OT: Why does Canada suck at soccer?

[thom]

Rugby is huge in France and Great Britian many of our candian boys make a living in France.France is also a soccer power

 

[JBIZ14]

My 5 cents.....

N. American teams that use the letters "FC" in their name are pretentious and misguided.

Also.... anyone else remember Super Socco? The very first tetra pack juice box I can remember.

why is it pretentious to use "FC"?

The Whitecaps have a full youth academy,PDL and women's teams. Once they finish the NSDC at UBC they will also have a world class training facility. Seems like a Football club to me.

 

[*Injektilo]

In my dream scenario, which means it will never happen, is to follow Germany or Iceland's development model. They have excellent direction from top down, and pour massive money into academies, training and coaching.

But this is the equivalent to trying to get Brazil or Italy to be a dominant HOCKEY nation. It's just not in their culture and just like Canada they are completely obsessed with one sport.

No one's talking about Canada becoming a powerhouse, but at least making it to the WC, which is a surprisingly easy objective. There's no reason why Canada can't impose itself as the third best team in CONCACAF behind Mexico and the US, and that's more than enough.

 

[Whale]

I would say that Canadian mens soccer is at a low point right now.

Lack of funding.
Lack of morale.

Canadian soccer needs a star, Hargreaves is the guy that kind of gets my goad. He would have been that guy, a Canadian playing for a high profile team.

Instead it's like this

Such a shame that one.

Another big factor is just lack of exposure to the game. Kids in other countries watch football as much as we do hockey. They have a hard wired sense of the game that we don't have. I assume that is changing now as more people have access to seeing more games, hopefully that will have a knock on effect in the near future and more Canadian kids have the dream of seeing Canada play in a World Cup.

 

[carolinacanuck]

I would say that Canadian mens soccer is at a low point right now.

Lack of funding.
Lack of morale.

Canadian soccer needs a star, Hargreaves is the guy that kind of gets my goad. He would have been that guy, a Canadian playing for a high profile team.

Instead it's like this

Such a shame that one.

Another big factor is just lack of exposure to the game. Kids in other countries watch football as much as we do hockey. They have a hard wired sense of the game that we don't have. I assume that is changing now as more people have access to seeing more games, hopefully that will have a knock on effect in the near future and more Canadian kids have the dream of seeing Canada play in a World Cup.

this is a good point. the exposure to the premier league is definitely increasing over here.

anyone else remember soccer saturday? I used to watch that show early every saturday morning before playing on my community team. it was a highlight package show from the premier league. a show like that really got me interested in soccer.

as did a show called the baseball bunch with johnny bench for baseball.

good times.

 

[putridgasbag]

Because all things being equal soccer was/is not as much fun to play or watch as other sports.

Growing up the organized team sports that I played were hockey, football, baseball and soccer. Hockey was number 1 with a bullet. It trumped all other sports for playing. Conflict in schedule, hockey won. Football and baseball were next and soccer was well last and least. Soccer was the first one to get dropped when I had to make a decision because of time and schedule conflicts. My favourite soccer games that I played in were actually pickup games that happened early Sunday morning in the park behind my house.

As a fan I have attended lots of Canuck, Lions and Whitecap games going back into the Empire Stadium and Pacific Mausoleum days. Of the three in my expierance the soccer games were/are my least favourite.

It is a game where the nothing will happen for great periods of time. It is like watching paint dry as a team passes the ball all around the midfield and then back to the goalie to start the cycle again. It is a 90 minute game where the shots can be in single digits and the most exiting thing to happen is a corner kick.

In the end playing hockey or watching hockey to me is still a far more rewarding thing to do than any soccer game could ever be. Football while I may not play it any more is also in my humble opinion a much more entertaining game to watch than soccer. Even baseball is a much more TV friendly game than soccer. I still will watch the odd bit of a soccer game when there is nothing else to do or watch but that isn't that often.

 

[Hi-wayman]

We are currently ranked 112th in the world. Why do we suck so much? I don't buy the snow **** there are countries in western Europe that are quite good with similar climate(Switzerland 8th in the world, Sweden 27, etc).

Bad ice on a soccer field

 

[flames12]

Because all things being equal soccer was/is not as much fun to play or watch as other sports.

