The Kick in Canada: The Game of Soccer in Canada by Duncan Leung

Had English manager Sven-Goran Eriksson spoken these words, his face would have been splashed across the British tabloids alongside a picture of David Beckham’s new hairstyle. However, it was not England’s manager, instead it was uttered by Canada’s national manager. There was no media backlash and there were no front-page headlines for Osieck; instead, he was largely ignored. Only a handful of Canadian soccer fans took notice of his direct but truthful statement.

Soccer is recognized as the world’s most popular sport. The World Cup captures the attention of soccer fans on a global basis. The recent World Cup in Japan/South Korea attracted a match audience of 11.9 million viewers in England and the BBC estimates that if out-of-home audiences are calculated, the figure rises to a whopping 24 million viewers!² It is also estimated that 330 million Chinese people watched their team’s loss to Brazil.³ The numbers clearly show that the popularity of soccer or football (depending on which side of the Atlantic one stands) is of staggering proportions.

The passion for soccer exists on all of the continents (excluding Antarctica) including North America. Mexico has a deep soccer tradition rooted in their culture’s similarity to Brazil and Spain. Mexico City’s Aztec Stadium has proven to be one of the most intimidating home pitches in the world. However, the popularity of soccer does not extend north to the United States and Canada. How can a sport of such stature and culture attached to it not be a sensation in the two largest western English-speaking nations? Although the United States has had great success on the international level and no doubt reaps the benefits of the Major League Soccer (MLS), which is owned by three billionaires, soccer remains a fringe sport in the United States. It takes a backseat to baseball, football, basketball, NASCAR, golf, etc. The MLS has lost $250 million in five years but the affluent ownership allows for the MLS to endure.⁴ Soccer just has not captured the imagination of Americans.

In Canada, many identify the hockey culture of our nation as the main reason why soccer has not taken off. Many fans from The Voyagers (Canadian soccer fan club) have stated that hockey is the main reason why the sport has not been able to elevate from the grassroots level.⁵ No doubt hockey plays a big role in the nearly non-existent Canadian soccer culture, there are many other factors that may help create this. With this paper, I hope to explore the "hockey reason" and other factors that prevent a greater support for Canadian soccer and the lack of success Team Canada has had on the international stage. Furthermore, I will document the successes and failures of the national team, the "Owen Hargreaves debacle" and the rise of the women’s game.

History

Unlike the other "big" team sports, the history of soccer does not have a definite location in where the game was established. No nation in the world has a legitimate claim to creating the game because early forms of soccer were found in many regions of the world. The basic aim of the game was simple – kick an object between two posts. Richard Henshaw wrote in The Encyclopedia of World Soccer that a game known as Aqsaqtuk was played among the indigenous peoples of Alaska and Canada. The origins of the game remains unknown, but the concept was similar to soccer in that two teams tried to keep the ball away from their goal. The game was played between villages and sometimes the goals were ten miles apart!⁶ In 1321, in the county of Cheshire, England, the skull of John de Boddeworth is said to have been used as a ball.⁷ Whether the ball was a skull or a stone, the object needed only to be spherical enough to be kicked. This is probably the main reason why some form of soccer was present in many regions of the world. Soccer in England was further identified in 1349 when King Edward III was concerned that too many of his subjects were playing football in their leisure, neglecting archery practice. He issued a royal proclamation that able-bodied men should pass their time with bows and arrows, not football.⁸ Although soccer dates back to the 14^th century in England (leading to many English proclaiming that they invented the game), it was not until October 26, 1863 that the "Football Association" was formed in London and a universal set of rules was adopted.⁹ Canadian football evolved from that meeting along with rugby. In Canada during this period, other sports in Canada such as hockey and baseball were being structured along with soccer. Soccer was played mostly in colleges and the two main centres for soccer was Toronto and Berlin (now Kitchener).¹⁰ Immigrants from Britain no doubt brought soccer in Canada. Colin Jose, the author of the only document dedicated exclusively to Canadian soccer history confirms this point. He notes that soldiers of the British garrison and British naval units participated in games when they were stationed on the eastern seaboard.¹¹

