Ontario’s grassroots soccer program is growing
The Ontario Soccer Association is implementing new methods for youth players. It has taken a stance on developing players rather than winning.
OSA research found that kids around the age of 13 to 14 drop out of organized sports because it is too competitive, whereas kids in other countries are just starting to move on into the next stage in becoming professionals.
“We did some research and found it was the super-competitive nature of sport at those young ages where adults, coaches and parents, people who run the game, were putting extreme pressure on the kids to win [matches], besides learning [how to play] the game,” said Bobby Lennox, manager of player development for the OSA.
In 2006, the Canadian Soccer Association adopted the government model Canadian Sport for Life, which also goes by the name Long Term Athlete Development. This allowed all Olympic sports in the country to develop a long-term model.
Two years later, the CSA created the Wellness to World Cup model, which gave each provincial soccer associations the task to develop a long-term player development model.
According to a 2010 study by the Canadian Heritage Research Paper, 42 per cent of kids, age five to 14, play soccer, compared to 22 per cent who play hockey.
Nick Cutone’s three children are part of that 42 per cent. He decided to allow his children to join their local club, Kleinburg-Nobleton Soccer Club. Cutone said it was an easy choice to allow his kids to play soccer, a sport he played when he was younger. “Looking at the other sports, the opportunities are not there. Soccer seemed to have more of an opportunity” to become professionals, said Cutone.
Cutone, who is a manager for his 11-year-old son’s soccer team, said one of his goals for his kids, and for the kids he manages, is that they develop into elite players and can go on to enjoy successful careers in soccer. “For our club [Kleinburg] if we move one of our players into [the Toronto FC] Academy, we’ve done something,” said Cutone.
Between 70 and 80 per cent of players at the Canadian national soccer team level are from Ontario, according to the Ontario Soccer Association.
Major League Soccer club Toronto FC is well known for its youth academy, and has used youth ranks to promote players into its starting lineup. The major league club currently has seven players on its first team that have gone through the Kia TFC Academy, which is part of the club’s development process.
“By putting a 10-year-old in an elite program, that’s an elite player playing against other elite players,” said Gianni Cimini, a U-10 to U-12 coach for TFC Academy.
“They’ll always have the ability to, number one, improve and number two, develop positive mindsets to improving.”
Cimini mentioned it’s also very important for kids to become more active. “There’s value in being active from an athletic standpoint at such a young age. Coordination, balance [and] being in a team environment are the aims and goals of a grassroots program.”
In Cimini’s TFC youth clubs, young players are given the opportunity to train with the club’s senior players and even participate in professional tournaments around North America and Europe.
There are parents like Cutone who trust that the new grassroots guidelines are right for their children. “If people follow the LTPD [Long Term Player Development], then Canada can be very strong in the soccer market. We will be a powerhouse,” said Cutone.
Photo courtesy of USAG Humphreys* with licence.
About the Author
Anthony Gallo Is a third year Media Studies student at the University of Guelph-Humber. He hopes to one day work in a newsroom, delivering his take on sports.
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