From the Black Hole

It's part of the foundation of this podcast to poke fun at ourselves and where we are from, the so-called 'Black Hole of Soccer' i.e. the prairies. And although it may seem that there's not a lot going on, look closer and you'll find that you're so wrong. That's why we have decided to do a series on some of the things that are happening in our home province of Saskatchewan. The number of podcasts will be determined by how many people we can sweet-talk into joining us for a conversation and the timing of the podcasts will be determined largely by their schedules. First up is the Saskatchewan Soccer Association's Director of Soccer Operations, Dave Nutt. Dave updates us on the progress of a Prairie High Performance League, possible partnerships with neighbouring provinces and changes to players' developmental pathway in Saskatchewan.

We were very lucky to be visiting Winnipeg and have the chance to sit down with Canadian Men's U20 head coach Rob Gale. The interview is in two parts, the first of which we recorded over beers in Winnipeg and the second over Skype. Rob is a very engaging character and touched on many of the initiatives being undertaken by the CSA and his many experiences coaching and scouting Canadian youth.

The Ontario soccer landscape has dramatically changed over the last several years. Dino Rossi joins us to discuss two of Ontario's major initiatives, OPDL and League 1 Ontario.

In our latest episode we have the great fortune of welcoming Clare Rustad to the podcast. Clare leads us through her development as a player and soccer analyst and also discusses her views on the state of women's soccer development in Canada. As an added bonus, she scores all the points against Jeff with a flurry of zingers!

It wasn't the most confidence inspiring display, but our Canadian Men's Soccer Team is moving on to the next round of World Cup Qualifying after defeating Belize in a two-legged tie over the previous several days. Both Lars and Jeff are back to discuss the result and they are joined by Lee Kormish (Mad Bull) and Mike Crampton (Maestro) who add to a comprehensive reaction to these latest games.

On our latest episode we were lucky enough to spend some time with Orlando City SC assistant coach Mark Watson. Mark has a wealth of experience as a player in the former CSL, England, Sweden, and MLS, has coached with the Canadian National Teams, and has also been both a head coach and an assistant coach in MLS. He joined us to discuss his career as a coach and player, his views on developing Canadian coaches, his experience during Orlando City's inaugural season, and gives us some insight into MLS Rookie of the Year candidate, Canada's Cyle Larin.

From the Black Hole Episode 54: Canadian Pro-Team Mid-Season Check-In With all of the Canadian Women's and Men's national team soccer going on this summer, we have neglected the Canadian Pro Clubs so we felt it was time o check in on them. So we twisted the arms of several willing souls to join us on the podcast and talk about the clubs in their cities. All of our guests also contribute to various soccer media such as podcasts or blogs. Our guests were from East to West: Kevin Laramee - IMFC Kendra and Ryan Shannon - OFFC Ian Clarke - TFC Nathan Terlesky and Adam Huber - FCE Kasey Hunter - VWFC

What do you do when the Women's World Cup, PanAm Games and Gold Cup are over and World Cup Qualifying is on a break? Fill the gap in your soccer emptiness with podcasting of course! In this episode we welcome Bobby McMahon back to the podcast. Most people in the soccer world know Bobby from his time on Fox Soccer Report but he also has a great deal of expertise in Sports Event Management through his consulting business. In the aftermath of the Women's World Cup we thought it would be important to examine its success or failure as an event and Bobby has the perfect credentials to do so. As an added and timely bonus Bobby gives us his take on the prospects of a Canada-wide professional league.

Even though the summer of soccer is over for us at FTBH, and even though we have already dealt with many of the topics in Episode 51, it seemed appropriate, especially given the number of high profile competitions in Canada this year, that we give these a little more airtime. Enter a guy who never has a shortage of things to say on Canadian soccer topics, Daniel Squizzato. To the uninitiated it might seem strange to have as our longest single podcast (and it is coming in at a little over two hours) be filled primarily with one person talking. And it's true that Squizz is notoriously long-winded. However, there are few people in the Canadian soccer media landscape that combine the ability to synthesize an argument, the talent to write or speak in an intelligent yet accessible way, and the passion for the sport in this country quite like Squizz. Two hours but worth every second.

It's been quite the summer so far. Busy and exciting and sometimes painful. On the good side, we have had the densest concentration of Canadian team soccer games likely in Canada's history. On the bad side, being so busy trying to travel to these has made it very difficult to do any podcasting. But finally we have put together our 51st episode. It is a long rambling and crazy thing. Here is a list of the different topics we've attempted to discuss: 1) We discuss the Women's World Cup and its aftermath (although we really intend to do a more in depth treatment of this in the future). 2) We recorded a segment in the middle of the Canada vs Jamaica Gold Cup game at the Touchdown Pub in Hamilton. Joining us were Sam Gregory, James Hutton, Richard Wyatt, and Caroline Duthie. We also recorded while dejectedly walking toward the stadium in Hamilton hoping that the Canadian Women's PanAm team would be cathartic. 3) In the aftermath of the women's PanAm game versus Ecuador we had the great fortune of meeting Mel