Why do Canadian kids stop playing soccer when they grow up?

[alex52]

The American soccer team has improved vastly in the last ten years in the world cup tournment, and many American players play in the European leagues and make good money, same with the Austerlitz.

What is it about Canadians kids that play soccer when they are young and switch over to Ice hockey which requires so much infrastructure and is expensive to play.
Very strange for an outsider to understand, I find hockey a boring sport.

 

[Dewalt]

Because soccer is a boring sport? There is no hitting and basically you watch a bunch of whiney ass pansies run around on the field and then cry when someone trips. North Americans love violence and struggle - much like the founding of both countries, which is why football and hockey is so ingrained in the culture.

It is beyond me why the world cup is so popular.

 

[wazup]

There wasn't a visible pro league in a lot of years until recently, I think there was an NASL years ago, so kids had nowhere to dream about playing. Also, soccer is often way down on the list of sports to play, behind hockey, football, baseball, basketball, so most of the best athletes have chosen other sports. Therefore, we don't have the population to field a world class team because of it, where the US does. Weather is also a factor, indoor soccer sucks on a gym floor, I played it.

Another factor is that US colleges have boatloads of money to give students scholarships to play soccer, most Canadian kids pay for school on their own and will play on the Varsity team just for fun, with a short season because of the weather. The schools will all have limited budgets too.

However, successful pro leagues always help a sport, and it seems the MLS is here to stay.

 

[diehard]

Because they suck at it.

Plain and simple.

 

[1HandInMyPocket]

It's too bad we don't have a futeball (soccer) team that can real compete on a World level. New Zealand, with a population smaller than the GTA, can put a competitive team together, so should we.

 

[hinz]

Because they suck at it.

Plain and simple.

Try to remind this to the Indians and Chinese when it comes to football, aka soccer in the US and Canada.

Russell Peter once make a joke on India and China failure to field any decent male soccer teams for World Cup, something that is extremely painful to mention given the fact that the total population for both countries is 2.4 Billions.

 

[afterhours]

Very strange for an outsider to understand, I find hockey a boring sport.

I find them all boring, except MMA.

 

[Moraff]

Because they grow up and start playing real sports?

Honestly I have no idea, but figured it was a good line to throw out to cause some fuss amongst soccer fans.

 

[onthebottom]

You can't play it in the snow.......

OTB

 

[rhuarc29]

Soccer is a game that requires very little equipment. All you need is a ball and 4 rocks to make up goal posts. Unlike basketball, hockey and to a large extent, baseball, you can play it wherever there is an open space. For this reason, kids are often introduced to soccer in gym class at schools because it is cost-effective for the school.

Once kids leave school though, they lose interest because in Canada soccer doesn't have a professional league that is followed in the media or on television like hockey, basketball or baseball do.

 

[hinz]

in Canada soccer doesn't have a professional league that is followed in the media or on television like hockey, basketball or baseball do.

So true but it's inevitable sooner or later match rigging/fixing is going to be the "norm", thanks to ever increasing demand on sport betting, legally and illegally.

 

[Blue-Spheroid]

Why do Canadian kids stop playing soccer when they grow up?

Because it's a boring sport that's too strenuous to play casually and has no real prospects in this country to play professionally.

 

[TracedInAir]

north americans hate soccer and you can't make any money off it, and no famous soccer stars in the world

 

[Brill]

Do more kids in Toronto play hockey than soccer?

I'd like to see the stats on this, not sure if it's true anymore.

 

[GotGusto]

Just like in sex, we like to use our hands.

 

[Ironhead]

The American soccer team has improved vastly in the last ten years in the world cup tournment, and many American players play in the European leagues and make good money, same with the Austerlitz.

What is it about Canadians kids that play soccer when they are young and switch over to Ice hockey which requires so much infrastructure and is expensive to play.
Very strange for an outsider to understand, I find hockey a boring sport.

Because hockey is number one here in Canada !


It's in our hearts !


Hockey ... hockey is our game
But really it's much more than just a game
It's a passion that brings us all together
On frozen ponds, at the community rink and in our living rooms
It's the feeling you got the first time you stepped on the ice
The feeling you had when you scored your first goal
Hockey is in our driveways
It's in our dreams
In every post game celebration
It's in the streets everytime your friend yells "car"
In every rink across the country
It's in our hearts


Listen to Sid.

A bunch of Gold Medals by the men and women with CANADA on there chests helps keep hockey on top.
The Stanley Cup playoffs every year, Junior championships on TV. It is where every Canadian kid wants to be one day.
I grew up playing hockey on the road during summer and in the rinks in winter. We also went to the local ice pad after school and on weekends when our teams were not playing.

It really is in our hearts.

 

[ig-88]

only women's soccer is fun to watch, imo :

 

[out4fun]

Why do they quit? -because its soccer!. Why do they ever start is a better question.

 

[onthebottom]

All this from a nation where the number 2 sport is curling.....

OTB

 

[Master_Bates]

I used to play soccer at a semi competitive level, and had friends that played hockey.

I would say the lack of a professional soccer league would be the biggest factor. There is no development infrasctructure for the sport in canada. No Triple A leagues as in hockey, no heroes to watch on tv. We also don't give scholarships. It more of a hobby than a sport in canada, you just do it on your free time and that's it, you can't make money from it later.