Canadian Men's Soccer Nothing More Than a Flat Turkey

Canada doesn’t have a national men’s team when it comes to professional soccer. You’d argue that you can teach a five-year-old to play, and the five-year-old would have a better chance of making it than that of the average male Canadian player. So much is the case that last week FIFA announced Canada slipped further down in the international rankings – a dismal 94th.  

For Canadian soccer fans, a ranking rightly discomforting.

If there is one bright spot about Canadian soccer, it has to be the sudden interest and development of our professional program.  

Just last week, the city of Vancouver was awarded a franchise in Major League Soccer.  

This is proving to be a welcome addition for Toronto FC, which could use a serious competitor and rival the play against during the season.

The addition could mean a new rivalry in soccer of both cities.

But most important of all, it could also mean the creation of more opportunities for younger players seeking to make a name for themselves in the sport.

A second Canadian team shows youngsters that they have more of a chance where they can nurture and apply their trade with both Vancouver (who are known for there development program), and Toronto FC.

Paul Jackson, a business manager for Mississauga North Soccer Club, believes that Toronto and Vancouver aren’t the only places where young players futures can be determined.

“It gives the players another option, it would provide us with a East versus West rivalry between Vancouver and Toronto,” he said.

Jackson also believes that much of the Canadian success for youth development depends on the lower levels of play.

“It doesn’t start with Vancouver and Toronto. It’s what happens with the under-Tens, and under-elevens at their community teams and their academies.”

Soccer seems to be on the rise in Canada, primarily in Ontario where the number of young kids picking up the game exceeds that of the number of participants in the sport of hockey.

If that is the case, than it only adds to the argument that soccer needs support in terms of development and for placing an emphasis on the game in terms of opportunity, funding, and most important of all, the players.