Canada's World Cup run inspires a soccer-hungry nation
The Canadian men's national team's time in the World Cup is ending, but their time in the spotlight is really just beginning -- and that's inspiring a nation.
The team crashed out of the tourney Thursday after three hard fought losses in a tough group. But the long-term benefit and exposure gained for the sport during the three matches might've been worth the short-term pain.
"We've left a legacy for the young players to follow through on," defender Sam Adekugbe said. "And ultimately, we're on our way to be a better place.
"We just hope everyone comes with us."
Adekugbe -- who is London-born and Calgary-raised -- had a part in Canada's lone goal in a 2-1 loss to Morocco Thursday.
He also may be a perfect role model for the next generation, according to those in the sport.
"We're really proud of Sam," Calgary Minor Soccer Association Executive Director Carlo Bruneau said. "For our community to see that you can come from anywhere and then compete at the highest level on the largest stage in the world, it really gives that 'see it and you can be it' feeling."
Soccer is still a growing sport in Canada, and this World Cup will no doubt boost that momentum. Local enrolment is recently up as much as 40 per cent in outdoor leagues and 15 per cent in indoor ones.
The association says some of that can be chalked up to the Canadian men's squad and its thrilling qualification campaign.
"To be involved in the largest sporting event in the entire universe and to see our players compete at the highest level is really going to inspire our community and country to become a football nation," Bruneau said. "It's truly showing a pathway of where you can get to in soccer."
Increased registration in the sport brings funding, which, in turn, brings new, development facilities.
"Buildings (like indoor field Calgary West) provide a good environment and allow us to play our game year round," Calgary West Soccer Technical Director Connor Brady said. "I think all those things add into what is a program that can have some longevity on the world stage."
And so begins a development cycle that could produce the next Adekugbe. Or, at the very least, a cycle that will instil some good life lessons.
"That homegrown talent is important for our kids to see the potential and opportunity," Brady told CTV News. "It's important for them to see that it is possible. (The team was) able to motivate and inspire an entire country, and though it didn't go the way they wanted, that's football.
"Our sport offers us a ton of opportunities to learn those life skills."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Competition bureau finds 'substantial' anti-competitive effects with proposed Bunge-Viterra merger
The proposed merger of agricultural giants Viterra and Bunge is raising competition concerns from the federal government.
Douglas DC-4 plane with 2 people on board crashes into river outside Fairbanks, Alaska
A Douglas C-54 Skymaster airplane crashed into the Tanana River near Fairbanks on Tuesday, Alaska State Troopers said.
BREAKING Mounties will not be charged in shooting death of B.C. Indigenous man
Three Mounties in British Columbia will not face charges in the killing of a 38-year-old Indigenous man on Vancouver Island in 2021.
Canada's favourite sport to watch is hockey, survey shows
The 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs have already delivered a fever level of fan excitement in Canada.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
“It's just so hard to let it go. I mean, everyone is telling me, ‘you have to move on,’ but I know someone is not here [anymore]. So I don't know how I will move on." That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.