Canadian soccer will get some new infrastructure from the World Cup.
Still, the tournament will have far less of a legacy on the country’s sporting fabric than the Olympics in 1976, 1988 and 2010, when new facilities were built en masse in Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver, helping push Canada’s elite sports sector to record-level performances in subsequent Olympic Games.
“One of the biggest gaps in Canada’s sporting environment is our lack of infrastructure, and the space between great infrastructure and those gaps are the ones that concern me the most,” Secretary of State for Sport Adam van Koeverden told GOAL.
“That’s the biggest gap. We need more, whether they’re indoor gyms, field houses, soccer fields, tracks, pools, rinks, whatever it is, we need more of them. Our communities and the next generation of athletes and just active people deserve them.”
In total, Canada has spent roughly $1.3 billion in taxpayer funds to host 13 World Cup games in Toronto and Vancouver. Both host cities installed a new grass pitch and field house at a single location, falling short of their initial, more extensive plans after FIFA reduced its demands.
The City of Toronto also promised 12 new mini-pitches across the city for youth players, but only four have been built in time for the World Cup, even as a temporary field on Toronto’s waterfront has quickly become a well-used community asset.
For a sport once defined by its low barrier to entry, finding places to play is becoming increasingly challenging and is affecting every level.
Jesse Symons, the head coach of Vancouver’s UBC Thunderbirds, the most decorated women’s soccer program in Canadian university sports, says local clubs will have to be strategic in how they structure programs, and he’s worried some may need to add waitlists.
“There are some summer and spring leagues that have gotten quite busy, and maybe some clubs will identify that as a time to try and push numbers up,” he told GOAL. Vancouver soccer is traditionally played through the winter, similar to Europe, because of the region’s moderate climate.”
“Some municipalities are also pushing how long they keep their artificial fields without replacing them. If it’s for recreational players, it’s probably okay, but I think already you see a lot of high-performance programs looking for other places.”
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