This time of year I usually create a New Years wish list for Canadian soccer – what Id like to see happen within the game over the next twelve months. However, this year youll have to wait a little while longer. The Canadian Soccer Association is planning to unveil its brand new 2014-2018 strategic plan sometime in January 2014. If that document contains what Ive heard it contains, many of my wishes for Canadian soccer are about to become reality. Renewed investment in technical leadership? Check. Increased investment in coaching development? Check. National training curriculum? Check. Standards-based leagues across the country? Check. Alignment of governance structures? Check. Either I missed Christmas this year, or Santa has decided to pay Canadian soccer an early visit in 2014. Granted, a strategic plan is only a document; words on paper that need to be turned into action. But for the first time in its over one hundred year history, the CSA will have a simple and concise road map that will serve as its compass for the next five years. The process of formulating the strategic plan was a comprehensive one for the CSA. The strategic planning committee, chaired by Dr. Nick Bontis (Twitter: @NickBontis), went to unprecedented lengths to ensure that every angle was covered and that an exhaustive review of all stakeholders was achieved. Another CSA first, the methodology for developing the plan was entirely inclusive. Starting over 14 months ago, they met with John Herdman, coach of our Olympic bronze medal-winning womens team, Tony Fonseca, the national technical director, as well as with the technical directors of all of the provincial associations. They drew on best practices from soccer nations who share characteristics with Canada, as well as from other sports that are achieving success in Canada. They conducted numerous town hall interviews across the country with subject matter experts to ensure that the top strategic priorities were included in the plan. For the first time in CSA history, they also conducted a large-scale quantitative survey – offering the whole Canadian soccer community a chance to have their say on what was important to them. The survey drew an impressive 3000 respondents from coast to coast. The more information the committee gathered, the clearer the picture became. Certain priorities started percolating to the top of the list. Critically important issues like player development, coaching development and the performance of our national teams ranked highly amongst the technical priorities. Increased media coverage, increased corporate sponsorship and more high-quality international matches on domestic soil were some of the top organizational priorities. While increased communication and policy development and implementation were some of the top administrative priorities. The final document promises to be simple and concise – no more than 2,300 words in length - and will contain four strategic pillars: investment in technical leadership, improved national team performance, responsible growth of the game, and professional governance of our sport. Within these categories are 26 strategic elements in total. Some of these elements will be familiar to you: like the continued adoption of LTPD as a developmental framework. Meanwhile, others are truly groundbreaking. If successful, they could drastically alter our ability to improve the game across the country for years to come. Ill have more on this in the weeks ahead, as some of these unique strategic elements require deeper discussion. For now, I want to wish you all a Happy New Year – there are better times ahead for soccer in Canada in 2014! Nike Air Force 1 Pánské Levně . Riethers apparent stamp on Manchester United midfielder Adnan Januzaj during Saturdays Premier League match at Craven Cottage was missed by the match officials. A three-man panel of former referees reviewed the incident and all agreed that it was a sending-off offence. Nike Air Force 1 Pánské . Adding playoff teams. Monitoring instant replay from league headquarters. Possibly creating a set of guidelines to prevent locker-room bullying. http://www.airforce1levne.com/ . Left back Armero opened the scoring in the fifth minute when his deflected shot rolled past Greece goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis. Striker Teofilo Gutierrez poked in Colombias second goal from a deflected corner in the 58th and James Rodriguez capped it off with a low shot in stoppage time after a slick backheel flick from Juan Cuadrado. Nike Air Force 1 Pánské Levně . - Considering where Jeff Gordon was after Richmond, left out of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship in part due to some late-race shenanigans, he couldnt have been happier on Sunday. Nike Tanjun Pánské . The 40-year-old midfielder was put in charge on Tuesday when David Moyes reign ended after 10 months with the defending champions in seventh place in the English Premier League. DETROIT -- If Justin Verlander is beginning to round into form, Detroits starting rotation may indeed be the envy of the rest of baseball. Verlander equaled his longest outing of the season, pitching eight solid innings to lift the Tigers to a 4-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Friday night. A day after the AL Central-leading Tigers traded for star left-hander David Price, Verlander allowed two runs and eight hits, striking out five without a walk. "I was getting some big outs when I needed to," Verlander said. "I was able to limit the damage and keep us ahead." The Tigers now have the American Leagues last three Cy Young Award winners -- Verlander, Price and Max Scherzer. The catch is that Verlander (10-9) hasnt pitched particularly well this season, but he lowered his ERA to 4.66 with Fridays effort. Joe Nathan pitched the ninth for his 22nd save in 27 chances, retiring Charlie Blackmon on a flyout with two on to end it. Franklin Morales (5-6) allowed three runs and six hits in six innings. He walked four and struck out two. The Rockies have lost five of six. Colorado right fielder Carlos Gonzalez left the game after aggravating his sprained right ankle making a sliding catch in the fifth. Detroit scored three runs in the fifth, with Rajai Davis two-run single breaking a 0-0 tie. With Verlander pitching well, the Rockies brought the infield in with men on second and third and one out, but Davis single up the middle helped the Tigers to a big inning. "We cant play it safe. Were going to roll the dice," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. "In some situations with two runners in scoring position, you concede the one run. But in the position were in, were going to go for it. Davis found a hole. Id do it again every time." Ian Kinsler added an RBI double to make it 3-0. Verlander has won 14 straight regular-season decisions against National League teams. He took a shutout into the seventh inning Friday before allowing an RBI single to Wilin Rosario. With men on first and thirdd, Josh Rutledge hit a grounder to third, and Brandon Barnes scored on a close play at the plate.dddddddddddd Verlander then struck out the next two hitters to end the threat, and Victor Martinez gave Detroit an insurance run with an RBI single in the bottom half. Barnes struck out swinging on Verlanders 101st and final pitch. Verlander had thrown eight innings only one other time this season, on April 6 against Baltimore. DEEP FLYBALLS: Verlander was fortunate early on. Left fielder J.D. Martinez reached up and made a catch at the wall on Nolan Arenados flyball in the first. In the second, Davis ran down Drew Stubbs drive near the 420-foot marker in centre. "Its a funny game the way it works," Verlander said. "They hit a few balls hard in the first couple innings, and then in the seventh, they didnt hit hardly any hard, and got like four or five hits that inning." TOUGH LOSS: Colorado has gone nine straight games with its starter allowing three runs or fewer, but Morales was done in by that fifth inning. "All my pitches I was locating," he said. "That fifth inning my good pitches led to groundballs and thats the way it goes. Sometimes you have no luck." TRAINERS ROOM Rockies: Gonzalez slid into the wall while making a terrific catch on Victor Martinezs foul flyball, then limped off the field. He was replaced by Barnes. Right-hander Jordan Lyles (broken left hand) is eligible to come off the disabled list Monday, and Weiss says he could be slotted in to pitch at some point next week. Tigers: Detroit activated left-handed reliever Patrick McCoy from the DL, but he did not pitch. He was sidelined since July 6 because of a pulled right hamstring. UP NEXT Rockies: Left-hander Tyler Matzek (2-5) will start Saturday night against Detroit. He pitched seven scoreless innings in his most recent start, July 26 against Pittsburgh. He also made a relief appearance Tuesday. Tigers: Rick Porcello (12-5) tries for his 13th win, which would match his total for all of 2013. ' ' '