Canadian law enforcement played a big part in establishing soccer in Canada. Col. G. A. French, the first Commissioner of the North West Mounted Police, encouraged his men to play the game after their march to Fort Battleford in 1874, and it soon became their most popular recreation. Initially, the competition was based on inter-post rivalry but it soon grew to games against non-police teams.¹² From 1875-1883, several Canadian soccer associations were established. The first was the Saskatchewan Football League followed by the Western Football Association in Ontario. The Anglican Industrial School and the Cree Indian boys of the Red Pheasant Reserve rounded out the competition for the Mounties.¹³ The CPR, an important Canadian institution, was crucial in the spread of soccer in the early years of Confederation. It made it possible for teams to accept challenges and also helped the formation of leagues over widespread areas.¹⁴

By 1880, it was clear that Ontario was the "home" of Canadian soccer and David Forsyth, "the father of Canadian soccer", pioneered it. Forsyth graduated from the University of Toronto in 1875. Following his graduation, he became a staff member at Berlin High School. It was here that Forsyth was able to establish a foundation for soccer in Berlin. Along with principal J. W. Connor and fellow teacher Adolph Mueller, Forsyth wanted a healthy outdoor exercise for their students and Forsyth saw soccer as the solution.¹⁵ Soccer was a physically demanding sport because of the size of the pitch and the length of the game. Hard, physical contact was definitely part of the game and only a certain amount of substitutes are allowed during the game. Until the age of about six, young boys were raised in the domestic realm of the mother.¹⁶ Soccer was a "manly" sport, ideal for developing the masculine male. However, it is one thing to be manly, it is another to embody "Muscular Christianity." It was the meeting point of religion and sports. The notion of "Muscular Christianity" had its bearings from Britain in the 1850s.¹⁷ Forsyth was from Scotland and probably felt that soccer would be the sport that would create the "Muscular Christian."

Forsyth went to work right away as he contacted the Carlton Club for a match against the Berlin team. On May 5, 1877, Carlton defeated the Berlin team 1-0.¹⁸ Forsyth’s influence extended outside of Berlin. He was the spearhead in the establishment of the Western Football Association in 1880. Between the months of January and April of that year, Forsythe was able to garner memberships from 19 clubs; all clubs west of Toronto were extended an invitation to join.¹⁹ David Forsyth’s drive to promote the game of soccer in Canada was rewarded with an entry in Canada’s Sporting Heroes by Don Mills. Forsyth, being a former Briton, probably believed that soccer was the one game that combined all the best elements of sports: stamina, speed, and skills inherent in no other game. Unlike hockey, soccer did not have line changes, if a player was tired, he would have to stay on the pitch and endure. He saw soccer as a manly sport and poured his heart into developing it in Canada. No other individual at this time put as much dedication into the game of soccer in Canada than David Forsyth and that is the reason why he has been proclaimed the "father of Canadian soccer."

In 1888, a Canadian team that went over to Great Britain and surprised many with its level of play. Canada was the very first country in the world to undertake an overseas soccer tour.²⁰ Interestingly enough, included on the team was "Silent City Dave" also known as Dave Forsythe, the "father of Canadian soccer." Also included on the team were ‘Zip-Zip’ Gibson, and ‘Graveyard Bill’ Mustard. They are notable because their nicknames are amazing. The rest of the team with the exception of one player, David Forsythe, was Canadian born (Forsythe was a Scot).²¹ This crew of seventeen went over to Britain in September of 1888 and surprised Britain and the press with some remarkable results. Of the 23 matches, Canada escaped with a record of nine wins, nine losses and five draws. Four of the losses came near the end when the team was riddled with injuries.²² The most notable result was a 2-0 victory over Newton Heath, now famously known as Manchester United. Also, the team tied Sheffield, the longest established soccer team in the world.²³ Canada in the early stage had made its mark on the motherland of soccer.

