Welcome to the TTP community

Be apart of something great, join today!

Canada ranked 120th...We are a soccer country ...we are just really bad at it

Soccer Coach

Well-Known Member
Apr 14, 2015
1,376
306
Tokens
1,634
Dirty Money
152
"Canada is a soccer country" was one of the headlines during the last World Cup Qualifiers. The problem is that we are really bad at it. No, let me clarify it. We are really horrendous and incompetent when it comes to playing this beautiful game.

If you do not believe it, at least in the men's side, then look at the evidence. The current FIFA ranking puts Canada at 120th. Essentially, Canada, one of the most socially and economically advanced country in the world, has been left behind to the likes of Irak, Ethiopia, and North Korea.

How do we explain such dismal performance?
Over the last decade we have moved backward and not forward. It could be even worse. All the wars in the Middle East and Africa have sunk some of their teams (i.e. Yemen went from 90th to 130th), but if peace and prosperity would have been kept, they would be surely ahead of Canada.

How is responsible for this debacle?

If you care about this game, you have to held accountable the National and Provincial organizations. They are responsible for this as it is their duty to manage and improve the game. They obviously have been a completely failure (at least in the Men's side).

If you are part of the soccer system (coach, manager, board member, administrator, referee), you have to see yourself in the mirror, deeply reflect, and see how you have contributed to this mess. Accept that you have likely done things in an sub-optimal manner. That you have a lot to learn and evaluate.

Do not hide behind excuses like we do not have a national professional leagues. If you are a referee, evaluate if you have allowed excessive force and perhaps been too permissive. If you are a coach think if you could use other approaches and other styles of play. If you are a manage, consider if you could have done more to make the game accessible and more popular to more people. If you are player, accept the hard reality that the way you play is one of the most limited ways in this world. You will have to be willing to explore other ways of playing, thinking, and training with the ball.

It surely hurts the ego. But it is what it is. No way to hide it. One of the big problem with soccer in this country starts with the little kids. We kill and take away the creativity and spirit of the game with all the over coaching and this team mentality at young ages. Let the kids play. Almost everywhere in the world kids learn alone playing by themselves with other kids in the streets. There are no professional coaches or parents carefully supervising them.

A really simple solution to our current Canadian living situation. Kids can no longer play freely in the park by themselves. Thus, recreate the park and street situation once again. Local clubs instead of running organized practice sessions could easily divide a large field and let kids play 4 v 4 in small fields with small nets. This could be available every day for two hours.
Teams are changed every day, ages are mixed up, and they could have mini tournaments.
Once or twice a week have the free played mixed with agility and ball technique.

It is going back the basics of street soccer. A very simple solution to a problem that has let grow to huge proportions.

The other problem that I see with Canadian soccer is the lack of open mindenes to new ideas and discussions. It seems that people want to think that there should be only ONE way to play the game, ONE path of development, ONE way to coach, ONE way to teach and certify the coaches, ONE way to organize tournaments, ONE team per city or district.

This approach kills development. Freedom of choice, expression and competition is what brings growth and success. Imaging if the Spanish Government would have told during the Franco era to Barcelona, you can not teach and play the game that way. You should play and teach the game in our way (the Real Madrid way), or the same with the Argentinean government and Boca. You should support and endorse only the "unified pathway" set by the local and national federation.

This is wrong, guys. It is very wrong. The Canadian Soccer Federation and BC Soccer can create a pathway of player development, but this should not be the only, nor those organizations should try to discourage organization and people from creating or following others. Competition and clash of ideas and styles and coaching and teaching methods is what brings success.

Some time it feels like we are in the equivalent of North Korea for soccer.
We are feed false propaganda ("Wellness to the World Cup"), as if we are close to make it and the program will take us there.

We are led to believe that we are better that what we are at the game and it is hidden how bad it is. The fact that our rankings are so low are kept hidden from soccer population.

We are discouraged from playing, coaching, or thinking differently about the game.

Please open your eyes becase the way we do things is not the way is done in the rest of the world and this why we are so bad at it.

 

Soccer Coach

Well-Known Member
Apr 14, 2015
1,376
306
Tokens
1,634
Dirty Money
152
This teaches better the game than any parent or professional coach in Canada.

The streets and the small sided games is what has produced historically the best players in the world. We simply do not have it here.
 

