On Wednesday, Canadas womens national team coach, John Herdman, announced his 18-player roster for Canadas upcoming friendly on June 2 against the United States at BMO Field in Toronto. The squad contains a few surprises (like the inclusion of American-born 21-year old defender Rachel Quon) but also some familiar faces; 14 players named were part of Canadas bronze-medal-winning team at last years Olympic Summer Games in London. One of those faces was Melissa Tancredi. If you watched Canada play in London last year, youd expect Tancredi to be one of the first names on Herdmans list for a game against the number one ranked team in womens soccer. The problem is, Tancredi is currently finishing chiropractic school in St. Louis and hasnt played soccer since the Olympics. This is not a criticism of Tancredis abilities; in my opinion, she was one of the star players in Canadas miraculous bronze-medal run last summer. But how can a player whose club affiliation is listed as "unattached" be deemed ready to play international football against the best team in womens football? That Herdman has called up Tancredi is neither a criticism of the coach nor of the player. It is an indictment on a broken, dysfunctional youth development system that does little, if anything, to produce a stream of talented players capable of playing at the elite level. Herdman has included Tancredi – despite the fact that she has not played a competitive match since the bronze medal game against France in August last year – because there is no one else that he can call. Thats right. No one else. "Id love to be able to say that in the experience weve had over the last three months that theres a whole barrel of young players that are able to step in at this point and grab senior shirts, but the barrel is pretty empty," said Herdman to the media via conference call when the squad was announced on Wednesday. In fact, such is the paucity of players coming through Canadas youth ranks that Herdman has had to turn to 21-year old Quon as an alternative. To compete at the international level, players must be technically skilled, tactically intelligent, physically dynamic and mentally strong. And the brutally honest truth is that the system of youth soccer in Canada does not produce these players. The win-at-all-costs system that is currently in place in most provinces allows youth coaches to recruit players to win trophies – as false a measure of success as is imaginable – rather than encouraging them to teach players the fundamentals they need to one day become the type of player coveted by coaches like Herdman. The result is a pool of players who are ill-equipped to compete at the international level. "The challenges at this stage are creating a youth system and a whole structure that can produce a conveyor belt of Canadian players that, when a player starts hitting the age of 30, weve already identified, tracked a Canadian player from as young as 13 through our system, prepared them with the right tools and skills to be the best that they can be. I think that its a major challenge for us all. Whether its a parent, whether its the provinces, whether its the national body, to be able to align that system. Until that system is in place, we get a 30-year old that is starting to come to the twilight years of her career, and you actually have to start looking in the U.S. for a player, because there isnt a Canadian, either with a left foot or that skill set that can maintain the pace of the modern game; tactically, physically, technically, and I think thats the challenge were facing," said Herdman. That is as realistic and accurate an assessment of the state of youth soccer in Canada as one is likely to come across. It is also a brutal wakeup call that reform is urgently needed. "In five, six years time, we should never have to do this, we shouldnt have to go and recruit players from other countries because our talent pool – our population base – is bigger than the majority of countries we play against. For me, its a no-brainer that long-term, we should be measuring ourselves on not having to go and pluck players out of the USA, and that is a reality for ourselves at this stage," said Herdman. [url= ,http://www.nflcheapwholesalejerseysstore.com/]nfl wholesale jerseys[/url] . The 29-year-old from Port Colborne, Ont., has nothing but good things to say about former U.S. marine Liz (Girlrilla) Carmouche ahead of their co-main event Wednesday on the UFCs "Fight for the Troops" televised card in Fort Campbell, Ky. cheap jerseys shop . Coach Tom Thibodeau says the former MVP will probably start travelling with the team in the next few weeks. Rose tore the meniscus in his right knee at Portland in November and was ruled out for the remainder of the season by the Bulls. http://www.nflcheapwholesalejerseysstore.com/ . -- Matt Kuchar and Harris English ran away with the Franklin Templeton Shootout, shooting a 14-under 58 on Sunday in the final-round scramble to break the tournament course record. wholesale stitched nfl jerseys . Manuel was offered a position the day he was fired. He accepted earlier this week and the team made the announcement Friday. wholesale authentic jerseys . The 43-year-old closer, in his 19th and final big league season, has said hed like to play the outfield. Yankees manager Joe Girardi says hes thinking about allowing Rivera to