Watching the action in Sochi. Got me thinking about parallels between our fates at the Olympics and on the soccer pitch as a nation. Specifically on the development side, we manage to put out great athletes in many disciplines some having strong collegiate programs (swimming or track) others more independent programs (snowboarding skating etc) What parallels do u see between our development approaches and systems for developing our Olympians vs our soccer athletes?
For Canadian Soccer players there is a fairly strong PDL system along with MLS academies. Problem is counting Ottawa now there are only 5 pro teams in Canada so once they get passed the University level their is limited space for Canadian players to play pro soccer. MLS teams can't load their rosters with Canadian players as they are trying to coompete at the highest level in Canada/US. Nasl sides and USL Pro affiliates for Canadian MLS teams in Canadian cities will keep more players in Canada or on the continent in the US instead of having them spread out all over Europe