Ontario dominates the Canadian U-17 squad

The Canadian Soccer Association revealed the names of the players who will attend the Feb. 5-13 evaluation camp in Sunrise, Fla.

The roster illustrates the mountain we have to climb in Canada before we can truly have a well-stocked Canadian program. Of the 23 players on the roster (included below), 13 came from Ontario. One came from Manitoba. Just two from Alberta. And, shockingly, defender Daniel Stanese is the lone representative on the team from B.C.

The U-17 program is a good indicator of who is producing the elite talent in the country. Yes, Ontario is our most populous province, but in producing more than half of the team, it is, statistically speaking, overrepresented.

Alberta has more than 10 per cent of the registered players in Canada, but had two members on the team. B.C. accounts for more than 14 per cent of the registered players, has the great weather where players can train year-round, but produced just… one?

No players from Atlantic Canada.

And that’s the problem. As a nation, we produce elite hockey teams because kids can access elite coaching whether they live in Toronto or Aneroid, Sask. Our teams have representation from across Canada. Pick a province, and we can name an elite NHLer who came from there. But, if seven per cent of all of the players in this country are from the Maritimes, and they don’t have a representative on the national U-17 team, that’s a sign that there are players falling through the cracks.

Soccer is doing well in Canada’s big three cities. But, until it can thrive in the fishing villages and prairie towns, we have a ton of work to do.

Canada roster
Alderson, Bryce | 1994 | Kitchener, ON, CAN | Kitchener SC
Aleman, Keven | 1994 | Brampton, ON, CAN | Toronto Spanish League
Benomar, Ismaïl | 1994 | Laval, QC, CAN | Laval Centre Sud
Cain, Wesley | 1994 | Guelph, ON, CAN | Quinndale Community Soccer
Carreiro, Dylan | 1995 | Winnipeg, MB, CAN | Clifton Community Club
Chapman, Jay | 1994 | Campbellford, ON, CAN | Brampton East SC
Crépeau, Maxime | 1994 | Candiac, QC, CAN | Ligue de soccer pour enfants de Candiac
Essa, Yassin | 1994 | Surrey, BC, CAN |
Gasparotto, Luca | 1995 | Ajax, ON, CAN | Ajax SC
Hamilton, Jordan | 1996 | Scarborough, ON, CAN | North Scarborough SC
Huggins, Xander | 1994 | Port Perry, ON CAN | Scugog SA
Jalali, Sadi | 1995 | Edmonton, AB, CAN | Millwoods SA
Lapenna, Marco | 1994 | Montréal, QC, CAN | Montréal North
Mmunga, Shadrack | 1994 | Québec, QC, CAN |
Morris, Omari | 1994 | Scarborough & Ajax, ON, CAN | North Scarborough Soccer Association
Nanco, Christopher | 1995 | Brampton, ON, CAN |
Pasquotti, Matteo | 1994 | Fort MacLeod & Lethbridge, AB, CAN | Lethbridge SA
Petrasso, Michael | 1995 | Woodbridge, ON, CAN | Kleinburg SC
Piette, Samuel | 1994 | Le Gardeur, QC, CAN | Lionceaux de le Gardeur
Polakiewicz, Adam | 1994 | Kitchener, ON, CAN | Kitchener SC
Roberts, Quillan | 1994 | Brampton, ON, CAN | Brampton Youth SC
Seymour, Parker | 1994 | Toronto, ON, CAN | North Toronto Soccer Association
Stanese, Daniel | 1994 | Pitt Meadows, BC, CAN | Coquitlam Metro Ford