Growing up the organized team sports that I played were hockey, football, baseball and soccer. Hockey was number 1 with a bullet. It trumped all other sports for playing. Conflict in schedule, hockey won. Football and baseball were next and soccer was well last and least. Soccer was the first one to get dropped when I had to make a decision because of time and schedule conflicts. My favourite soccer games that I played in were actually pickup games that happened early Sunday morning in the park behind my house.

As a fan I have attended lots of Canuck, Lions and Whitecap games going back into the Empire Stadium and Pacific Mausoleum days. Of the three in my expierance the soccer games were/are my least favourite.

It is a game where the nothing will happen for great periods of time. It is like watching paint dry as a team passes the ball all around the midfield and then back to the goalie to start the cycle again. It is a 90 minute game where the shots can be in single digits and the most exiting thing to happen is a corner kick.

In the end playing hockey or watching hockey to me is still a far more rewarding thing to do than any soccer game could ever be. Football while I may not play it any more is also in my humble opinion a much more entertaining game to watch than soccer. Even baseball is a much more TV friendly game than soccer. I still will watch the odd bit of a soccer game when there is nothing else to do or watch but that isn't that often.

How is baseball and even football/hockey more fun to play than soccer?

 

[Jyrki21]

WHAT? Canada has one of the lowest country populations in the world per square kilometre. That means that in lots of parts of the country there are very few teams because of the low population rates and lack of soccer registration.

It is also 80% urbanized, meaning where people do live, they live together in large numbers. (How many countries with a roughly 30 million population have as many major cities as Canada does? Not many). You don't need teams from Baffin Island visiting to develop players in BC. There is no reason why this would be a greater hamper on development in Canada than elsewhere.

why is it pretentious to use "FC"?

Yeah, I have no issue with FC on its own (even if we call it soccer, the game is still easily recognizable as "association football"). Where it gets silly are the ones that don't make any sense, like Real Salt Lake (I also thought "United" usually connoted a merger between two clubs, but perhaps not).

I also actually like non-North American club naming traditions that arose organically from the club's formation (e.g. Crystal Palace, Sheffield Wednesday, teams named after neighborhoods or sports clubs, etc.), rather than being given a designated [Place] [Nickname] trademark at the start as we do here. Montreal is the only NHL team with this styling, given its amateur roots (Club Canadien de Hockey), even if it means most people now mistakenly think it refers to Canadian people.

 

[carolinacanuck]

How is baseball and even football/hockey more fun to play than soccer?

personal preference i guess.

i find baseball and soccer boring to play and watch

 

[Betamax*]

why is it pretentious to use "FC"?

The Whitecaps have a full youth academy,PDL and women's teams. Once they finish the NSDC at UBC they will also have a world class training facility. Seems like a Football club to me.

Well, last time I checked on the map ... the Whitecaps are located on North America. In North America, they call "The Beautiful Game", uh, Soccer to avoid confusion with the most popular sports played on this continent called Football.

Even Beckham when he arrived here referred to it as Football but to his credit, he self-corrected himself given that he was brought in to market the sport in the USA and Canada.

In a way having the "FC" branding makes the North American teams look like Euro wannabes.

I mean besides getting Real, how about a "Sporting" club in Kansas City?

It's like a kid brother trying to act like his older brother. You know what I mean?

 

[*Injektilo]

Because all things being equal soccer was/is not as much fun to play or watch as other sports.

You're projecting your opinion as if it was a fact. You think elsewhere in the world they only play soccer because they haven't found something better to do with their time?

 

[gurfling]

From reading what Devos wrote about CSA (he has written several interesting articles for TSN about it), it just seems like a huge disconnect between CSA and all the provincial programs. There isn't much the CSA can do if all the provincial programs run their own models without listening to them.

While CSA has made a number of errors in the past, imo they are working hard on improving and seem to be doing so. Until there is a good model country wide, it is always going to be difficult.

Having 3 MLS teams, each with academies and opportunities for good players to play professionally in Canada is going to help enormously. I think it is trending in the right direction though I think it will take some time before the money these teams spend on developing these young players is realized in results on the field.

 

[member 202355]

Canada sucks at soccer because. Just because.

 

[Hardyvan123]

I would say that Canadian mens soccer is at a low point right now.

Lack of funding.
Lack of morale.

