This page is dedicated to Football, a sport in this country that does not trail much behind hockey. The highest level is the Canadian Football League, which currently has only 8 teams but is looking at expanding after 2000. Here I will look at football and the CFL as Canada's second most popular sport.
Next is soccer. The highest participation level game in the country. Soccer
in Canada is forever growing and it is only a matter of time until we have
a good professional league installed in the country. Here I will look at
how the game is growing and what the future may hold.
| Football | Soccer |
Football in Canada is a very big sport. It is almost as big as hockey. It's popularity is growing continuously. Canadian football is not very different from American style football. We have different rules (the biggest difference in rules is that they have 4 downs and we have three) and we have a bigger playing field. The biggest difference in the two styles is that the NFL is about big money, big business, big lucrative contracts and profits, a big hype and money and more money. Where as the CFL is more about the pride of a nation having it's own autonomous and independent league where money is not the driving force. The power that fuels the league is rather the love of the game that draws players, fans and sponsors. But don't get me wrong, one thing that the leagues do have in common is that all the teams in both leagues usually have excellent fan support.
The highest form of professional football in Canada is the CFL (Canadian
Football League), which is currently made up of only 8 teams but as I mentioned
earlier, they are looking at expanding after 2000. The markets they are
looking at include returning a franchise to the nations capital of Ottawa.
The second market is Quebec City. There are currently two interested parties
in the Quebec capital. Also, if a franchise was awarded, a new stadium
with a capacity of 15,000 to 30,000 would probably be built. In my opinion
these two cities more than deserve teams. I hope that the CFL realizes
this and gives them a franchise. There are a few other markets that I think
would work. The main one being Halifax, Nova Scotia. There needs to be
a franchise in the Maritimes. Halifax being the biggest and a major Canadian
city, it is logical. Other markets include Windsor, Ontario and London,
Ontario as they are both large enough. Also I would look into Victoria,
B.C. and Hull, Quebec. The next highest level is The CJFL, the Canadian
Junior Football League which is divided up into 3 separate leagues. Each
contains teams in cities that are either not quite large for a CFL team
yet or even in some cases already have a CFL team and serve as a junior
team. The league is divided up into 3 conferences: The B.C. conference,
the prarie provinces (Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba) conference and
the Ontario Conference. The winners of each conference meet in a tournament
at the end of the year called the "Canada Bowl" and play for the national
championship. Quebec also has a junior league, but it is currently independent
of the CJFL. The next highest level is the Canadian Bantam Football league.
Which again is divided up into conferences. This time though to the best
of my knowledge sources, each province has its own conference, which is
divided into smaller regional leagues. The winners of each regional league
meet for the provincial title. The winners of each respective provincial
title meet for the National Bantam Championship. After Bantam is only local
league football such as city non-pro leagues. There is Football played
at the academic level in Universities and at Junior and High School Levels.
**note**
Here are some of Football Links
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| Saskatoon Hill Tops | Edmonton Wild Cats | Edmonton Huskies | Calgary Colts |
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| Abbotsford Airforce | Okanagan Sun | South Fraser Rams | Tri-Cities Bulldogs |
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| Chilliwack Valley Huskers | Vancouver Trojans | Victoria Rebels | |
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| Burlington Braves | Hamilton Steel City Ironmen | London Beefeaters | Saint Leonard Cougars |
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| North Shore Broncos | Chateauguay Raiders | South Shore Packers | Ottawa Junior Riders |
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| Ottawa Sooners |
Soccer is also known as football in other parts of the world. But here in the great white north it is known as soccer. When one thinks Canadian sports, they think hockey or football (gridiron). One would probably think of soccer last, but that is simply not true any more. Soccer is now the number one participation sport in the country. Last season it enjoyed a about a wopping 106% grow increase! Also the national teams are just getting better and better every year. If marketed properly, soccer in this great nation has a bright and huge future.
However there are a few hurdles that we must overcome first. The biggest
being the fact that Canada does not yet have it's own national
league where we can develop national talent. Also without a team in every
major city we cannot develop the necessary inter-city rivalry that is present
in other sports and the awareness that a team in the major Canadian markets
would greatly help to raise popularity for the game. There have been two
or three attempts at a 100% canadian league. Unfortunately they all failed.
But that was because they where not planned correctly. As of this moment,
the Canadian Soccer Association is undertaking a nation-wide study to see
if a new league would be viable. I think that if we marketed it extremely
well, got proper fan support , got proper sponsorship, do not take expansion
to quickly (as we did last time round), and built some proper 10,000 to
28,000 seat soccer stadiums (not to many), and possibly attracted some
foreign talent, the league would be a big hit.
To start out I would think that there should
only be about 8 to ten teams in the major cities first and if after two
seasons, the league is a success, then consider expansion. I would suggest
for the inaugural season to start with teams in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary,
Winnipeg, Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal and/or Quebec City and Hamilton. Then
after a a season or two, add Regina and Halifax and consider London, Ont.
,Windsor Ont, Victoria BC, Hull Que and another location in the maritimes.
Canada already has three pro teams, the Vancouver 86'ers, the Toronto Lynx and the Montreal Impact all who play in the american A-League. I think that if these teams pulled out of the A-League, and where joined by a few other teams just as good as them in the other major cities, a Canadian league would be feasible. There are some who would disagree though.
If you are a supporter of your country (Canada) and a soccer fan or if
you are from another country but you would like to help Canada get its
own league then please, E-MAIL
THE CANADIAN SOCCER ASSOCIATION
and voice your support. Or you can write them a letter at: Canadian
Soccer Association
237 Metcalfe St.
Ottawa, Ontario
K2P 1R2
or you can phone them at: (613) 237-7678
or you can fax them at: (613) 237-1516
If you have your doubts about a Canadian Soccer League then just remember what Francisco Marcos, who is the A-League Commissioner said about Canadian Soccer in an interview with Inside Soccer Magazine:
(Not 100% exact, to the letter words)
"In my opinion Canada can not have it's own league, a league that
runs east to west is not possible. That is why Canada should look at remaining
in the A-League" Then he went on to say that his A-League is probably
our best and only hope to run pro soccer in Canada. He then Compared an
east to west format to the CFL and indirectly said it was a failure. The
arrogance!
The A-league is American, we need a league that is purely Canadian.
I urge you to voice support for a new Canadian League.
I apologize if the soccer section is not quite what you expected, however,
please keep in mind that this area of the site will be always changing
and I hope to put in a bit more classy soccer section soon, perhaps under
it's own separate page.
If you have any comments on how I could improve this section please
post on the Message Board or E-Mail me at:
[email protected]
I know what a great sport it is and I am looking for positive input
and suggestions so that I can make a much better soccer section.
Thanks,
Mr. Canada
Here are some Soccer Links in Canada
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Edmonton
Drillers
The Drillers are currently an indoor team. But if a new Canadian team is installed, I sincerely hope that they will field an outdoor team that will play in the league! |
Note
The info stated here is not confirmed 100% accurate
and I am still researching it. I am not responsible for any mis-information
that people may take off my site and use for their own purposes.