What is interesting about this tour was their status of the players outside soccer. To go on the tour, one not only needed the skills, but they needed to have the wealth to get to Britain. The players had to fork out £200 to cover the two-month trip but they received half of it back from gate receipts.²⁴ Thus, many of the seventeen players were professionals. Part of the culture that is associated with soccer is that it is a working class game but the 1888 team was actually made up of professionals; they were doctors, dentists and teachers. "…men would spend all week working in blue-collar jobs and then either play the themselves or congregate on the terraces on a Saturday afternoon.²⁵

At the turn of the century, soccer began to migrate west. The development of coal mining on Vancouver Island saw a flood of British miners arrive and many of the immigrants were soccer players.²⁶ The immigrants really helped developed mining communities in British Columbia such as Nanaimo, Cumberland and Ladysmith. Sport is a key component in unifying a community and as Paul Voisey points out, for Vulcan baseball was the sport of choice. Soccer was rejected because the population in Vulcan was not made of people from the British Isles.²⁷ In these mining communities, soccer was the uniting factor. The immigration boom from Britain also affected Alberta and as a result, in 1906, the Alberta Football Association (AFA) was formed. Prior to the AFA, only the Calgary Association of Football League was active.²⁸ Saskatoon and Winnipeg were the soccer hotbeds for Saskatchewan and Manitoba respectively. With soccer gaining popularity in the west, provincial soccer organizations decided it would be best to come up with a national soccer association. In July of 1912, the Dominion of Canada Football Association was born.²⁹ The same year, His Royal Highness the Duke of Connaught presented a trophy to the Association and it would become known as "The Connaught Cup". Every year, each province would submit their best amateur team to compete for the Connaught Cup. Soccer was certainly on the rise in the early stages of the 20^th century. Amateur clubs were popping up all over the country and it looked like it would rival hockey as a sport.

Why is Soccer not a Major Sport in Canada?

Soccer began to decline in popularity during the Great Depression and it continued is descent during and after World War II. The association was losing money and annual meetings in Winnipeg ceased in 1934.³⁰ While people enjoyed playing soccer, Canadians just were not good at the sport. In 1937, the English club Charlton Athletic made a tour of Canada and manager Jimmy Seed was not impressed with the quality of the Canadian game. "The football played in western Canada is at least 15 years behind the times."³¹ The reason why soccer blossomed earlier in the century was the large numbers of British immigrants entering the country. However, a new generation of Canadians were just not interested in soccer. Alan Metcalfe felt Canadians saw soccer as a foreign game, "It [soccer] was, however, recognized as a British game in some ways an alien intruder on Canadian soil."³² In 1888, when the national team toured Britain, only one player was born outside of Canada. The immigration boom of British phased out Canadians from the sport. James Surgeoner, secretary of the Ulster soccer club, admitted that the team they fielded against the touring Scottish teams featured only one Canadian born player.³³ It is ironic that the British brought the game of soccer to Canada, but they were also the reason why the sport did not mature.

Soccer’s growth in the late 19^th century and the early 20^th century was not that dissimilar to the growth of hockey. Both sports were rooted in amateurism and both had their foundations laid at about the same period. The growth of soccer and hockey were almost identical but the problem with soccer is that hockey could be identified as a Canadian game; it is a part of Canadian culture:

The authors of Hockey Night in Canada: Sport, Identities and Cultural Politics see hockey as a uniting force of Canadian society. It is as if hockey is embedded in the hearts of Canadians. There are more Canadian hockey heroes for the youth to look up to. Hockey is such a Canadian cultural icon that the most popular night of television in Canada is Saturday’s Hockey Night in Canada, on the CBC. Prime time Saturday is generally regarded as the worst prime time of the week, but in Canada it is the position of the most popular Canadian television programming. Hockey’s place in the hearts of Canadians and its place in Canadian society will not allow soccer to become what it is in many nations around the world.