Canadian soccer needs a star, Hargreaves is the guy that kind of gets my goad. He would have been that guy, a Canadian playing for a high profile team.

Instead it's like this

Such a shame that one.

Another big factor is just lack of exposure to the game. Kids in other countries watch football as much as we do hockey. They have a hard wired sense of the game that we don't have. I assume that is changing now as more people have access to seeing more games, hopefully that will have a knock on effect in the near future and more Canadian kids have the dream of seeing Canada play in a World Cup.

Not sure about the lack of funding but soccer Canada is a mess and agree with you, our best players need to be encouraged to stay at home and play for Canada.

Part of that problem is 2 fold, one can't blame Hargraves and others from seeking more money and fame with more established countries, but a lot of that is from the Dad or families that still believe that soccer is part of the old country and they haven't truly embraced Canada yet, at least in soccer terms

It's a bit of a chicken and egg thing and we saw it recently on the female side as well with a Canadian born gurl going stateside and a great young player (Lang) being injured and out of the game too early but hopefully the tide will turn in Canada's favour at some point like it looked like it would after our 1st world cup appearance which seems like ages ago now.

The work being done in Vancouver by bob and the gang will go miles though in the future that guy is a soccer icon in this city and his passion will reap rewards.

 

[JBIZ14]

Well, last time I checked on the map ... the Whitecaps are located on North America. In North America, they call "The Beautiful Game", uh, Soccer to avoid confusion with the most popular sports played on this continent called Football.

Even Beckham when he arrived here referred to it as Football but to his credit, he self-corrected himself given that he was brought in to market the sport in the USA and Canada.

In a way having the "FC" branding makes the North American teams look like Euro wannabes.

I mean besides getting Real, how about a "Sporting" club in Kansas City?

It's like a kid brother trying to act like his older brother. You know what I mean?

I agree with "real" and Sporting.

To me the Whitecaps added FC to their official name to indicate that it was a full club system with a full youth academy. Yes they could have used SC but at the end of the day I don't think they are trying to sound Euro.

 

[JBIZ14]

Because all things being equal soccer was/is not as much fun to play or watch as other sports.

Growing up the organized team sports that I played were hockey, football, baseball and soccer. Hockey was number 1 with a bullet. It trumped all other sports for playing. Conflict in schedule, hockey won. Football and baseball were next and soccer was well last and least. Soccer was the first one to get dropped when I had to make a decision because of time and schedule conflicts. My favourite soccer games that I played in were actually pickup games that happened early Sunday morning in the park behind my house.

As a fan I have attended lots of Canuck, Lions and Whitecap games going back into the Empire Stadium and Pacific Mausoleum days. Of the three in my expierance the soccer games were/are my least favourite.

It is a game where the nothing will happen for great periods of time. It is like watching paint dry as a team passes the ball all around the midfield and then back to the goalie to start the cycle again. It is a 90 minute game where the shots can be in single digits and the most exiting thing to happen is a corner kick.

In the end playing hockey or watching hockey to me is still a far more rewarding thing to do than any soccer game could ever be. Football while I may not play it any more is also in my humble opinion a much more entertaining game to watch than soccer. Even baseball is a much more TV friendly game than soccer. I still will watch the odd bit of a soccer game when there is nothing else to do or watch but that isn't that often.

Well that's a lovely opinion...one not shared by the vast majority of the world but hey whatever floats your boat.

I have CI and trust me the vast majority of the 3 hours it takes to play a 60 minute hockey game are like watching paint dry. If a Whitecaps match is the least entertaining of the 3 Vancouver teams then we are polar opposites when it comes to what entertains us as a Sports fan.

 

[ProstheticConscience]

I'm pretty sure the Swedes here will tell you hockey is not the number one sport in Sweden. I believe the only country outside of Canada where hockey is the number one sport to watch is Finland, and even there I don't believe it is the most popular in terms of playing (although it isn't in Canada either).

That is why Canada's obsession with international tournaments, discussing them months in advance, etc., is all the more embarrassing. The media are obsessing about beating the very few countries who even play the game at all, where it's not even the top sport.


"Soccer" is a term originating in England, as a nickname for association football, and is a very common term in English-speaking countries where other codes of football exist, not just in North America.

Okay.

See: bolded.

I've been holding my tongue (keyboard, whatever) for a couple of days now, and this still pisses me off.

