Links - Whitecaps Impact to form breakaway league - North River Minor Hockey Association

Whitecaps Impact to form breakaway league News Sports Entertainment Radio TV My Region Member Centre Login Sign UpHalifax (Shearwater) Change City7c Tomorrow1c Flurries or rain showers Hockey Headlines Scoreboard Standings Stats NHL Schedule Teams Players Hockey Night in Canada Highlights Fantasy Pool FIFA World Cup Vancouver Now Football Headlines CFL Scoreboard CFL Standings CFL Stats CFL Teams NFL Scoreboard NFL Standings NFL Stats NFL Teams NFL Players Video Alpine Skiing Curling Figure Skating Basketball NBA Scoreboard Standings Stats Teams Players Basketball News Feed Baseball MLB Scoreboard Standings Stats Teams Players Baseball News Feed Soccer MLS Scoreboard MLS Standings International Stats Soccer News Feed Amateur Sports Golf Tennis Auto Racing LICENSE EMAIL PRINT Text Size S M L XL REPORT TYPO SEND YOUR FEEDBACK Whitecaps Impact to form breakaway leagueLast Updated Tuesday November 10 2009 411 PM ET By John F Molinaro CBC Sports Bob Lenarduzzi who played for Canada at the 1986 World Cup is president of the breakaway Vancouver Whitecaps (Darryl DyckCanadian Press)The owners of six soccer clubs including the Vancouver Whitecaps and Montreal Impact announced Tuesday that they plan to leave the USL1 and form their own breakaway leagueThe new league will begin play in April 2010 the Whitecaps confirmedThe other USL teams are the Atlanta Silverbacks Carolina RailHawks Miami FC and the Minnesota Thunder Also involved in the new league is St Louis Soccer United a soccer investment and development group dedicated to bringing a pro soccer team to the city of St LouisThe six USL team owners collectively known as the Team Owners Association (TOA) submitted an application on Monday to the United States Soccer Federation for sanctioning of the new league A similar application for sanctioning will be submitted to the Canadian Soccer Association shortly The TOA would first need permission and sanctioning before it could form its own leagueAsked by CBCSportsca if the Whitecaps would consider a return to USL next year Whitecaps president Bob Lenarduzzi said Our focus is on seeing the application through to its conclusion and thats all were really thinking about right nowWhy not stick it outThe new league will only be a temporary home for the Vancouver Whitecaps who are scheduled to join Major League Soccer in 2011 The Montreal Impact hope to follow Vancouver to MLS shortly thereafterConsidering Vancouver will soon compete in MLS wouldnt it make sense for the Whitecaps to simply stick it out for a season and play in USL in 2010That wasnt an option according to Whitecaps president Bobby Lenarduzzi who said there were other issues involved namely creating a viable secondtier league to help grow soccer in Canada and the USIn our case were doing what we think is best for the game overall in the long run Lenarduzzi told CBCSportsc...