Young boys and girls have been playing soccer in large numbers for a long time. It wasn’t until 2007, however, when Toronto FC joined Major League Soccer that there ever was a real option for professional soccer in Canada. With the addition of Toronto (and later Vancouver and Montreal) to MLS, a future in professional soccer did not seem like such a long shot for kids who grew up playing the sport. Most importantly, the three Canadian teams established a youth academy pipeline for them to get there.
Before the arrival of MLS in Canada, young players had always dreamed of growing up and playing in Europe. However, since 2007, and the birth of TFC this mentality has begun to change. There is now a greater chance that players from Canada can develop within North America, and remain in North America to play professionally. There is now more opportunity than anytime in the past for young Canadians to dream of growing up to play professional soccer.
One of the problems for soccer in Canada in the past has been the migration of players to Europe to “make it”. In turn many of the players elect to play for other countries when it comes time for them to chose their international team, opting out of the CANMNT. Owen Hargreaves, Jonathan de Guzman, and Asmir Begovic are all highly skilled players that could have represented CANMNT, but chose to play for different teams due to their family ties.
Hargreaves: Owen Hargreaves was born in Calgary, Alberta and played for Calgary Foothills before being scouted and eventually moving to Bayern Munich at the age of 16. Hargreaves went on to be a consistent starter on the German team playing a defensive midfield role and helping the team win 4 League titles, as well as the 2000-2001 Champions League. After his time in Germany, the Calgary native played for Manchester United between 2007-2011. Hargreaves chose to represent England internationally.
de Guzman: Born in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough, Jonathan played his youth soccer with North Scarborough Soccer Club before moving to the Feyenoord academy in Holland. Over the course of the last two seasons de Guzman has been on loan to Swansea City, where he has been a key player and regular starter. Like Hargreaves, when it came down to choosing his country de Guzman elected to play for Holland over Canada.
Begovic: Although born in the former Yugoslavia, Begovic’s family immigrated to Canada when he was young. As a youth, Begovic played for the Southwest Sting in Edmonton before being signed by Portsmouth in 2003. Although the former Edmontonian played on the U-20 Canadian National team, this was not enough for him to be considered on the Senior Canadian Men’s National Team. Begovic is now one of the strongest keepers in the English Premier League, where he plays for Stoke City. He was also the starting keeper for Bosnia and Herzegovina during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
The common theme between these three players is that a decade ago there was nowhere for these players to continue to develop at a competitive level in Canada or North America and they had to go elsewhere to continue to develop. There has been a historical failure of leadership and vision between the Canadian Soccer Association, provincial associations, clubs, and coaching that has allowed for the drain of talent from Canada. Trust must be built between all of the various stakeholders in order for the game in Canada to continue to gain steam.
MLS Academies:
With the introduction of MLS youth academies, there are now new possibilities for youth in Canada to continue to grow their game while remaining close to home. All three of the MLS clubs have some sort of youth academy attached to them starting at a U-12 team. From the U-12 level players have the opportunity to progress with the chance of one day playing for one of the three Canadian teams.
Toronto:
Along with their entry into MLS, Toronto FC started a youth academy in 2008. The academy features a Senior, Junior, U-16, U-14, and U-12 team. The TFC academy currently has a team playing in Leauge1 Ontario, where they are currently in first place in the 10 team league. In 2012 TFC opened a new training facility at Downsview Park named the TFC Kia Training Ground at a cost of $21 million. The TFC Academy has produced players such as: Doneil Henry, Ashtone Morgan, and Michael Petrasso (who currently plays for QPR in England).
Vancouver:
The Whitecaps have a network of academy style camps set up across Western Canada. There are academy centres in Vancouver, Kamloops, Kootenay, Okanagan, and Saskatchewan. The U-18 Whitecaps team currently competes in the USSDA U-18 league, the most competitive league in North America at that age. Like Toronto, the there are plans to construct a new $32.5 million facility that can be used by the academy teams. Of note, Caleb Clarke graduated from the Vancouver Whitecaps Residency program. Clarke, currently on loan to FC Augsburg II in Germany from the Whitecaps, scored 8 goals in 26 appearances last season.
Montreal:
Upon joining MLS in 2012, the youth academy has been at the heart of the Impact’s player development strategy. Since that time the academy program has grown to include U-23, U-18, U-16, U-14, and U-13 teams. Since 2012, the Impact have signed 7 players from the Academy to professional contracts. The most recent and promising is forward Anthony Jackson-Hamel, who saw his first taste of action last Saturday against Toronto FC. Club President, Joey Saputo, seems set on re-building the Montreal Impact from within and building a team with local talent.
Although all three MLS clubs may view player recruitment and development slightly differently, the fact is that there is now an infrastructure in place to allow for the development and retention of highly skilled players in Canada. Although the MLS academies have been around for less than a decade in Canada, there are already positive signs in the development and retention of home-grown talent across Canada.
The North American Soccer League (NASL):
In 2010 Edmonton FC entered the NASL, followed by the Ottawa Fury in 2014. Although the league is technically the tier directly below MLS in the North American professional soccer hierarchy after MLS, it does provide other options for soccer players in Canada that want to pursue a professional path. The NASL teams help fill the gaps of the MLS academies and have the potential of one day joining MLS.
Ottawa:
With Ottawa joining the NASL this season, the most important piece of the puzzle was the acquisition of coach Marc Dos Santos. Dos Santos coached the Montreal Impact between 2009-2011 before moving to Brazil and working with Primeira Camisa U-20, SE Palmeiras U-15 and finally the technical director of Desportivo Brasil. The Montreal native is highly regarded as the best Canadian coach right now.
Edmonton:
Hanson Boakai (a 17 year old) is one of the most promising young Canadian players that is still playing in Canada for Edmonton FC. In his 4 games during the Canadian Championships against the Ottawa Fury and Montreal Impact he scored 1 goal and had 4 assists. Right now Edmonton has some of the most promising youth prospects in the country.
Over the past 10 years there have been some great soccer players developing out of Canada, however a lack of resources, infrastructure and cooperation at all levels has failed to keep them in North America. With the growth of MLS to Canada and two new NASL teams, there is a real opportunity to change the tide of Canadian players leaving North America to pursue a professional and CANMNT career.
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