thats the closest Canada has ever gotten to it. That is success.
If I am able to take Canada further than beanerz did in his term, then yes I consider that a success. If Canada manages to contend for a semifinal spot or claim a semifinal spot then we have once again gotten closer to the elusive gold trophy everyone wants. That is success.
Canada showed that we are good enough to compete with the second tier of teams in BB. Those teams ranked in the 6-20 range. Canada is one the best teams in that range. We are the highest ranked team from the Americas in that range, but the USA closely follows. Our run last season included wins over Italy, USA and a CT win over Spain. I think with our roster improving, and the current state of America teams that if we do not get a direct bid to the worlds, it would indeed be a failure. Whether or not we make it to the worlds through the repechage or not. My goal for next season is a silver or gold trophy in the continentals as we have the capabilities to do so as we proved last season.
You are right we have little to no chance to win the worlds. It would take a BB miracle and many of them for us to get even to the finals, but we are moving in the right direction. Those countries you mentioned with similiar or smaller userbases than Canada have had one thing that really helped and that was, a large majority of their users committed to the success of their NT in the same way that USAs U21 has heaps and heaps of staff and involvement. Canada lacks that with only 5-10 managers active on forums and 5-7 who even take part in discussions. Its not easy, but one way that Canada is going to turn into a powerhouse is through heavy involvement from many people. The number of older generation Canadian BB managers is decreasing so hopefully this new generation can take over and I want to lead them.
Through involvement from Canadian managers we can mold our roster into the type of team we want through training. Something that I look to try and do from constant communication.
We need managers who are notified of what is necessary for success. This starts from the ground up and I think getting a very serious mentor program going, following our lower leagues to catch the new teams as they are created and lead them into success in the game, will boost our chances of success in the future. What I am looking at doing is:
- A depth chart so people can measure their players and see what skills to shoot for and beat.
- Attempts at gaining interest in the NT, the offsite and BB in general.
- Constant communication with managers to make sure players are being trained in a way that'll benefit Canada.
- A serious mentor program aimed at success in the future.
As for keeping Canadian talent in Canada, we are pretty good at that. 13 of the 18 players currently on the roster are in Canada. That is something I look to try and continue and improve if we can. 18 out of 18 would be perfect, but obviously difficult.
Canada is in a good position to improve and I plan on attempting to guide Canada to a silver or gold trophy in the Americas and then following that up with a successful Worlds run and yes that means getting to the second round again, but doing better than last season.
I hope I answered your question. I think I started rambling :P