38 — Wednesday, July 22, 1998 — North Shore News

~-

IN these times of glob-
alization, the World
Cup tournament in
France merely reiterated
that soccer is the most
globalized of all team
sports,

.Were the proper research
Jaid on, it would probably dis-
Cover a premier penguin
league somewhere in the
Antarctic wasteland.

Certainly not as far-
fetched, but something that
might have raised nothing but
laughter a few years ago, is the
possibility the Vancouver
86ers will become, before the
century is out, a fully owned
subsidiary of one of the
world’s most distinguished
clubs, Ajax of Amsterdam.

This went unmentioned
last week in a story in the
Vancouver dailies about a pos-
sible alliance between the
famous Dutch team and the

. A-League 86ers. If the con-
nection is made, it will be
more than an alliance. The

. 86ers will become Ajax of

Vancouver, owned and operat-
ed from Amsterdam head-
quarters, which will supply the
coaching and player develop-
ment expertise.

No, this isn’t an official
announcement. It’s your
agent’s take on the situation,
based on a story in the busi-
ness section of a recent edition
of a noted overseas daily, The
European. It quotes Maarten
Oldenhof, Ajax managing
director, as follows:

“We want to boost the
image of Ajax all over the

id and so Ajax will buy a
‘number of football clubs with-
in the next two years. We are
looking at North and South
America, Australia and South
Africa.

north shore news

© SPORTS
Would you believe Ajax of Vane uver?

“We will give them the
Ajax name and run them
according to our philosophies.
Ajax will send its own coaches
out there. They will then train
and educate the exceptional
talents from those countries
and those clubs.”

Qldenhof added that turds
will be available to help youth
systems that pick out talented
youngsters and train them in
the “Ajax way.”

Vancouver is in the Ajax
globalization picture fer a
couple of reasons. One of
them is Bart Choufour, the
86ers’ youth development
director, who has spent the
last six years coaching Lower
Mainland youth teams. He
grew up in Holland, earned a
phys-ed degree there and
spent part of last April with
Ajax, studying the club’s
development system.

He's the connection. And
when he told the Ajax director
of youth development, a chap
named Hans Westerhof, there
are 80,000 kids playing youth
soccer in B.C., he immediately
supplied a second reason.
With that much caw material

in the area, Westerhof decided
he'd like to have a good look.

He and a couple of Ajax
youth coaches will case the
youth soccer scene here in
October. If they think this is a
fertile nursery ground, vou
can bet Ajax will move to
acquire the 86ers and establish
a development base here.

Meanwhile, in preparation
for the visit, Choufour and a
team of Lower Mainland
youth coaches will run 3 talent
identification program at
UBC's Wolfson Fields from
Aug. 4 to 20. Small boys from
age cight to 16 with big
dreams and a willingness to
work hard are being sought.
For more information, phone
Choufour at 943-1548.

The foregoing comes
under the heading of enlight-
ened self-interest. Ajax is not
so much out to spread the
soccer gospel as it is to spread
its recruiting net. Recognized
as having the best domestic
youth development program
in Europe, it now wants to do
the same thing overseas and
hopefully harvest some keep-

It will cost them a bit of
money, but that’s no problem,
given that the club recently
went public, issuing five mil-
lion shares priced at 25
guilders (about $20
Canadian). Ajax will keep 73%
and its 42,000 season ticket
holders have snapped up the
remainder — about $27 mil-
hon worth. It should go a
long way towards financing
overseas ventures.

As the old bromide gocs,
what you lose on the round-
abouts, you gain on the
swings. Players in Europe now
have freedom of movement
and contract. In the last two
seasons a number of top play-
ers have gone to Italy without
Ajax receiving a guilder.

Two reasons why the top
guys are moving on: Holiand
has only 15 million people,
thus players make much less in
merchandising than they can
in more populous Italy,
Germany or England. Then
there’s Dutch income tax,
70% at the upper levels. It ties
Holland with Sweden as the
highest in Europe

But the news is not all bad.

The club is now in a position
to hand out shares to the play-
ers and the coaching statf as
part of a bonus system with
tax reliefs. Nonetheless, play-
ers will continue to move and
Ajax will need more than just
a domestic development sys-
tem to keep the pipeline full.
Thercin lies an opportunity -
for B.C. youth playcrs to
attract the attention vf one of
the top club sides in the
world; to benefit from
Europe's 's best elite develop-
ment system. If one B.C. kid
were to make it to the big,
team in the next 10 years Ajax
would be a winner. :
There would be winners
here, toc. Such as the youths:
who might never turn pro but /
could translate the develop- :"
ment experience inte athletic
scholarships; a re-named atid ;
more attractive 86ers! frat
chise; and Canadian soccer
general, currently ranked B0th

for the club from Amsterdam.

he Vancouver International medy Festival
5 . MS OPR aoe a

THE WONDERBREAD YEARS
“One of the five funniest people

jt America" - Showtime Network
Pat Hazell has appeared with leay
Seinfeld, Jay Leno and Rodney
Dangerfield. Best known for his humour
based on childhood nostalgia, he invites
us all to reminisce about the joys of the
sugar high.”

With the attitude and demeanor of an
eight-year-old, he takes us back to the
days of Etch-A-Sketch, green army men,
Easy Bake ovens and station wagons
with fake wood paneling.

Vancouver
tntervir tional”

: fie 22-AUGUST 2
g CHR
Locnoe ro

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