The lack of a professional league is the internal reason why the game fails to garner interest. The importance of a sturdy and stable domestic league is crucial to the success of the national team. The national team of any country does not meet very often in a year. However, players develop knowledge of each other’s skills and tendencies by playing together or against each other in the same league. With Canadian players, they are spread throughout the world that they are not familiar with each other. The national team has no cohesion as a result. In hockey, European teams do well despite having players all the way in the NHL. However, European players developed their skills in their European leagues that play with the same rules and regulations of the International Ice Hockey Federation and thus, they are more adapted to international regulations. The MLS in the United States has done wonders for the Americans. Their players can play in their own country and when the national team needs to gather, they need not call all their players back from Europe; it keeps the players in close proximity. In the case of Canada, its internationals are spread throughout Europe and it is quite a journey back to Canada to first practice, and then travel to the destination of the match. Players in the past have had problems convincing their clubs in Europe to release them for international duty. The club versus country debate is not only limited to Canada, but it is heightened by the unwillingness of clubs from releasing player to play for a "minnow" soccer nation.

Professional soccer leagues have existed in Canada before but they have failed in the past. The Eastern Canadian Professional League had a six-year tenure starting in 1961 before folding. It is interesting to note that the league president was Harold Ballard. The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a little more successful. The NASL had five Canadian franchises: Toronto (Falcons, Metros, Metros-Croatia, and Blizzard), Montreal (Olympique, Manic), Vancouver (Royals, Whitecaps), Edmonton Drillers and Calgary Boomers. Additionally, the NASL boasted some superstar soccer players; Pele and Johan Cruyff were two international legends that brought their game to the NASL. The NASL was brash and conceited. They went and hired some of the world’s greatest players to play in their league. European leagues have been around for decades and developed long-standing reputations to attract players. In comes the NASL, a new league, and they go out and get Pele. The NASL was like a "Rock & Roll" soccer league. It was very indulgent and it led to its demise. Excessive expansion and escalating salaries destroyed the league.³⁵ The league lasted from 1968-1984 before folding.³⁶ Two years later, a truly national Canadian League was formed. The Canadian Soccer League (CSL) started off well but it faltered by 1992 and folded. The lack of interest caused the CSL to fold. The attendance and interest are simply not there to sustain Canadian professional soccer. Currently, there are four Canadian teams (Montreal, Toronto, Calgary & Vancouver) in the A-League, which is a professional North American soccer league. Unfortunately, the league just does not have the financial backing, fan support, and most importantly, talent to push it from bush-league status. Furthermore, the MLS, which has financial backing from billionaires keeps the A-League from elevating to a greater status. The MLS has done wonders for the American game. The US recent success at the South Korea/Japan World Cup is evidence of this. Their World Cup squad was made up of mostly MLS players or ex-MLS players. In Japan, the J-League formed in 1993 and Japan made its World Cup debut only five years later and by 2002, they had won their first World Cup match and made it past the first round. It is clear with the United States and Japan, two nations where soccer is not the dominant sport; a domestic league is an important element for the national clubs success.

There have been so many failed attempts at professional soccer league that it is beginning to look grim. Attendance has usually been the reason for the fall of past professional soccer leagues. The only way a professional league can be sustained is if interest is garnered and the only way for that is if the national team can string together a succession of success. There are many soccer fans in Canada, they just do not follow Canadian soccer; instead they usually follow European soccer. If the national team would be able to sustain success, then they may be able to convert many of those soccer fans into Canadian soccer fans. However, the national team cannot be successful unless there is a professional league! The Canadian Soccer Association (CSA) as recently as the year 2000, has tried to create a new Canadian professional soccer league, the Canadian United Soccer League (CUSL). The idea was pitched after Canada’s success at Gold Cup 2000. The time was right for the CSA to draw up the blueprints for a professional league. The 2000 Gold Cup saw Canada emerge as winners and for once, the Canadian men’s national team was collecting interest in the game. There was renewed optimism within the ranks of the CSA and thus, the proposals for a new Canadian professional soccer league were devised. The CSA hoped to commence business operations in 2001 and field operations by 2002. ³⁷

