Quote:
Originally Posted by atb112
I just don't get why our teams don't improve over time, especially when it seems the number of kids playing soccer seems to be increasing as the country's population increases.
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To put it simply, because we are teaching those kids to play soccer instead of football. We have a very large amount of children playing footy but we are developing them the same way we have in the past, and as such we are getting the same results. If you watched the pre-game show today you probably heard an echo of what I’ve been saying, Canada needs to change the style of game that we play from a long ball/dump-and-chase/hit-and-hope game to a short passing game. However, to be able to play the latter style you need skilled as well as technical players and that’s where Canada’s problem lies; we are simply not producing enough talented players.
You might hear people saying that we need a domestic professional league to develop our players and give them aspiration in addition to a place to play, but I believe that the CSA needs to first focus on creating a system where the large number of children playing the game are taught and allowed to master the basic skills. This system also needs to be able to develop these children as they grow; giving them the opportunity to develop their game and learn advanced skills through elite youth leagues and academies as well as amateur leagues. Once the CSA are on their way to achieving this they can then shift part of their focus to creating a domestic professional league.