calgary 12 Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 Calgary Rangers announce new partnership with Glasgow Rangers Football Clubhttp://calgaryrangers.com/news.php?news_id=910046 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ofb1988 61 Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 Tour the surrounding area? There in for a fuckin shock Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandy74 20 Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 Tour the surrounding area? There in for a fuckin shockMaybe they are selling it as safari and the Rangers they are talking about are armed Park Rangers. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeparateEntityMyArse 53,613 Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 Good stuff.More opportunities to tap into potential at minimal cost I hope. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Creampuff 22,628 Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 Good news . Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
72barca 1,788 Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 I lived in Edmonton for twenty plus years but that sounds like great work by the Calgary club. It's a win-win situation. The kids in a few years will get to mingle with personnel from a CL club and the Western Canadian leagues will be opened up to the Glasgow Rangers' scouts. Well done, Calgary. Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal next. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamieG54 812 Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 Look at our training etc? they will only need to pencil in 45 mins at the pitch but two hour in nandos Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inigo 32,526 Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 At last. Hopefully the start of more of this kind of groundwork. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WadeWilson 4,670 Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 Canada seems to be a hotbed of ex-pat Bears and this is certainly a market that should be tapped into far more than we currently do. We really have to try and keep the second and third generations of this particular demographic interested too. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ukrainian 51 Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 Well done, Calgary!Hello from Edmonton! Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
weshallnotbemoved! 714 Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 Good to see. Good people the Canadians. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wully 47,189 Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 Will be a waste of time like all the other 'links' we have had. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
allgers 735 Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 Tour the surrounding area? There in for a fuckin shockWe are talking about Canadians here, Edinburghs the surrounding area. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyrshireBlue 449 Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 Just a shame their all shite at fitba.Has there EVER been a half decent Canadian footballer? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
72barca 1,788 Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 Just a shame their all shite at fitba.Has there EVER been a half decent Canadian footballer?Dickhead. I suppose all the worldbeaters come from Glasgow, eh? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Getstiffed 8,863 Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 Dickhead. I suppose all the worldbeaters come from Glasgow, eh?Ay fuck you buddy! Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RFC55 108,712 Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 Dickhead. I suppose all the worldbeaters come from Glasgow, eh?Hahaha ffs. Simmer doon. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Soprano 13,964 Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 Ay fuck you buddy!Hahahaha. I'm not your buddy, pal! Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kplfishtank 4,656 Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 Dickhead. I suppose all the worldbeaters come from Glasgow, eh?there is a thread about abusive posts toward other posters, can you read it please Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kplfishtank 4,656 Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 Ay fuck you buddy!and you read the thread on abuse to other posters please Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Getstiffed 8,863 Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 and you read the thread on abuse to other posters pleaseCanada. Terrence and Phillip. South Park. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Getstiffed 8,863 Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 Hahahaha. I'm not your buddy, pal!I'm not your pal guy! Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
siddiqi_drinker 14,635 Posted March 17, 2014 Share Posted March 17, 2014 Just a shame their all shite at fitba.Has there EVER been a half decent Canadian footballer?OP posts a positive message and all the negative diddies jump in with asinine comments, ironically many of the same 'nega-ninnies' who post during matches. Seems nothing the club does or tries to do is ever good enough.As for Canadian players any of these three, off the top of my head, Tomasz Radzinski (Everton), Junior Hoilett (Blackburn) Craig Forrest (Ipswich) would be good enough for most SPL clubs. Yes Radzinski was born in Poland but was raised in Canada and developed there as a youth football player Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSM 2 Posted March 17, 2014 Share Posted March 17, 2014 ...and the Western Canadian leagues will be opened up to the Glasgow Rangers' scouts. Western Canadian leagues? Like... beer leagues? There are only five professional football clubs in the entire country! [Toronto FC, Vancouver Whitecaps, Montreal Impact, FC Edmonton, Ottawa Fury. That's it.]Soccer is considered a game for children - men play Hockey or CFL/NFL Football. It's going to be a long, arduous process overcoming that stigma. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
