Here are 3 things Canada Soccer needs to do to grow the game post-World Cup: experts

Soccer fans say they’re looking forward to seeing the sport grow in Canada, even with the men’s team losing to Morocco. Kamil Karamali reports.

Less than 24-hours after Canada’s historic World Cup run came to a screeching halt after losing 3-0 to Morocco in the knockout round, about two-dozen young boys took to the field York University Glendon Campus for a soccer skills training camp Sunday — with an added surge of motivation to take the Canadian men’s squad to the next level in future international matches.

“I think it would be really good to represent my country,” said 12-year-old Riley Ross, who trains with Toronto Athletic FC Academy (TAFC), in an interview with CTV News Sunday.

“I think watching (the World Cup) just made me see how good I need to be — and they show how much people look up to them ”

Canada’s last two World Cup appearances have inspired a new generation of young Canadian boys to pick up the game, with soccer camps and academies reporting surging numbers of new kids signing up.

• READ ALSO: ‘The hurt is real’: Team Canada releases statement after historic run

“It’s only gotten up from here and it brings them really energized — and it makes them want to come out and join these academies and become the next generation that’s going to make it into that top eight (in the Knockout Round) next time,” said Selena Pidgeon, who works as a soccer coach with TAFC.

“We only had maybe one or two teams (in this academy) per year — and now we’re up to I think we have about 30 teams here plus going — so it’s growing in the last couple of years,” added Pidgeaon. “That passion has been embedded in these kids. It’s growing for them.”

Although more Canadians are adopting the sport and soccer experts say Canada is on the right track, it still has a long way to go if it wants to have its men’s and women’s soccer squads take the next step and match the level of competition seen in other soccer nations.

More professional soccer academies

For one, former Canadian men’s national soccer team players and current coaches agree that Canada needs more professional soccer academies. Those are specialized training centers run by a professional club — that first scout and find young athletes, then take them in to develop them into elite players by providing expert coaching, strict physical conditioning, and a direct pathway to professional competition.

Right now, Canada has three Major League Soccer teams that provide a high level of soccer academies, which is a lot fewer than other soccer countries — but more than there used to be over a decade ago.

“Those opportunities weren’t there ten to fifteen years ago in the abundance they are now,” said Colin Miller, former Canadian men’s national soccer team captain, in a Zoom interview with CTV News. There was a time when top-quality players had to go to Europe or another country to learn to play the game or make a living from the game. These players now can stay in Canada and make a living playing football.

The launch of the Canadian Premier League (CPL) is a step forward in having more professional academies locally that can find and develop young talent in Canada.

“These Canadian Premier League clubs are seeing what’s going on in the community and they’re bringing their best young players into these environments as early as possible, giving them first team experience, as well as bringing players from all over the world to complement the education,” said Miller.

But Canada’s official Host City Ambassador for the World Cup, Dwayne De Rosario, believes Canada’s professional sports academies still have a long way to go.

“I don’t think the foundation is built enough. I think CPL still has a long way to go, with all due respect,” he said in an interview with CTV News Sunday.

“Still, with our under-17s, the U-20s and Olympics that we have to qualify for — so there’s a lot to be done. And we’re just hoping that off the strength of this recent success that our men’s team has and the attention that they’ve gravitated towards and the program, now that people see, soccer as a business opportunity to invest in youth, invest in the growth.”

De Rosario points to countries like Morocco, which have invested in their youth programs and have seen surging success in recent years.

“We were playing a Moroccan side that just won the U-20 World Cup last year — so you know, they’re doing something right over there," he said.

More infrastructure, coaches and funding

Tosaint Rcketts, a former Canadian national team player, also says Canada needs more player residency centers, where young and developing athletes can be surrounded by the game every day.

“What we need now to come from this is sustainability — and that comes through creating a national team residency center, obviously starting with one and then getting multiple, a lot of the other football nations have that and have that established,” said Ricketts in a Zoom interview with CTV News Sunday.

“So not only a place where not only our kids can grow, but they can get professional training, accommodations. A hub where teams can come together of various age groups, so that’s one big step.”

Projects like that require government funding, which has historically been weaker in Canada — and a big reason it has lagged behind countries like Germany, France, England, Spain and Japan.

Canada Soccer’s sponsorship and commercial revenue have also been one of its biggest weaknesses, with its previous and heavily-criticized partnership deal with Canadian Soccer Business only allowing about $3 million each year to go to the federation. Now a new deal has brought a bit more optimism that Canada Soccer will receive a larger sum to be able to invest in its player development.

• READ ALSO: Canadian Soccer Business looks to reset its identity while expanding the game

Soccer analysts also say Canada needs to train its coaches to match the level of other global soccer nations.

“We need to bring in more former football players into the fold, into the decision-making, into the leadership roles and, create opportunity like we do it our like we see what our neighbors in the U.S. that are now coaching our national team, that are coaching our professional team in Toronto,” added de Rosario.

Making the game more affordable

But with the sport continuing to grow in Canada, it’s also become out of reach for some Canadian families, according to de Rosario, who says there need to be fewer barriers to entry for young and aspiring players.

“Kids like myself, we’re coming from inner-city communities, we’re coming from challenging environments, we’re coming from immigrant families — and the cost of football is becoming very unaccessible to kids in these communities,” he added.

He points to places like Scarborough, Brampton and Mississauga, where, he says, once there were many more fields for unstructured play. Now, there are more private fields where playing and training cost money.

Unlike many of the world’s top soccer nations, Canada relies heavily on a pay-to-play model — that means a child’s opportunity to reach the highest level is often influenced by their family’s finances.

Canada’s model differs from countries like Germany, which identifies talented players early and then absorbs most development costs.

“Soccer may not be the biggest sport in Canada but it’s the most participated in, there’s over a million participants — and the next step for that is to provide the resources in their infrastructure to help these kids reach the highest level,” added Ricketts.

“It’s happening now, I know through the Vancouver Whitecaps and the Legacy Project that we’re in partnership with the province. We’re making 16 mini pitches across the Lower Mainland, so that’s that’s a big step is creating infrastructure where kids can now go and play unstructured soccer, similar to the ice rink.”