Soccer Coach

Well-Known Member
Apr 14, 2015
1,376
306
Tokens
1,634
Dirty Money
152
and notice... how there is no @Dude beside the field giving ice cream to the kids playing soccer for each special move that they do or for doing the "right" thing "right" and not the "wrong" thing "wrong", and then given them less ice cream if they do the "right" thing "wrong" and the
"wrong" thing "right".. whao! I do not know how those poor bronze kids keep it straight.
images.jpg
 

freddy

Lifetime Better Bastard
Mar 26, 2006
2,295
1,522
Tokens
13,328
Dirty Money
3,029
SC - why is it so important to be a world class soccer country? Sure, it would be great if we were because we would get to go to lots of great games at home, but as we all know, Canada's best athletes go for ice hockey and other American sports. Families are not focused on the sport, families don't play it together at social occasions, and families do not go out and support their team. Though most of us on this site have a passion for soccer, the same can not be said for the rest of Canada as a whole.

And so, we have little pride in Men's soccer, and collectively, there are very few people have made a meaningful living in the sport. But, is that the measure of success?

I say it isn't. I will take a different approach to this. I think the real goal for Canadian soccer should be to focus on having a sport that provides great fun and enjoyment. If done right, it should motivate you to play the game all your life, not just when your parents are saying you should play in juvenile leagues. And at least in my era, I think that was achieved fairly well. I look at Masters' leagues and they are quite robust. Our club has toured 3 times in South America and once in France and from those 4 sets of data points, I can tell you that we are much better senior players than those we faced. All teams were really looking forward to kicking the crap out of the 120th place country, but most got quite humbled by a strong bunch of Canadians who not only outplayed them, but then outdrank them in an embarrassing fashion.

So, yes it is a little embarrassing when Canadian soccer fans come up into triple digits in the rankings, but considering our short heritage and the focus on hockey, I just don't see this changing much, no matter how much people gripe.

So, how about having kids play on grass again instead of everyone piling onto an artificial turf field? How about not playing when it is shitass cold out? How about playing March to October? How about every kid gets a soccer ball and has to take it everywhere they go to improve ball handling (going to school, heading out on a Friday night)? How about no more doggies at practice - do them with a soccer ball instead. How about getting rid of that stupid league that makes kids wear a tie, march out and then pay thousands of dollars to be in an elite league? This game shouldn't cost hardly a thing. And, last I checked, there are gobs of parks and green space around for kids to pick up a game on their own.

Like that old saying goes, you can lead your wife to water, but you aren't supposed to drown her.
 

Soccer Coach

Well-Known Member
Apr 14, 2015
1,376
306
Tokens
1,634
Dirty Money
152
I am glad that you are replying to this and engaging in the conversation, because it articulates many of the ideas and misconceptions that have led us to this shameful and deplorable state. I will reply in detail later. People here have been conditioned to accept this state as inevitable, logical, and even desirable. My point is the opposite.

There is no need to be here. We do not need to be here. We can not be here if we follow and do certain things.
We owe to the next generation not to make the same mistakes that the previous generation did. We owe them a better future in soccer and better way of thinking about it.
 

dutch13

Active Member
Feb 5, 2007
628
151
Tokens
751
Dirty Money
100
What is truly a worse problem, that Canada is ranked 120th in the world, or that 3rd world countries that suffer from extreme poverty, find a way to maintain a national soccer program? I would say Canada has its priorities a little bit more in order.

Soccer is an activity in Canada. A hobby. What don't you understand about that? Canada has streets, we have great parks that sit empty after school, before school, why? Because kids CHOOSE to play fifa on their xbox instead. It is not a priority.

What is Dude is using ice cream as a way to drag these kids away from their magic boxes, get them excited about soccer to the point that it moves from playing for ice cream to playing for themselves and the love of the game.

In Iraq, in Haiti, where-ever they literally don't have the option of xbox or soccer, or hockey, or piano. Soccer is life. Soccer may be their and their families only hope at a better life. Here, there is a very small rate of return on dedicating your life to soccer as you have the time to in a 3rd world country, vs many other activities.

Sure, there is ton wrong with the structure of soccer in Canada, I think its well known that Structure in general stifles creativity. At the end of the day, without structure where would we be? Would we have a national program? Does our structure need changing? Sure. But berating those who have put in the time maintaining the structure they know to ensure soccer exists in Canada, and offers a chance at higher levels is pretty critical.

