After several months of formalizing paperwork and organizational structure, the Cascadia Association Football Federation (CAFF) has been approved as a provisional member of the Nouvelle Fédération-Board, or NF-Board for short. The organization is a soccer board unaffiliated with, but meant to complement FIFA, comprised of teams that represent unrecognized nations, autonomous regions, states, minorities, stateless peoples, and micronations.
Acceptance as a provisional member means that Cascadia is now eligible to participate in the VIVA world cup. The VIVA world cup is a competition that is held every 2 years and is organized by the NF Board. The next VIVA world cup is scheduled for 2014 with the host yet to be determined.
The next step then for CAFF, is to begin putting together a coaching staff and contacting eligible players to participate in a Non-FIFA aligned Cascadia national team. Alexi Lalas, ESPN announcer and former USMNT, has mentioned he may be interested in head coach, responding via twitter that he 'would be honored' to be offered the position.
Originally started in late August of 2012, the idea has gained a wide degree of attention. Not even a year later, after having their first general meeting and formalizing organizational positions on January 26th, CAFF has already received friendly invitations from several NF Board associated federations including Quebec, Northern Cyprus, Raetia, Sealand (because why not?), Occitania and several others.
Though eligibility for a Cascadian national team has not yet been determined, CAFF has been in close talks with several players, including some professional, and is tracking more than 100 players who might be interested. Because it is not FIFA-aligned, the team itself will likely be made up of amateur, semi-pro and professional players, and does not interfere with their play-ability in other matches. Contact has also been made with the Quebec association who have already agreed to home and away meetings and the nascent beginnings of a North America and Arctic federation being set up alongside Greenland and, in the future, New Brunswick. The clamour for a Cascadian team has come too quickly for some invitations though, including taking part in a tournament in England this summer, but the association are hoping to have a side playing matches by the end of the year.
CAFF will likely be having another general meeting in the upcoming months, and if you are interested in becoming involved, you can send them an email directly to cascadiafootball@gmail.com, follow them on Twitter @CascadiaSoccer or on facebook here. You can view the original NF-Board release announcing CAFF's application here. Below, we've also included an alphabetical list for potential Cascadian players, along with position and current club. If you have suggestions or see an error, please feel free to let us know in the comments, and we'll try our best to get it corrected as soon as possible:
GK |
Defender |
Midfield |
FW |
| Jason Baarts-Portland | Anthony Arena-Houston | Ely Allen-unattached | Omari Aldridge-Khalsa Sporting Club |
| Tyler Baldock-ACBC | Paul Ballard-Fraser Valley Mariners | Osvaldo Alonso-Seattle | Gibson Bardsley-Dayton |
| Chris Blais- unattached | Scott Bolkan-unattached | Nick Besagno-Washington Crossfire | Ricardo Carrillo-Portland |
| Ben Dragavorn-unattached | Drew Chrostek-unattached | Brandon Bonifacio-Vancouver Thunderbirds | Jason Cascio-unattached |
| Chris Eylander-unattached | Ryan Cochrane-unattached | Josh Cameron-unattached | Caleb Clarke-FC Augsburg |
| Daniel Fernandes-FC Twente | Michael D'Agostino-Sportfruende Siegen | Gordon Chin-unattached | Alex Elliot-Sportfruende Siegen |
| Marcus Hahnemann-Seattle | Graham Dugoni-Charleston | Raphael Cox-Tampa Bay | Ben Fisk(BC)-Charleston |
| Tally Hall-Houston | Jaime Finch-Carolina | Matthew Dallman-Pittsburgh | Kevin Forrest-Washington Crossfire |
| Dough Herrick-Seattle | Sterling Flunder-Pittsburgh | Terry Dunfield-Unattached | Ian Fuller-Orlando |
| Simon Rayner-Three Bridges FC | Tanjot Singh Grewall-unattached | Steven Evans-Portland | Maykel Galindo-LA Blues |
| Steve Reese-unattached | Ty Harden- San Jose | John Fishbaugher-Washington Crossfire | Marcus Haber-Stevenage |
| Spencer Richey-unattached | Loren Hill-unattached | Ben Fisk(WA)-unattached | Jason James-unattached |
| Garrett Staples-Portland | Tyler Hughes-Victoria Highlanders | Joey Gjertsen-unattached | Nate Jaqua-unattached |
| Josh Saunders-RSL | George John-Dallas | Manny Gomez-CA Jorge Griffe | Ellis McLoughlin-unattached |
| Simon Thomas-Vancouver | Daniel Leach-unattached | Evan Harding-Charlotte | Fredy Montero-Sporting CP |
| John Lesko-unattached | Kevin Harmse-San Antonio Scorpions | Michael Nonni- SV Wilhelmshaven | |
| Nigel Marples-HB Koge | Jordan Hughes-Victoria Highlanders | Riley O'Neill- Myllykosken Pallo | |
| Taylor Mueller-Charleston | Jacob Hustedt-San Jose | Brent Richards-Portland | |
| Kent O'Conner-Vancouver Thunderbirds | Justin Isidro-Caldas Sport Clube | Colin Rolfe-unattached | |
| Gregory Preciado-Dayton | Jacob Lensky-unattached | Jake Sagare-unattached | |
| Adam Straith-FC Saarbrücken | Stefan Leslie-Surrey United | Ross Schunk-unattached | |
| Mason Trafford-IFK Mariehamn | Francisco Lopez-Ventura County Fusion | Desmond Tachie-unattached | |
| Dylan Tucker-Gangnes-Portland | Tim Merrit-unattached | Adam Wallace-unattached | |
| Kellen Wanulock-Tacoma Stars | Lamar Neagle-Seattle | Cam Weaver-Houston | |
| Austin Washington-unattached | Alex Nimo-JK Tammeka Tartu | Nick Webb-Gigantes de Carolina | |
| Mason Webb-Surrey United | Ciaran O'Brien-Carolina | ||
| Adam West-FC Edmonton | Troy Ready-Vakhsh Qurghonteppa | ||
| Deandre Yedlin-Seattle | Tyler Rosenlund-Rochester | ||
| Kelyn Rowe-New England | |||
| Alejandro Salazar-unattached | |||
| Josh Simpson-BSC Young Boys | |||
| Justin Solomon-Seattle | |||
| Robbie Tice-Neosodden IF | |||
| Brandon Tyler-New Orleans Jesters | |||
| Alfredo Valente-unattached | |||
| Jarad vanSchaik-Charleston | |||
| Cameron Vickers-Phoenix | |||
| Leland Wright-Sportfruende Siegen | |||
| Gianluca Zavarise-unattached | |||
| Preston Zimmermann-SV Darmstadt 98 | |||