The CSA has some rather high hopes for the CUSL. They believe that the Canadian market is ready for a professional soccer league because there are 20 cities with at least a population of 200,000. Furthermore, it believes that teams located in smaller markets will also be able to take advantage of the fact that they are "the only game in town" and hopes devoted local residents would support the teams like small American towns support their high school football teams.³⁸ Another optimistic claim is that they strongly believe that a minimum attendance of 5,000 per game fans is attainable.³⁹ However, this interest seems to have declined. On the Canadian soccer website, there is no follow-up to the CUSL proposals. This is probably a result of Canada’s disastrous qualifying campaign for the recent World Cup. After the success of the Gold Cup, Canada played poorly in the final qualifying round for the World Cup. This may be the reason why the CUSL talks died down, especially since Canada was unable to repeat as Gold Cup champions this past summer. Canada’s inability to follow-up on their Gold Cup victory led to the demise of the CUSL. Ben Knight confirms the lost of interest and failure of the CUSL:

A stadium in Toronto could help soccer because there is a larger population there that would regularly view games. Right now, games are mostly held at Commonwealth Stadium but attendance has not been great if Canada does not play a team of interest like Brazil. Knight did not see the CUSL as the solution to professional league problem. He would rather see a return to the NASL,

Knight brought forward an interesting argument because statically the NASL has been the most successful endeavor in terms of professional soccer leagues in Canada. It lasted the longest and had good players. However, it would probably fail too because a joint venture with the United States would be crushed by the MLS. There is too much financial clout behind the MLS for a new NASL to survive. The MLS has considered expanding and Toronto was named a possible site but it was mere speculation and it has not been followed up on. Toronto is usually named as possible expansion sites for professional sport leagues that want to expand north. While the MLS is not taking American professional sports by storm, its success can be measured by the performance of the American national team. It is no coincidence that the Americans improved after the formation of the MLS. Even if a new NASL were to emerge, it would probably end up being a "sub-league" like the A-League. It has been suggested that Canadians should play in the MLS, but they have a strict policy, similar to most European leagues, of keeping their players mostly local.

It is now obvious that the CUSL will not be able to launch any time soon and neither is a new NASL. The only solution right now it seems is to expand the number of Canadian teams in the A-League. This will help, but only a little, not enough to push Canada into the next level of soccer glory. The A-League serves as a 2^nd division league that feeds players to the MLS. Canada cannot rely on the A-League to improve their quality of play. Early in 2002, FIFA president Sepp Blatter suggested that Canadian soccer will not drastically improve unless Canada develops a professional league at the adult level, "Young players have to have something to aspire to."⁴² A professional men’s league is crucial to the success of the Canadian national team, but the future for a league is looking rather bleak.

The 1986 World Cup in Mexico marked Canada’s first and only appearance in the World Cup and was possible because of a professional league. During the final two rounds of qualification for the World Cup, Canada went undefeated with five wins and three draws.⁴³ Canada despite their best efforts, lost all three of its opening round matches to France, Hungary, and the U.S.S.R. and were held scoreless.⁴⁴ However, appearing in the World Cup was a victory in itself. Colin Jose attributes the NASL as the reason for Canada’s qualification:

Jose indicates that Canada began to play more internationals and almost qualifying for the 1978 and 1982 World Cup and finally succeeding in 1986.

