Annual report shows significant drop in registered Canadian soccer players By Steven Sandor Posted on May 7, 20182 0 2,801 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Maybe those of us who call soccer “Canada’s fastest growing participation sport” need to tone it down a bit.As Canada Soccer held its annual general meeting this past weekend, the organization also released its annual report, covering 2017. And, the registration numbers across the country are sobering. Registration numbers are down in 12 of Canada’s 13 provinces and territories. The only province to see an uptick was Alberta, and that was a slight one. In Ontario, there were more than 24,000 fewer registered players in 2017 than there were in 2016.What’s interesting is that in the 2016 annual report, Canada Soccer published a number of 818,940 registered players in the country. In the new report, it had a participation number of 834,363. Yes, on first glance, it seems like numbers went up — but, in the new report, Canada Soccer also included coaches and referees in the participation number.Take the coaches and referees out, and you get this: The number of registered players fell from 818,940 in 2016 to 776,176 in 2017. That’s almost 43,000 fewer players in 2017 than had been registered the year before. More and more kids are choosing to specialize in one sport, year-round. So, if a kid played hockey in the winter and soccer in the summer, (s)he boosted registration numbers in both sports. But more kids are choosing to play only soccer or only hockey or only (place sport here), and that hurts numbers.What also jumps out is that the Women’s World Cup looks to have no appreciable impact on girls registering in youth soccer. In all of the jurisdictions that had data available, all showed decreased in youth female registrations. Ontario itself shed more than 8,000 girls players over the course of one year.Manitoba’s information was not available, though The 11 has contacted Canada Soccer for some clarification on that province’s numbers. OntarioTOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2016: 326,959TOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2017: 302,664 (DOWN 24,295)SENIOR MALES IN 2016: 38,449 2017: 36,696YOUTH MALES IN 2016: 160,738 2017: 147,971SENIOR FEMALES IN 2016: 38,449 2017: 36,696YOUTH FEMALES IN 2016: 106,586 2017: 98,457 QuebecTOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2016: 179,928TOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2017: 173,879 (DOWN 6,049)SENIOR MALES IN 2016: 14,705 2017: 13,471YOUTH MALES IN 2016: 99,298 2017: 97,084SENIOR FEMALES IN 2016: 9,647 2017: 8,201YOUTH FEMALES IN 2016: 56,278 2017: 55,123 British ColumbiaTOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2016: 121,828TOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2017: 114,823 (DOWN 7,005)SENIOR MALES IN 2016: 13,227 2017: 11,205YOUTH MALES IN 2016: 62,426 2017: 59,131SENIOR FEMALES IN 2016: 8,181 2017: 8,702YOUTH FEMALES IN 2016: 37,994 2017: 35,785 AlbertaTOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2016: 95,181TOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2017: 95,406 (UP 225)SENIOR MALES IN 2016: 15,074 2017: 13,925YOUTH MALES IN 2016: 43,062 2017: 45,957SENIOR FEMALES IN 2016: 10,039 2017: 10,312YOUTH FEMALES IN 2016: 27,006 2017: 25,392 SaskatchewanTOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2016: 23,659TOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2017: 21,964 (DOWN 1,695)SENIOR MALES IN 2016: 3,392 2017: 3,136YOUTH MALES IN 2016: 10,956 2017: 9,939SENIOR FEMALES IN 2016: 2,062 2017: 1,762YOUTH FEMALES IN 2016: 7,249 2017: 7,127 Nova ScotiaTOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2016: 22,866TOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2017: 21,539 (DOWN 1,327)SENIOR MALES IN 2016: 1,884 2017: 1,948YOUTH MALES IN 2016: 10,583 2017: 9,774SENIOR FEMALES IN 2016: 1,481 2017: 1,520YOUTH FEMALES IN 2016: 8,918 2017: 8,297 New BrunswickTOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2016: 15,057TOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2017: 13,383 (DOWN 1,674)SENIOR MALES IN 2016: 1,185 2017: 978YOUTH MALES IN 2016: 7,646 2017: 6,907SENIOR FEMALES IN 2016: 570 2017: 547YOUTH FEMALES IN 2016: 5,656 2017: 4,951 ManitobaTOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2016: 14,161TOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2017: 13,789 (DOWN 372)BREAKDOWN N/A: SASKATCHEWAN INFO REPRINTED UNDER MANITOBA SECTION IN REPORT (HAVE ASKED FOR PROPER NUMBERS) Newfoundland and LabradorTOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2016: 11,339TOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2017: 11,181 (DOWN 158)SENIOR MALES IN 2016: 869 2017: 1,062YOUTH MALES IN 2016: 5,732 2017: 5,516SENIOR FEMALES IN 2016: 579 2017: 603YOUTH FEMALES IN 2016: 4,159 2017: 4,000 Prince Edward IslandTOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2016: 5,155TOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2017: 5,122 (DOWN 33)SENIOR MALES IN 2016: 267 2017: 421YOUTH MALES IN 2016: 2,337 2017: 2,188SENIOR FEMALES IN 2016: 216 2017: 300YOUTH FEMALES IN 2016: 2,335 2017: 2,213 YukonTOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2016: 1,360TOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2017: 1,247 (DOWN 113)SENIOR MALES IN 2016: 212 2017: 257YOUTH MALES IN 2016: 715 2017: 629SENIOR FEMALES IN 2016: 101 2017: 74YOUTH FEMALES IN 2016: 332 2017: 287 Northwest TerritoriesTOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2016: 1,194TOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2017: 948 (DOWN 246)SENIOR MALES IN 2016: 281 2017: 236YOUTH MALES IN 2016: 359 2017: 355SENIOR FEMALES IN 2016: 148 2017: 110YOUTH FEMALES IN 2016: 406 2017: 247 NunavutTOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2016: 253TOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2017: 231 (DOWN 22)YOUTH MALES IN 2016: 119 2017: 119YOUTH FEMALES IN 2016: 134 2017: 112
