View from the Cheap Seats is an extension of the newsroom, which is frequently a site of heated debate on topics ranging from the extremely serious to the utterly ridiculous. This web edition features the views of print edition columnists Thom Barker (Wednesday) and Calvin Daniels (Friday), as well as web exclusive content by Devin Wilger (Thursday).
This week: Will the Toronto Football Club’s recent trip to the Major League Soccer Final raise the relevance of soccer in Canada?
Already king
This is a question that says more about the questioner than the subject matter. It is indicative of a perception that somehow the world’s most popular sport lacks relevance in Canada and that is a perception that is certainly lagging well behind the reality.
The relevance of soccer in Canada really doesn’t need a lot of help from the Toronto Football Club’s (TFC) recent appearance in the Major League Soccer championship against Seattle.
In fact, soccer is the most popular participation sport in Canada and has been for a long time.
Even back in 2005, when Statistics Canada did an in-depth comparison, soccer was far and away the most played sport for kids and on the rise. At that time 20 per cent of children aged five to 14 played soccer, up eight per cent over 1992. In 1992 swimming was king, followed by baseball, hockey then soccer. During the intervening years the only other organized sport that did not decline was basketball.
Participation in soccer is currently more than 750,000 kids nationally. And that is not just in the large centres of Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver where there are professional clubs. It is all the way across the country including Yorkton.
While participation is in little need of boosting, it is possible the success of TFC and for that matter Montreal, who played the semi-final against Toronto, may go some way to increasing the beautiful game’s popularity as a spectator sport. Even so, it is already third behind hockey and basketball.
While Canada remains hockey-crazed in terms of viewing, it continues to decline in participation. And it is little wonder. One study showed that playing hockey is even more expensive than equestrian and that is saying something.
So, our question is basically moot. Soccer is not only relevant in Canada, it is the undisputed king of sport as it is pretty much everywhere else in the world, with the possible notable exception of the United States.
-Thom Barker
New Canadians, new sports
The most promising athlete from my home town is a soccer prodigy. Small town Saskatchewan has produced many hockey players and football players, but soccer doesn’t fit with the Canadian national stereotype. But his skill with the ball fits perfectly with a different national stereotype, since the young man was born in Brazil.
Soccer has always been present in Canada. I played it – poorly – when I was in junior high and thought trying out a sport would be worthwhile. But in terms of being one of the big name sports in the country, it has always ranked well below football and hockey. That’s not a surprise, because a nation’s favorite sports can sometimes be a self-fulfilling prophecy. If all the kids are watching football and hockey, that’s going to be their favorite sports, and that’s going to be what they play. Then, other sports tend to be disappointing, because the local crews tend to be pretty mediocre and the play largely uninteresting, keeping them from gaining the traction that they might enjoy in another country.
But soccer is the preferred sport of hundreds of nations, so it’s reasonable that as people move into the country you’re going to get more people interested in soccer. That’s what they grew up with, so that’s what they’re going to be interested in when it comes to sport. The increased number of local young folks with an interest in the sport is inevitably going to lead to better play, better teams and better games overall. The continued increase in the number of talented athletes who make soccer the game means we can build an audience and support a team financially, possibly even bringing in talented players from other nations. If soccer is now relevant to Canadians – and I think it’s close, but maybe a few years from being a headline sport – it’s not going to be thanks to the existing population, most of whom are quite content with hockey or football. Instead, it’s going to be something driven by a new audience of new Canadians.
-Devin Wilger
Adding stature
Soccer in Canada tends to be a sport that most rate about the same as lawnmower racing, and race walking.
There are those among more recent immigrants who hold it in higher esteem, but I have a feeling that loyalty might fade as they watch hockey, basketball, football, lacrosse, all of which actually have scoring.
Yes I am not a soccer fan, unless I need a reason to nap on the chesterfield.
But that changed a smidge with the Montreal Impact and Toronto FC in the East final of Major League Soccer.
The game in Montreal drew more than 60,000 the second largest crowd to ever watch an MLS game. The Impact won 3-2 with a late comeback by TFC.
In TO the crowd was far more modest, but still a sell-out, and the contest went to OT, TFC winning 5-2, with me watching from half time on.
It is the most soccer I have ever managed to stay awake through, and was actually entertaining.
Of course most soccer is not offensive to the point of 12 goals being scored over two games, which is a pity.
That said, the two-game set, and the MSL final, a rather boring affair that went to the silly soccer shoot-out, has at least put soccer on a higher pedestal than ever before in Canada. It may mean some added fans and general interest in the sport as a result. Still a long way from the big three, or even hockey in terms of North American general interest, it should help build a more secure foundation in this country.
— Calvin Daniels
