The game continues to grow

In a country where hockey may always run the sports sphere, soccer has been quietly growing…until now.

Footy is here, and it is here to stay. You can already see it. Some of our standout players weren’t even on radars in 2022. Players like Promise, Tani, and Nico didn’t have the same high-profile growth as others, but have shown that in this country, that doesn’t matter.

Canada is a country built off of immigration, and it can really be seen in our football. Even I am Half-Canadian, Half-Chileno, and owe my love of the game to my South American side. Much of our national team has roots outside Canada, from Africa to Europe to South America, and it remains one of our strengths as a team. 

The Spanish team may have 11 of 11 starters who grew up playing the same way, learning the same philosophy and doing the same things. The Canadian team offers an alternative world where players are raised, taught, and shown all kinds of things. A player with two parents from Colombia may see the game of football differently than a player with parents from Ghana. But what does this add? It adds new perspective, opportunity and pathways. Showing that the players can define their own success and can play how they see fit. Whether it means playing gritty ball or playing tiki-taka, the choice is theirs.

The more the sport grows, the more this idea holds strength. Kids from all around Canada continue to get involved in football, and with their split lineages, it only offers more and more layers to create the next generation of ballers.