One of the greatest achievements a soccer player can achieve is to be capped by their country. Only the best players can be called into the national squad and it is a tremendous honour. Unfortunately, sometimes players do not want to risk their club career to play for a country that has little or no chance of international glory. For Canada, this has been the case more often than desired. Brad Parker refused to show up for the Gold Cup because he did not want to jeopardize his career at Feyenoord, while Tomasz Radzinski stopped playing for the national team because it just was not worth the travel from Europe to play for Canada. However, Radzinski, being Canada’s biggest scoring threat and top talent, has recently come back to the team. It will be interesting to see how the Radzinski situation plays out. Radzinski rejoined the national team because they were playing international friendlies in Europe, close to his club in Liverpool. He has played in the last few Canadian internationals because of their proximity to Europe, but what happens when Canada starts playing games back home? Will he desert the team once again? He did not play in the FIFA Confederations Cup (an honour bestowed on Canada because of its victory in the 2000 Gold Cup) and also was missing from the squad when Canada defended the Gold Cup this past summer. Radzinski is crucial to the team’s success because he is a top goal scoring threat. Unfortunately, Radzinski’s lack of interest in Canada disqualifies him as a hero.

The Owen Hargreaves Fiasco

The one element that Canadian soccer lacks is a hero – the one player that can elevate the status of the team and the popularity of the sport in Canada. Radzinski can hardly be considered a hero because of his lack of commitment to the national squad; this brings us to Owen Hargreaves. Hargreaves was a true Canadian bred player. He was born in Calgary and developed his early skills in Canada before moving on to German soccer giant Bayern Munich. An early snub by the Canadian under-17 squad had led Hargreaves angry with the CSA. He was a young talent that could have helped propel Team Canada to greener pastures but the "snub" contributed to his disillusionment. Within FIFA rules, a player may play with a country he is born in, where his parents and grandparents are born in or with a country the player is a citizen of. As years progressed, so did Hargreaves level of play. It became an issue of which country Hargreaves would play for. Once a player plays a FIFA sanctioned event for one nation, he is tied to that country and cannot play for any other. Hargreaves, although born and raised in Canada did not commit to Canada right away. He had an opportunity to play for Germany because he had played there for several years and he could also play for Wales or England because of his parent’s origins. Marc Bircham, a native Englishman, had a grandfather from Winnipeg and is a part of the Canadian national squad. Bircham knew he had no chance at playing with England and so he chose to play for Canada. He played his first game for Canada in Northern Ireland before he had even been to Canada. However, the situation with Hargreaves is interesting because he was becoming an elite player. He had cracked the starting eleven for Bayern Munich and was fast becoming a hot commodity. Canada, Germany, England, and Wales all made overtures to him but Hargreaves was mum on the subject. For a long time he refused to declare which country he was going to enlist with. All signs pointed towards the English, as he had been called up for the Under 21 squad for international friendlies and he agreed to play. However, hope was not lost for Canada because international friendlies are not FIFA-sanctioned events and thus, Hargreaves was still a "free agent." Unfortunately, Canada could not convince Hargreaves to come back to his native land and on August 15, 2001, he came on as a substitute for England’s World Cup qualifier against Germany. It became official – Hargreaves was now English.

Hargreaves went on to play for England during the last World Cup and it sparked a whole new range of debate. In hockey, Brett Hull and Bryan Trottier chose the United States over Canada, but there was not as much outrage as the Hargreaves situation. Canada has plenty of talented hockey players to idolize and fill their spots, but Hargreaves was Canada’s only major talent. Was Hargreaves being selfish for choosing England over Canada? Is Hargreaves a traitor? On one side of the argument, there are those who are sympathetic to Hargreaves’ decision to play for England. They argue that if he chose to play for Canada, he may never play in the World Cup. The decision may be selfish but one needs to realize that it is every soccer player’s dream to play in the World Cup and the chances for that dream to be fulfilled with Canada are especially slim. Terry Jones is one, who lends his support to Hargreaves:

Ben Knight also lends his support: "I have always supported Hargreaves' decision to play at the highest level he possibly can. He's a spectacular young talent. If he can start for England, go! Good luck to him."⁴⁷