Why is that embarrassing? Why should that be embarrassing? Are you embarrassed to be a hockey fan?

I'm not.

Hockey is more important to me than any other sport on the planet. Far and away. Nothing else comes remotely close. I watch football (CFL, NFL a lot less) and I cheer for the Lions, but it doesn't compare to the Canucks or Team Canada.

I don't care what other countries consider it a #1 sport. I don't care where it fits in the pantheon of sports in the world. I don't have to weigh my fandom or passion against any other country or sport. I don't need anyone else to validate my caring about what I care about. Oh, the US or Europe or some flyspeck in the ocean plays soccer better than us and doesn't care about hockey? Whoop-de-****ing-do.

I've seen a lot of "Little Brother" stuff on hf. Toronto fans looking down on Vancouver, US fans looking down on Canadians, and yes, soccer fans looking down on hockey fans. Know what, guys? When you're happy being who you are, you don't have to tell yourself that anyone else wants to be like you or would trade places with you if they could or are jealous of you. **** 'em. Don't need 'em.

I remember when the Whitecaps beat New York for the NASL championship in 197x or 8x...whatthe****ever. My socials studies teacher in high school in the 80's was still hot about it. Big whoop. When my sports fan heart beats, it beats for hockey. Either NHL or international competition. I want to see my city and/or country beat the world at it, and that's what matters to me as far as any sport goes.

Ibrahimovic scored an amazing goal? Good for him.

Lebron James got more tattoos and won NBA MVP? Hey, I'll send him a e-card.

Anyone wants to piss and moan because Canada's a winter sports country and hockey's at the top of the heap?

Cry me a river and dust off your passports.

 

[GPNuck]

I agree with you sir.. After all this is a freaking hockey forum not a soccer forum... I am damn proud were

the only country smart enough to realize hockey is the best sport in the world. I would love it if Canada got

better overall at soccer but i'm not losing sleep over it.

 

[carolinacanuck]

Okay.

See: bolded.

I've been holding my tongue (keyboard, whatever) for a couple of days now, and this still pisses me off.

Why is that embarrassing? Why should that be embarrassing? Are you embarrassed to be a hockey fan?

I'm not.

Hockey is more important to me than any other sport on the planet. Far and away. Nothing else comes remotely close. I watch football (CFL, NFL a lot less) and I cheer for the Lions, but it doesn't compare to the Canucks or Team Canada.

I don't care what other countries consider it a #1 sport. I don't care where it fits in the pantheon of sports in the world. I don't have to weigh my fandom or passion against any other country or sport. I don't need anyone else to validate my caring about what I care about. Oh, the US or Europe or some flyspeck in the ocean plays soccer better than us and doesn't care about hockey? Whoop-de-****ing-do.

I've seen a lot of "Little Brother" stuff on hf. Toronto fans looking down on Vancouver, US fans looking down on Canadians, and yes, soccer fans looking down on hockey fans. Know what, guys? When you're happy being who you are, you don't have to tell yourself that anyone else wants to be like you or would trade places with you if they could or are jealous of you. **** 'em. Don't need 'em.

I remember when the Whitecaps beat New York for the NASL championship in 197x or 8x...whatthe****ever. My socials studies teacher in high school in the 80's was still hot about it. Big whoop. When my sports fan heart beats, it beats for hockey. Either NHL or international competition. I want to see my city and/or country beat the world at it, and that's what matters to me as far as any sport goes.

Ibrahimovic scored an amazing goal? Good for him.

Lebron James got more tattoos and won NBA MVP? Hey, I'll send him a e-card.

Anyone wants to piss and moan because Canada's a winter sports country and hockey's at the top of the heap?

Cry me a river and dust off your passports.

i do! I do! i wanna piss and moan...

i kinda get what the poster who said it can be a little embarrassing at times. it all boils down to the underdog effect.

i think a lot of people like to cheer for the underdog, and canada is pretty much never an underdog so it almost takes away the fun from cheering for them. does that make sense?

when it comes to the world jr's, i'll cheer for canada when there is a player i'm really interested in or if there's a canucks prospect playing, like this year with boho. but other than that, i fully expect canada to win every year and that kinda takes away my interest.

i'll have no problem cheering for canada or the united states on new year's eve, but that's probly cuz i've already dusted off my passport and got a second one.

