As the 2012 league season came to halt for all three Cascadia clubs, organizers working with the newly established Cascadia Football Association have been pushing towards making the idea of fielding a Cascadia National Team a reality.

For those not aware, the Cascadian Football Association is a small but growing group of people who are creating the infrastructure necessary for the creation of a Cascadia representational team though the process of application and hopefully acceptance by the NF-Board, the organization which oversees Non-FIFA football around the world. Every two years the NF-Board organizes the VIVA World Cup, which one of its 27 member Football Associations (FAs) hosts.

Cascadia as a distinct cultural entity, bioregion and growing social movement with common interests across international lines can and should be represented in the sport which we in Cascadia are passionate about; football connects us to other similar communities, cultures and peoples around the globe, and can be a great way to help foster a sense of place and regional identity. For that reason the organizers’ aim is a simple one: To have Cascadia participate as a member FA in the 2014 or 2016 VIVA World Cup. For more information, we also encourage people to read our earlier introduction to the effort here: http://www.cascadianow.org/towards-a-cascadia-soccer-federation-and-the-2016-viva-world-cup/

This idea has been floated around for several years now, and continues to gain support from various different Pacific Northwest Football and Soccer blogs. Stumptown Footy has also done a very nice piece recently updated on what a Cascadia Mens National Team may look like: http://www.stumptownfooty.com/2012/2/15/2800601/cascadia-assembling-cascadian-mens-national-team

While not affiliated in any way with the Cascadian Independence Project, we are very excited to announce they have released several updates on their Facebook page in relation to the creation of a Cascadia National Team, including:

Established an Interim President, Acting Secretary and Communications Officer for the CFA. Permanent positions and appointments for these and other offices will take place at the first General Meeting which will be upcoming in January. The meeting is open, and anyone interested in attending should email group organizers for more information.
Reached out to and are in communications with Cascadia kit and scarf makers.
Reached out to the Sealand Football Association, reaching out to the Quebec FA and other FA's for fact-finding and guidance in the process.
Gained the support of a French/English translator to help with communications with Francophone FA's and the NF-Board in Brussels.
Reached out to and are in communication with the CSANF, the Consejo Sudamericano de Nuevas Federaciones - South America’s non-FIFA Confederation. Our Acting Secretary is bi-lingual in English and Spanish.
Joined a non-FIFA football forum to further network with NF-Board FA’s such as Raetia to learn more about the application process so that we can proceed with it smoothly.
Preparing an official communique and letter of intent for the NF-Board in Brussels who we hear are now aware of and interested in our efforts.
Looking into the possibility of having an observer at the NF-Board’s February General Meeting in Munich, Germany. This will be discussed at the CAFF General Meeting in January.
Looking into potential venues for our January General Meeting. They are open to suggestions as want as many to attend as possible.
In contact with people both familiar with forming non-profit organizations and with people involved in other non-FIFA football such as the 2006 FIFI Wild Cup.
Identification of over 75 eligible pro and semi-pro players based on a fairly conservative selection criteria.

The claim for Cascadia representation is based both upon our common past as Cascadia was once briefly a single political unit: the Oregon Territory – shared by several nations, as well as our present as the nexus of incredible support for the sport in North America which we and the world all love.

And the claim is also based on our common future as a region, and a culture.

For those looking for more information or who would like to get involved, check out:

http://www.facebook.com/CascadiaFootball

http://twitter.com/cascadiafootball