Nothing I've said hasn't already been said. Why you continue to go on and on is beyond me. Worse, I keep frustrating myself by reading this shite. And now have lost 4 minutes of my life responding to it.

Take away everything from kids these days, and they'll kick rocks in the park (DID I JUST SOLVE SOCCER IN CANADA????) or play hide and seek instead, because we also have wonderful forests in Canada too.
 

Soccer Coach

Well-Known Member
Apr 14, 2015
1,376
306
Tokens
1,634
Dirty Money
152
SC - why is it so important to be a world class soccer country? Sure, it would be great if we were because we would get to go to lots of great games at home, but as we all know, Canada's best athletes go for ice hockey and other American sports. Families are not focused on the sport, families don't play it together at social occasions, and families do not go out and support their team. Though most of us on this site have a passion for soccer, the same can not be said for the rest of Canada as a whole.

And so, we have little pride in Men's soccer, and collectively, there are very few people have made a meaningful living in the sport. But, is that the measure of success?

I say it isn't. I will take a different approach to this. I think the real goal for Canadian soccer should be to focus on having a sport that provides great fun and enjoyment. If done right, it should motivate you to play the game all your life, not just when your parents are saying you should play in juvenile leagues. And at least in my era, I think that was achieved fairly well. I look at Masters' leagues and they are quite robust. Our club has toured 3 times in South America and once in France and from those 4 sets of data points, I can tell you that we are much better senior players than those we faced. All teams were really looking forward to kicking the crap out of the 120th place country, but most got quite humbled by a strong bunch of Canadians who not only outplayed them, but then outdrank them in an embarrassing fashion.

So, yes it is a little embarrassing when Canadian soccer fans come up into triple digits in the rankings, but considering our short heritage and the focus on hockey, I just don't see this changing much, no matter how much people gripe.

So, how about having kids play on grass again instead of everyone piling onto an artificial turf field? How about not playing when it is shitass cold out? How about playing March to October? How about every kid gets a soccer ball and has to take it everywhere they go to improve ball handling (going to school, heading out on a Friday night)? How about no more doggies at practice - do them with a soccer ball instead. How about getting rid of that stupid league that makes kids wear a tie, march out and then pay thousands of dollars to be in an elite league? This game shouldn't cost hardly a thing. And, last I checked, there are gobs of parks and green space around for kids to pick up a game on their own.

Like that old saying goes, you can lead your wife to water, but you aren't supposed to drown her.

This is precisely the type of misguided and delusional mentality that has sunk this country to record low levels.
I will repeat. It is not the lack of professional league, but THIS thinking and misconceptions that has lead to this EMBARRASSING and EPIC failure.

I will briefly address them.

1)
"but as we all know, Canada's best athletes go for ice hockey and other American sports."

It is not a matter of athleticism. Do you really think that Messi, Maradona, and Pirlo would be playing at the highest level American Football, Basketball, or Baseball.

2)
"I think the real goal for Canadian soccer should be to focus on having a sport that provides great fun and enjoyment."
Yes. Great Fun and enjoyment comes from REAL mastering and understanding the game, not by misleading people into thinking into that they are playing well when they suck. The governing bodies and many coaches have done beautifully into duping kids and parents. Given the illusion that they are playing well.

3)
"Our club has toured 3 times in South America and once in France and from those 4 sets of data points, I can tell you that we are much better senior players than those we faced."
Oh really? and Santa Claus lives in the North Pole and Cinderella and the Prince lived happily thereafter.
This kind of stupid, magical, and naive story might work on your neighbours and peers. It is sad if you would really believe it. I will give you a hint. You were not playing the best, and I bet once again that is your thinking that kicking and running or playing hot potato with the ball is good soccer.

4)
"but considering our short heritage and the focus on hockey,"
The first game played under modern rules took place in Toronto in 1876, after which the Dominion Football Association, the first recorded football association outside the British Isles,[6]

The first ever professional game was played in Vancouver between the Callies and Rovers in 1910. In 1912, the founding meeting of the Dominion of Canada Football Association was held in Toronto on May 24, when provincial soccer executives laid the foundation of what is today's Canadian Soccer Association.

In fact, Canada has one of the longest heritages when it comes to soccer. Are you starting to realize your ignorance?

