Quote:
Originally Posted by polak
Which makes no sense because Canada has more players then Poland according to Fifa. There is obviously love for the sport here.
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This sums up the major question for Canadian soccer: How do you convert grassroots participation into success at international and professional levels?
More people play soccer in Canada than hockey. I say this not as a hockey vs. soccer comment, but simply to highlight the massive gap between the grassroots soccer and high-level soccer in Canada. Obviously hockey is a different beast and the relative cost is a huge barrier for many kids to enter, while you can get started in soccer for virtually nothing. Now how do you harness the popularity among kids and youth and turn that into interest, success, etc. at the higher levels?
The MLS being in our three largest cities is obviously going to help in a number of ways (obviously academies are important, and kids can actually go to a high-level match and get excited about it, etc.). But there is still a massive gap.
Sweeping generalization warning: Unfortunately soccer is still viewed as a sport that kids play because it is cheap and easy, and also as a sport that they play professionally in far off lands. There's nothing in between for the vast majority of the Canadian public. There are exceptions, as we all are, but we are a pretty small minority.