Charmaine Crooks was officially elected as president of Canada Soccer on Saturday, promising to unify the membership and bring the sport “back to its rightful place.”
The former Olympic track star beat out former Canada Soccer vice-president Rob Newman for the top elected job at the governing body’s annual meeting in Saint John, N.B. Crooks had been elevated to interim president from vice-president in late February after Nick Bontis resigned, acknowledging change was needed to achieve labour peace with the Canadian men’s and women’s national teams.
Crooks says the message from the members was clear.
“I heard consistently how trust, transparency and building better communication was one of the paths forward to ensure that we have a stable strong organization that all Canadians can be proud of,” Crooks said in an interview.
“I want to help bring people together to unite and to really modernize our organization to take it to the next level,” she added.
Crooks will have a year to impress, given that is the time that Bontis’ appointment would have lasted. There will be another election a year from now, this time for a full four-year term.
The membership also agreed that, in the future, being a board member is not a requirement for running for president.
Crooks will have to win over the players, who urged provincial federation leaders prior to the meeting to vote for change. And Canada’s sport minister Pascale St-Onge has said the federal government is looking at the tools it can use to investigate Canada Soccer, including the potential for an audit of the organization’s finances.
Crooks faces a high-profile test on Thursday when she is expected to appear on Parliament Hill before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage.
Canada Soccer’s annual meeting of the members, which runs through Sunday, also saw Project 8, the group putting together a domestic women’s league, get sanctioned.
“Today, it’s been historic for women’s football,” said Crooks, the first woman elected president of Canada Soccer and one of only three in CONCACAF.
Former Canadian international Diana Matheson, who is spearheading Project 8, is planning an eight-team league to kick off in 2025 with franchises in Calgary, Toronto and Vancouver having already signed on.
Project 8, in a statement, called it a “historic (first) moment for women and girls at all levels of soccer in Canada — both on and off the field.”
“This has been a long and heartfelt journey, and we are excited about what is next for Canadians,” the statement continued. “Excited about the genuine pathways for women and girls in sports — whether that’s as players, coaches, referees or professionals.
“We’re excited that there is an opportunity for our talent to stay in Canada and we’re especially excited by how inspired and motivated Canadians are by this league. We know there’s a lot of work ahead of us to establish a professional infrastructure and ecosystem, and the next few years will be crucial to our success, but today we secured our destination.”
Crooks, a five-time Olympian who earned silver in the 4×400 track relay at the 1984 Los Angeles Games, has been on the Canada Soccer board since 2012-13 and served as vice-president since January 2021.
Newman served on Canada Soccer’s board for 10 years (2002-03 to 2011-12), including four years as vice-president (2008-09 to 2011-12). A former president of Saskatchewan Soccer, he is currently president and CEO of B.C. Sport.
When Crooks was elevated to interim president, the Canada Soccer board named Kelly Brown as acting vice-president.
Brown, elected as Canada Soccer independent director in 2020, opted not to run for VP and Paul-Claude Berube won the position over Dale Briggs in Saturday’s vote.
There were three other board positions on the ballot.
Don Story, the incumbent for Manitoba/Saskatchewan/Nunavut, was acclaimed.
With Bob Richardson (Ontario) and Karen MacNeill (Alberta/Northwest Territories) not seeking re-election, Don Rossi was elected Ontario board member and Orest Konowalchuk was voted in to represent Alberta.
Canada Soccer did not release the vote totals in announcing the results.
The board now stands as 13 — 12 plus Crooks — with the Quebec position open now that Berube, who has been a board member since 2015-16, has shifted to vice-president.
There has been change at Canada Soccer, as well as a spotlight on the governing body.
Earl Cochrane announced last month he was stepping down as general secretary, the top staff position in the organization. Former Canada captain Jason deVos, a Canada Soccer Hall of Famer who is currently Canada Soccer’s director of development, has been named interim general secretary.
Bontis, Cochrane, Berube, Canada Soccer chief financial officer Sean Heffernan and former president Steven Reed have already testified before the parliamentary committee, as have Canada captain Christine Sinclair and fellow national team players Sophie Schmidt, Janine Beckie and Quinn, who goes by one name.
There were 85 votes up for grabs among the members at the annual meeting, divided primarily by geography — with 10 each for Ontario and Quebec, eight each for Alberta and British Columbia, four each for Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan, three each for Manitoba and Nova Scotia, and two each for Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Nunavut, Northwest Territories and Yukon.
The other 25 votes came from the players (two votes, one from each national team), Canada’s leagues and professional clubs (21), referees (one) and coaches (one).
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 6, 2023
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.
It won’t be an easy assignment.
Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.
“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”
Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”
Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.
After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.
“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”
Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.
“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.
A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.
“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”
But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.
“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”
Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”
“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.
Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.
“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”
While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.
“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”
The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.
“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