As for the focus on hockey, this argument is a complete fallacy. Many nations exceed at sports that are not widely practiced by the population. For example, Canada does very well in trampoline, and let me tell you I hardly see any trampolines in the backyards of Vancouver. China and Venezuela do not have soccer as their main sport, yet they have better National Teams.

5) I do hope that you see the contradiction in your thinking and the other posts. You do list the man made decisions that have conducted this country to falter.

6) The situation can be changed. People can be playing better soccer, our kids can be taught guided better, and our national team can do better. You can make a difference. The issue is are you ready to wake up and do things differently?
 

Soccer Coach

Well-Known Member
Apr 14, 2015
1,376
306
Tokens
1,634
Dirty Money
152
What is truly a worse problem, that Canada is ranked 120th in the world, or that 3rd world countries that suffer from extreme poverty, find a way to maintain a national soccer program? I would say Canada has its priorities a little bit more in order.

Soccer is an activity in Canada. A hobby. What don't you understand about that? Canada has streets, we have great parks that sit empty after school, before school, why? Because kids CHOOSE to play fifa on their xbox instead. It is not a priority.

What is Dude is using ice cream as a way to drag these kids away from their magic boxes, get them excited about soccer to the point that it moves from playing for ice cream to playing for themselves and the love of the game.

In Iraq, in Haiti, where-ever they literally don't have the option of xbox or soccer, or hockey, or piano. Soccer is life. Soccer may be their and their families only hope at a better life. Here, there is a very small rate of return on dedicating your life to soccer as you have the time to in a 3rd world country, vs many other activities.

Sure, there is ton wrong with the structure of soccer in Canada, I think its well known that Structure in general stifles creativity. At the end of the day, without structure where would we be? Would we have a national program? Does our structure need changing? Sure. But berating those who have put in the time maintaining the structure they know to ensure soccer exists in Canada, and offers a chance at higher levels is pretty critical.

Nothing I've said hasn't already been said. Why you continue to go on and on is beyond me. Worse, I keep frustrating myself by reading this shite. And now have lost 4 minutes of my life responding to it.

Take away everything from kids these days, and they'll kick rocks in the park (DID I JUST SOLVE SOCCER IN CANADA????) or play hide and seek instead, because we also have wonderful forests in Canada too.
These are all excuses and misconceptions that justify the current situation. It could be different and it should be different.
It reminds me of a conversation with Westside mother who told me that of course Surrey teams were better at soccer because those poor kids did not have anything better to do and their thrash families could not afford any other activities.

Do you really think that Russian, Belgium, German, Norwegian and Japanese kids do not have X boxes and tons of other activities to do?

When are you going to wake up?
All of you guys have been conned to believe that this is the way that is supposed to be.imgres-2.jpg
 

Soccer Coach

Well-Known Member
Apr 14, 2015
1,376
306
Tokens
1,634
Dirty Money
152
very funny...gurps...
Canadians are at the podium in trampoline because their coaches know what they are doing. It is not a matter of numbers, or culture, or popularity.
In soccer, the vast majority (amateur and professional) do not and also administrators are missmaneging the game. It is as simple as that.
 

Soccer Coach

Well-Known Member
Apr 14, 2015
1,376
306
Tokens
1,634
Dirty Money
152
For example, just check the last game...
who really think that is a good idea to play a friendly against Bermuda?
Population 65,000 (Surrey has x 10 more people) and ranked 186th in the world.
Seriously Bermuda is just above a bunch of small islands and keys in the region (Virgin Islands, Caicos Islands, and the like) and they call their youth leagues the taco league and enchilada league. No, I am not making this up.

To top it up, we are behind them in the score and end up in a tie by the 65th minute. No spare goalie, so the defender has to play goalie and put the gloves for the first time in his life.
Is not this lack of professionalism?
Seriously, guys, you do not see anything wrong with this picture?

If you think that all this is fine and appropriate management of the National Team, I really quit TTP right now and apply for citizenship somewhere else.
images-1.jpg images-1.jpg images-1.jpg images-1.jpg
 

Gurps

Well-Known Member
Mar 28, 2002
2,076
1,067
Tokens
5,552
Dirty Money
1,962

Members online

Your TTP Wallet

Tokens
0
Dirty Money
0
TTP Dollars
$0

Latest posts

Top