On the other hand, there are those who see Hargreaves as a traitor to his native homeland. How dare he turn his back on a country that helped develop him as a soccer player? The Voyagers website did not take the snub well as is evident in the player profile of Hargreaves, "Strengths: Can lie straightfaced (sic). Weaknesses: No heart. No pride. No guts. A traitor."⁴⁸

It is interesting to see both Jones and Knight support Hargreaves’ decision. Hargreaves has been extremely reluctant to speak to the media about the snub. Prior to "the snub", Hargreaves had been very willing to speak to the Canadian media, especially those from his hometown of Calgary. After he decided to play for England, he extended the snub to the Canadian media. His parents now refuse to speak to the Calgary media and have changed their phone number. On July 15, 2002, on a visit back to Calgary, Hargreaves was finally going to break his code of silence. However, a death in the Bayern Munich family forced his return back to Germany and once again, the Canadian media was left out in the cold.⁴⁹ While Jones, Knight, and supporters of Hargreaves make excellent points in his defense, it is hard not to feel bad for Canadian soccer fans like the Voyagers who have put so much into the cause of the sport in Canada. The Voyagers even started a petition in 1998 to keep Hargreaves in Canada. Weirdly enough, the 1998 petition was born out of invitation by Wales to Hargreaves, which he accepted, to play for them in a friendly tournament.⁵⁰ The petition was successful in that it kept Hargreaves from playing for Wales; instead, he chose England.

Owen Hargreaves’ situation serves as an interesting case study in Canadian soccer. It symbolizes the decrepit state of the sport in this country. Canada finally had a player that could be looked upon as a hero, yet they could not hang on to him. "When I was interested in Canada they weren't interested in me,"⁵¹ Hargreaves was quoted as saying. Canadian soccer just cannot seem to get a break. Hargreaves could have been the one player that would inspire Canadian kids to strive for more but that will not be the case unless Canada starts producing players for other countries. It is hard to blame Hargreaves, he is still young, only 22 years of age but one must feel terribly bad for dedicated Canadian fans, like the Voyagers, who put so much effort and dedication into Canadian soccer, only to see another setback.

Women’s Soccer in Canada

The bitter reality of Canadian men’s soccer is absolute but the climate for women’s soccer in this country is much brighter – so bright in fact that Canada is one of the world leader’s in the sport. The future of Canadian soccer lies within the women’s game. If Canada is looking for a soccer hero, it should look no further then Charmaine Hooper, Christine Sinclair or teenage sensation Kara Lang. Why must the sporting hero be a male athlete? Surely they are heroes to thousands of young female soccer players across the country but can they inspire the population of male youths? It is a silly question and the answer is obviously no because sporting culture is so rooted in masculinity that it would be absurd for a male to be worshipping a female athlete for her athletic abilities. However, this does not deter from the fact that women’s soccer in Canada has a bright future. "Cast aside the archaic stigma (that they're women) and the lack of notoriety and what remains is an undeniably exciting product. Do I dare say the women's side could be more exciting than the men's squad?"⁵² The answer is a definite yes! The women’s under-19 team performed admirably at the recent FIFA Women’s U-19 World Cup. For once, a Canadian soccer team captured the hearts of Canadians all across the country. The team had defeated women’s teams from England and Brazil en route to a clash with the Americans in the final. Although Canada came out on the wrong side of a 1-0 game, 50,000 fans packed Commonwealth Stadium to cheer on the girls. Now, a great number of the 50,000 probably were not rabid soccer fans, and were only there to exhibit their nationalistic fervor but that is 50,000 people who were heading home with a new perception of soccer. A 1-0 game does not necessarily mean a boring contest. The team fixed a lot the cracks left by the men’s national team following its disastrous lack of form following its Gold Cup victory. The women only furthered their cause by following up the sublime performance in Edmonton with a fantastic showing by the senior women’s squad. They went on to the final of the Women’s Gold Cup and again lost to the Americans, but since they made the final, it assured Canada a spot in the 2003 FIFA Women’s World Cup to be held in China. The success of the women’s team can be attributed to years of playing together and also Canada has the third most registered female soccer players in the world. The women were able to string together a series of successful results and therefore, they remain in the spotlight.