 

[putridgasbag]

Well that's a lovely opinion...one not shared by the vast majority of the world but hey whatever floats your boat.

I have CI and trust me the vast majority of the 3 hours it takes to play a 60 minute hockey game are like watching paint dry. If a Whitecaps match is the least entertaining of the 3 Vancouver teams then we are polar opposites when it comes to what entertains us as a Sports fan.

As I said in the post it is my opinion and one that is held by a lot of people in this area. I guess you should ask yourself why this discussion is taking place on a hockey board.

As for the rest of the world good for them. IMVHO the main reason soccer is as popular as it is is its simplicity of gear. You need a ball and even the poorest of people in the poorest on nations can get something resembling a ball. Heck it is the same reason that soccer has the highest participation levels in youth sport as far as I know in Canada and the US. It is cheap and fairly easy to get into. This doesn't necessarily translate into viewers or even people who care enough to follow the game. A lot of the guys I have played hockey, football and baseball with also played soccer. I would venture to guess that like me not a lot of them had soccer in the number one or two spot.

My kids played soccer and there was such an abundance of people willing to show these kids the game that I was the coach and my assistant was a guy who had never played the game. Neither of my kids at this point could careless about the Whitecaps or soccer in general. That might change as they get older but I don't see it.

 

[putridgasbag]

How is baseball and even football/hockey more fun to play than soccer?

Because when I strapped on the pads and went out with my team to play I really enjoyed the expierance and when I played soccer I liked it less than that. I found the thrill of being part of group that had to work together doing different jobs on the field a cool thing.

You all seem to be missing the point I played and watch the game. I don't hate the game. But to me and a lot of others it is rather low on the pecking order as far as games I want to play or watch for enjoyment.

If there is a choice of watching a game or playing a sport I will and always play a game rather than watch. I would rather play a pick up game of soccer than watch a hockey game. But all things being equal I will choose a hockey game over all others to watch and football before soccer every day of the week.

The question was why Canada isn't better at soccer well I think I am the reason. Like me a lot people in North America rank soccer lower on the totem pole than in other parts of the world. If a kid is good at a couple of sports then the chances are he will pick the one that is not soccer. That is what I did and what my kids did and what most if not all my friends did.

 

[carolinacanuck]

i grew up in vancouver and played soccer growing up til i turned 18-19. i played in my community league and travelled to lots of tournaments. i didn't even play on my highschool team because the coach was the art teacher and the level of competition was poor compared to my community team.

fast forward to now....

i moved to the states, had a couple kids and started to ask my wife about the community soccer leagues around here. she looked at me like i was crazy. she explained that any community leagues are for the lower skilled players who probably didn't make their school teams...high-school sports are where it's at.

and she's right. down here high-schools have specific coaches who are trained in their specific sports and the only job they have is to coach a team/sport, they aren't art teachers who put on cleats after school.

i'm not sure where i'm going with this, just pointing out the differences between canada and the states.

 

[Leafidelity]

Soccer is a niche sport in Canada, like Rugby.

To be blunt, we aren't good at Soccer because nobody cares about Soccer. That won't change at all until MLS becomes a respectable league.

 

[Betamax*]

I would say that Canadian mens soccer is at a low point right now.

Lack of funding.
Lack of morale.

Canadian soccer needs a star, Hargreaves is the guy that kind of gets my goad. He would have been that guy, a Canadian playing for a high profile team.

Instead it's like this

Such a shame that one.

Another big factor is just lack of exposure to the game. Kids in other countries watch football as much as we do hockey. They have a hard wired sense of the game that we don't have. I assume that is changing now as more people have access to seeing more games, hopefully that will have a knock on effect in the near future and more Canadian kids have the dream of seeing Canada play in a World Cup.

Well, it's kinda what comes first ... the chicken or the egg kinda thing. I have no problem with Owen Hargreaves chosing to represent England since he was good enough to be on their starting line-up and was their best player during the World Cup he participated in.

For him to be selfless and represent Canada would virtually mean little to no opportunity to play at the World Stage.

I think as an interim measure, Canada might want to import talent i.e. someone like the reigning Golden Boot Winner in MLS that plays for the Whitecaps and have him represent Canada since his opportunity to represent Brazil in his career at the International Level is virtually nil.