72barca 1,788 Posted March 17, 2014 Share Posted March 17, 2014 I don't know where you are in Canada, but I was coaching kids in the mid- to late-eighties when my own kids were coming up in the Edmonton area. I've seen tremendous growth in minor soccer since then. You must know that kids play hockey in the winter and now more and more of them are choosing soccer as their summer sport.Now as a comparison for you, how many Canadian kids are in the NHL, literally hundreds, and yet we only have 7 teams in Canada in the 30 team NHL. With the amount of money kids can make in the major sports in North America, of course it is hard for kids to see soccer as a future career. That doesn't mean it should not be promoted as much as we can and why the Calgary Rangers are to be lauded for their initiative with this Rangers tie-in.There is a lot of talent in Canada just waiting to be developed, and that's why Rangers are getting in on the ground floor. There are two Canadian kids with Rangers already - Fraser Aird and Luca Gasparotto. Both of these kids were developed in the Ontario minor soccer programme. Remember too, that Maurice Edu was playing with Toronto FC when Mo Johnston recommended him to Rangers. It certainly can be done and nobody says it will be easy, but it is happening already and we just need to push more.Here is a video on Aird along with a Toronto Star article ... Sports / Soccer Scarborough teen signed by Scottish giant Rangers FC It's the perfect fit for Fraser Aird, 16, who inherited a love of the Glasgow-based club from his family. TANNIS TOOHEY / TORONTO STAR Order this photo Fraser Aird, 16, trains with his soccer team at the Ontario Soccer Association National Training Centre. Aird has signed a pro contract with Rangers of the Scottish Premier League. By: Daniel Girard Sports Reporter, Published on Thu Feb 10 2011 Like countless other Canadian-born kids with parents who hail from Europe, Fraser Aird inherited his favourite sports team. Rangers FC was the choice in Aird’s Scarborough home, the inevitable byproduct of having both a father and a maternal grandpa who were longtime season ticket holders at Ibrox Stadium, the club’s Glasgow ground. Growing up, it meant regular, early-morning outings to see Scottish Premier League games on satellite. There were live looks too, when the team made pre-season tours to Toronto. Annual conventions were also part of the mix, as his parents belonged to the North American Rangers Supporters Association. But in addition to becoming a diehard Rangers fan, Fraser Aird also developed into a talented soccer player. So good, in fact, that the 16-year-old is off to Scotland Sunday after signing a professional contract with the club. “It’s a childhood dream,” Aird says. “I’ve always wanted to do this.” An attacking midfielder with speed and an eye for goal, Aird will initially join Rangers’ Under-17 side. But club officials expect him to move quickly to the Under-19s, which is the third squad behind the first team and reserves. “He’s a talented footballer with good technical ability,” says Jim Sinclair, who as director of the Rangers’ Murray Park Academy oversees all club sides but the first team. “He has a wee bit of the Scot in him. He’s gritty. He’s direct.” But in addition to liking Aird’s playing style, Sinclair said by phone from Glasgow that the Rangers staff also feels he’s the type of person who will “relish the challenge and hard work ahead” in adjusting to life as a young pro. “There’s no point in bringing him across such a distance and being unsure how resilient he’ll be,” Sinclair says. Aird, a Grade 10 student at Albert Campbell Collegiate Institute in Scarborough, has already shown a fair measure of resiliency in pursuing an overseas soccer career. Rangers is the third club he’s been on trial with. Thanks in part to the connections of Sanford Carabin, his agent and one-time coach, Aird had a trial in 2008 with Celtic FC, who’ve engaged Rangers in a century-old, cross-town rivalry that has sometimes blurred sports with religion (Celtic is known as a Catholic club, while Rangers has Protestant roots). The trial at Celtic, and a first with Rangers last October, were funded by the Aird family. A 2009 trial with second-tier English side Burnley FC and a second trip to Rangers prior to the contract offer were paid for by the clubs. “He’s got a chance that a million other kids would love,” says Bill Aird, 59, a transportation engineer with the City of Toronto. “Now, it’s up to him to make the most of it.” Before immigrating to Canada in 1987, Bill Aird spent a half-dozen years attending every Rangers game, home and away, including European competitions. He says the prospect of his son playing for the club is “unbelievable, really.” The elder Aird, a Protestant, insists he would have been thrilled if Fraser signed with any club, including Celtic, as this has always been about sports, not religion. The key is the young man gets to pursue his dream. “I’m very proud of what he’s achieved,” says Bill Aird, who rarely misses one of Fraser’s games or practices. “The fact he’s going to Rangers is doubly good for me but as a family, we feel it’s an opportunity that he needs to take right now. “We don’t want to look back a few years from now and say: ‘What if?’” After two training stints with Rangers, Fraser Aird knows that’s where he wants to be. In addition to billeting with a family and continuing his high school education, he’ll train each day at the same facility as the club’s stars. “It pushes you more because that’s what you want to achieve,” he says of watching the first team train, or lifting weights alongside its players. Aird began playing at age 3 at North Scarborough Soccer Club, suiting up with older brother Cameron and other five-year-olds. He continued to play against older kids until joining the Markham Lightning in the 2008 season. “He’s just clearly one step ahead of everybody at all times,” says Dino Cramarossa, who coached Aird for three seasons from 2008 to 2010, including 2009 when the Lightning won the league, playoff and Ontario Cup Under-14 titles before losing the national final in Nova Scotia on penalties. “For most guys, the game speeds up when they get around the 18-yard box. For him, it slows down and that’s a gift.” Cramarossa says Aird, who is 5-foot-8 and 145 pounds, is tremendously quick with the ball, and thrives on running at opponents and beating them one-on-one. He adds that Aird can not only score with both feet but is also mentally tough, very independent and “just hates to lose”. “He’s got everything it takes,” Cramarossa says. Fraser Aird knows there’s still a long way to go — and a lot of hard work to do — before he’s ready to trot out with the first team at Ibrox. But, in addition to being anxious to get his Rangers career started, he’s also looking forward to being a regular at the stadium, indulging his passion for the club as a fan. “It’ll be fun. I’ll sit there and watch and think: ‘One day, that could be me.’” Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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