Hooper, Sinclair, Lang continue as household names in Canadian women’s soccer. Canadian sports media still gives them their time of day. Carlos Corrazzin, after winning the Golden Boot (most goals scored in a tournament) for the 2000 Gold Cup, faded into oblivion. Ben Knight has this to say when comparing the men and women’s game in Canada,

Knight makes an interesting point because for once the female aspect of a sport was gaining the attention and grabbing the spotlight away from the males. Sports have always been viewed as a male-dominated arena but here, the women have become the sporting spectacle. Furthermore, they are not being objectified like Anna Kournikova or female tennis in general, but they are being judged by their athletic abilities. "For now, though, the Canadian soccer spotlight is on the women. And it absolutely should be."⁵⁴

2000 Gold Cup

The Gold Cup victory of 2000 for Canada was a major surprise. It may go down in Canadian soccer history as the greatest Canadian soccer moment solely on the fact that they were major underdogs. The Gold Cup is a soccer tournament for the CONCACAF region of FIFA. Usually, CONCACAF invites guess countries to participate and for the 2000 tournament, Columbia and South Korea were invited. As a member of CONCACAF, Canada usually automatically qualifies but its poor form of late forced them to have to go through qualifications to be eligible for the Gold Cup.⁵⁵ They managed to get through qualifications and were placed in a group with South Korea and Costa Rica. There were four groups of three with the top two teams advancing to the next round. All the games in the group ended up as draws. Costa Rica ended up first because they had scored the most goals. Canada and South Korea tied for second with identical goals scored and allowed. To determine second place, and a birth into the next round, a coin toss was performed and Canada won! Canada was fortunate to get through, but they then performed outstanding in the following rounds. Led by Carlos Corazzin, who had already netted two goals, Canada upset Mexico 2-1 in the quarter final round on a golden goal (same as sudden-death) by Richard Hastings. Mexico had won three of the previous four Gold Cups but they were no match for Canada that day. The semi-finals saw Canada pitted against Trinidad & Tobago in a tightly fought match that saw Canada’s Mark Watson net the game’s only goal. They were now in the final against invitees Columbia. Columbia only two years ago were in the World Cup in France, surviving the tough South American qualifying group. However, Canada defeated Columbia 2-0 on goals by captain Jason DeVos and Carlos Corazzin.⁵⁶ The Canadians had done it; they were not even expected to make any impact at all, but they proved everybody wrong. On top of this, two of Canada’s top players, Tomasz Radzinski and Brad Parker did not show up even though they said they would. There was something moving about seeing Sir Bobby Charlton, the greatest English soccer player, present Carlos Corazzin with the Golden Boot trophy (awarded to the tournament’s top scorer). The Gold Cup victory ensured Canada a spot in the Confederations Cup, which pits the winners of all the regional tournaments against each other. The Gold Cup of 2000 was a supreme achievement in Canadian soccer. The odds were against them, they did not have a professional league, players did not show up, and their just seemed to be no confidence in the team. However, they manage to prevail and at least for a moment, supply Canadian soccer with some glory.

Conclusion

The Gold Cup spawned good and bad. The good was that it finally gave Canadian soccer something to cheer about. The bad were that if Canada did not continue to win, then the spotlight they had received would shine away. Canada failed to qualify for the 2002 World Cup and the stunning upset at the Gold Cup was forgotten and Canadian soccer faded into oblivion. The goal of this paper was to provide some background information on the history of soccer in Canada and also explore issues that may have hindered soccer’s progress in this country. Soccer just did not speak the same cultural language that hockey did. Soccer just did not "feel Canadian." The fight for a domestic league rages on and at the same time, the Women’s team prepares to battle the world in the 2003 Women’s World Cup. Soccer is easily the world’s most popular sport, but in Canada, it just does not have the legs.