do it this weekend, when the Yankees finish their season with a three-game series at the Houston Astros. Match factsSeptember 23, 2016 Start time 8pm local (1600GMT)Big PicturePakistans stellar run in Test cricket culminated with their rise to No.1 in the ICCs rankings for the first time . In limited-overs cricket, however, they are way behind the pack: ninth in ODIs and seventh in T20Is. Their outdated style, based on a safety-first approach, has largely been responsible for their sharp nosedive.West Indies are behind the pack in Test cricket, but their attack-first approach in limited-overs cricket, especially in T20Is, has made them the heartthrobs of the shortest format. It resurfaced when they secured their second World T20 earlier this year in India.Their MVPs - Andre Russell and Chris Gayle - arent in either squad, but they still have the luxury of depth. Opener Evin Lewis shellacked a 48-ball ton against India in Lauderhill last month, the sixth fastest in T20Is. The uncapped players - Rovman Powell and Nicholas Pooran, who hit 143 out of West Indies Under-19s 208 at this venue two years ago at the World Cup - overcame a top-order flutter in the warm-up game against Emirates Cricket Board XI on Tuesday. Fast bowler Kesrick Williams, who bowled a sensational triple-wicket maiden in the CPL, is also in the mix.Pakistan dont have enough firepower, but Sarfraz Ahmeds calmness in a team filled with mercurial batsmen stands out. They also welcome back their highest run-getter in T20Is - Umar Akmal (1689 runs at a strike rate of 122.92). They showed some late sparks on the trip to the UK, but it remains to be seen if they can they convert it into a proper white-ball revival.Form guide(last five completed matches, most recent first)Pakistan WLLLW West Indies WWWLWIn the spotlightFormer Pakistan coach Waqar Younis was all for Umar regaining his berth in the national side following the World T20 if he showed domestic form. Umar has done just that, finishing as the leading run-getter in the National T20 Cup with 363 runs, including 34 in an over off Yasir Arafat, at an average and strike rate of 72.60 and 183.33. His cousin, Babar Azam, who was among those to receive glowing appraisals from coach Mickey Arthur after the England tour, seems a good investment.Finisher with bat, finisher with the ball. Excellent situational awareness. Dwayne Bravo is probably the most sought-after T20 player. Pakistan will have to be wary of the big dipping offcutter on sluggish surfaces the sides are likely to encounter in this series.Teams newsThe returning Umar iss a near-certainty in the XI, which means Mohammad Rizwan, who had played as a specialist batsman in the one-off T20 at Old Trafford, is likely to miss out.dddddddddddd Left-arm spinning allrounder Mohammad Nawaz, who claimed 4 for 26 to seal Karachi Blues tense National T20 Cup win, might push Hasan Ali and Saad Nasim out of the team.Pakistan (probable): 1 Sharjeel Khan, 2 Khalid Latif, 3 Babar Azam, 4 Umar Akmal, 5 Shoaib Malik, 6 Sarfraz Ahmed (capt & wk), 7 Imad Wasim, 8 Wahab Riaz, 9 Hasan Ali/Mohammad Nawaz/Saad Nasim, 10 Sohail Tanvir, 11 Mohammad AmirPooran will jostle with Powell for a middle-order slot thrown open by the absence of Lendl Simmons, who is out because of medial reasons. The other uncapped player in the squad- Williams - did not bowl or bat in the warm-up match. This suggests there will be a shootout between Jerome Taylor and Jason Holder for the seam bowling berth.West Indies (probable): 1 Johnson Charles, 2 Evin Lewis, 3 Marlon Samuels, 4 Andre Fletcher(wk), 5 Rovman Powell/Nicholas Pooran, 6 Kieron Pollard, 7 Carlos Brathwaite(capt), 8 Dwayne Bravo, 9 Sunil Narine, 10 Samuel Badree, 11 Jerome Taylor/Jason HolderPitch and conditionsPowell had said that the surface for the practice game was dry and slow. A similar surface is expected for the first T20I. Friday is expected to be a sunny day with the temperature nudging towards 40 degrees. However, It is likely to drop to 33 degrees at night.Stats and triviaSohail Tavir needs three wickets to become the fourth Pakistan bowler, after Shahid Afridi, Umar Gul and Saeed Ajmal, to reach 50 wickets in T20IsBravo is the second-highest wicket-taker in T20s this year with 63 scalps in 54 matches. Russell tops the list with 68 wickets in 51 matchesPakistan have lost seven out of 12 T20Is in 2016. West Indies, meanwhile, have lost only one of eight T20Is this year.QuotesEven though Pakistan has not been playing international cricket in our country we have played very good sides and beaten them in their home conditions.Pakistan batsman Shoaib MalikI always thought I will play for West Indies when I was 21. I am 20 at the moment. While I was a youngster, I watched these guys win two World Cups… Just trying to take the opportunity and make the full use of it. If things go my way, I will be very entertaining.West Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Nicholas Pooran Cheap Authentic Jerseys Discount NFL Jerseys Wholesale NFL Camo Jerseys Cheap NFL Autographed Jerseys China Jerseys Wholesale Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Store China Jerseys Wholesale Wholesale Throwback Jerseys Cheap Stitched Jerseys China NFL Hoodies Cheap Authentic Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys China Camo China NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China ' ' '