BTP #1 - Can Kevin Blue save the CSA?

^{This wasn’t supposed to be the first of these Behind the Play newsletters. I had two others written and was in the process of deciding which to use when the CSA Press Release came out on the weekend. So while this is not going to be a “Canadian Soccer Newsletter” it’s a highly relevant and timely bit of news so I’m going with it to launch this thing. Bonus one out Thursday will be Ten Things That Would Improve the Game. Thanks for signing up.}

The CSA is openly in crisis mode. Anyone who follows the game here is almost certainly aware of that. Supporters have gone from lamenting disappointing results on the field to shaking their heads at off-field decisions. That said, I am far less interested in pointing online fingers at who is to blame for this than discussing how it will get fixed and who’s going to lead that. Enter Kevin Blue.

Blue, the newly hired General Secretary for the CSA, is wasting no time in defining who he is and how he will approach the problem. Inheriting a very troubling financial mess, an onerous agreement with Canada Soccer Business and national teams that are on the brink of mutiny is not a scenario one can get proper on-boarding for but I’ve now seen three examples out the gate that indicate Blue is not going to be afraid of putting himself front and centre to effect badly needed change. The first was the video of him welcoming Dwayne de Rosario to the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame, the second was an email to all national team alumni for which I barely qualify and the last, and most notable is the lengthy press release the CSA put out outlining where we’re at and what he’s going to do about it. This will focus on the last of these three.

I like to use a little rubric I call ‘text, context, subtext’ personally and professionally when I’m dealing with difficult problems that relate to communication issues. It helps distinguish what was said from what was actually communicated and why. I’m going to make it an irregular part of these newsletters.

Using that, let’s break Blue’s release down to fully understand what he’s saying and what he’s subtly communicating beyond that.

Text (what was actually said)

This is a highly crafted piece. Every word in the first 30 seconds you’re reading is put to work to create a specific tone and message. Immediately, leadership, accountability and subject matter knowledge are established. No sugar coating but the context he adds here is critical.

Quickly then into details. Our finances are horrible compared to others. Comparisons are made with USSF and Australian federation finances along with noting that we are not an outlier within Canada at the NSO level as others in Canada are facing similar financial challenges. This generates trust and credibility out the gate. What adds to this is the clear, and likely intentional, lack of corporate jargon and marketing-speak. It communicates at a person to person level rather than a boss to plebs or CEO to consumers level.

The rationale for an increase in the amount that each registered player in the country pays from their club registrations fees is clearly presented along with the projects it will go towards.

Engagement with key stakeholders and national team players is also presented. This hits all key areas that need and are expected to be addressed as soon as possible.

Whether Blue wrote it himself or not isn’t that important. He would have had input and final approval so whether it was written by him or a communications firm doesn’t matter. They are the right words and he recognized that.

Context (the environment that those words exist within)

All of the above have been, or been seen to be, lacking at the CSA for some time now. Whether it was gaffes, incompetence or worse, the combined effect has been to erode confidence in the CSA as an organization and in the people charged with leading it. Instead of leveraging the women’s Olympic gold medal in 2021 and the men qualifying for their first World Cup since 1986 into a prolonged period of confidence, trust and increased revenues we became a case study in mismanagement and disarray.

We’ve had four people, technically, as General Secretary (effectively the CEO of the CSA) in just over a year and two Presidents with a CSA AGM coming up in early May. It makes it hard to know who has responsibility for what at a time when accountability is what people are demanding. It is now clear that it lays with Blue and his clarity on this gives him instant credibility. His actions will now determine if he can sustain that initial credibility.

Subtext (what was conveyed in addition to the text)

This is mainly about the press release but its worth noting that the video with DeRosario established that Blue was relatable, knowledgable and appreciative. Most of all though, it was genuine and generous as he allowed the spotlight to stay on DeRo with minimal interruptions. Atiba was the guest star brought in on the Zoom to congratulate his teammate. Blue stayed low key but present.

The first eight sentences of Blue’s release immediately convey leadership, accountability and subject matter knowledge. No sugar coating but the context he adds here is critical. Our finances are horrible compared to others but we are not an outlier within Canada at the NSO level. This generates trust and credibility out the gate. What adds to this is the clear, and likely intentional, lack of corporate jargon and marketing-speak. It communicates at a person to person level rather than a boss to plebs or CEO to consumers level.

Moving to the comparisons with other federation’s finances, here’s some context to the subtext. Australia is about two-thirds the size of Canada but has 1,421,804 registered players compared to Canada having, according to the CSA “just under one million”. This has somehow translated to the CSA losing $4m on $30m of expenses in 2022 and Australia having a $669k (C$591k) surplus on $112m in expenses.

So a third fewer people but over 40% more players and almost 4x the annual spend while posting a surplus. Not a good look for us but not one Blue is trying to hide.

What strikes you when reading the Football Australia 2022 financial report is the granularity of the information. Contrast this with the 2022 CSA Financial Statements and it’s alarming. When you take out the four pages of fluff (cover page and auditor’s report - four pages on each), Football Australia’s 2022 report is 51 pages and the CSA’s 2022 report is eleven. The subtext here is in a comparison of transparency regarding the finances, we are not nearly as forthcoming as Australia. Most of those extra pages are detailed explanatory notes for many line items presented.

Summary

What has been conveyed overall is that Blue is in control, knows what the situation is and is looking at the right information and engaging the right people to formulate a plan to get to the point where sustainability is attainable. This will allow the focus to start shifting from absurdities, embarrassments and calamities to healthy national teams, coach development programs and effective management of all other areas the CSA is charged with running.

Of course it will take far more than just a well-constructed press release but this is a good start. There’s many types of ‘smart.’ Blue is demonstrating several of these right at the start of his work with the CSA. Overhauling an organization to save it from potential oblivion while the general public is still looking for villains is a tough gig. It will remain tough for the first couple of years and Blue doesn’t have the luxury of time to build equity with stakeholders and potential commercial partners. There’s likely a lot of blue chip companies who’ve decided that the current state the CSA finds themselves in requires that they sit on the sidelines and not invest in a group with a substantial ‘image’ problem. If Blue can convince them otherwise, that and convincing the PSO’s (Provincial Sport Organizations like BC Soccer) to agree to a higher portion of registration fees flowing through to the CSA, will be a huge turnaround that will fund what should be more agreeable, and fair, remuneration and funding for our national teams. A reasonable showing at the Olympics, for the women, and the Copa America, for the men, this summer and we could be on our way to putting the darkness of the past two years behind us.

_{Thanks for subscribing to Behind The Play. Every week, in case you didn’t like the newsletter I’ll try to make sure you leave happy by linking to a song that you probably don’t know but might just like. Here’s today’s: Swell by the Jazz Butcher (Apple Music) (Spotify) (YouTube)}

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