When the World Junior Hockey Tournament is reported on and talked about, people usually hear the name of the sports body involved called Hockey Canada.
There is also a corresponding, lesser-known body called Football Canada, located in Ottawa, which is the governing body for amateur football in Canada. This body is the country’s representative member of the International Federation of American Football (IFAF).
It its long history begins with its founding on June 12, 1880 as the Canadian Rugby Football Union. It has nothing to do with rugby any more, and has no jurisdiction over any professional club.
It is supposedly trying to create closer relationships with both the CFL and NFL, but on its website there is no mention of the CFL at all.
Instead it focuses on CIS and international football, improving coaching and competition, anti-doping, player and official development, and claims it can attract national sponsors for a variety of football initiatives. It also lists the information for contacting all the provincial football organizations in Canada.
Interestingly, the site mentions that its members can take part in the NFL Flag National Championships, but says nothing about competitions organized by the CFL. There is a small link to the CFL twitter account, and the CFL’s own website has a small link at the bottom of the page to Football Canada.
So how close is its relationship with the CFL and how do they work together? Judged by the amount of information on either website, it cannot be that close.
But surely this is one of the key bodies that the CFL should be working with to deal with a lot of its problems.
The CFL needs to get Canadian players to develop as quarterback in order to stimulate more interest in Canadian football; they currently claim that Canadians are not as good as Americans in the position. Football Canada can affect this in two ways: through player development, and through its coaching program, which can train coaches to develop Canadian quarterbacks better. But there is no mention of any collaboration with the CFL on this issue.
The CFL also needs to get more Canadians involved with the league at the grass roots level. Football Canada claims that it works at the very basic level throughout Canada, but there is no mention of the two working together to spread or upgrade football in Canada.
When I interviewed ex-Commissioner Mark Cohon, I concentrated exclusively on the expansion problem. But with greater time with him, this is the top issue that I would have wanted to investigate.
CFL and Football Canada could work closely together to increase the popularity of football in Canada. But judging from their websites, one gets the impression of cold silence instead of a working partnership.
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