SoccerCanadian kids have a bright future

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Canadian national team coach Stephen Hart may soon reap the benefits of Canada's successful U17 team. (Canadian Press) 

It has been a long time coming, but will it be worth the wait?

Canada is on its way back to the Under 17 World Cup for the first time in 16 years. It is welcome news and may be the first sign that Canadian player development is paying a tangible dividend.

I can't remember the last time I got so engrossed in youth football. In recent days I have felt compelled to view. Watching a live stream of these Canadian kids, frequently referred to as "Americans", is hardly conducive to a positive experience. Fortunately their performances did that.

Canada may just have unearthed a golden generation which will serve club and country for years to come. The U17's run to the final of the CONCACAF qualifying tournament has been a revelation about the way this country's elite youngsters are being taught the game.

Simplicity is the key. The skills can be honed over time but the basics have been learned. On playing surfaces of dubious quality and bounce in Jamaica, Canada stuck to its guns. Crisp passing with a premium on patient possession yielded results.

Good old fashioned hard work accompanied the precision. No team, not even Barcelona, can keep the ball for an entire game. The way in which the Canadians were prepared to battle to retrieve lost possession was also a factor in their success.

The extra time defeat to the Americans was clearly disappointing. Canada competed for 90 minutes only to be undone by a goal of special quality. The spirit was finally broken, but this Canadian fan would have settled for an appearance in the final before the tournament kicked off.

Mexicans absent
 
One important factor should not be overlooked. It is no coincidence Mexico was not there. This summer's U17 World Cup hosts qualify automatically, creating a bonus CONCACAF spot. Five regional teams will be at the third edition since it was expanded to 24 nations in 2007.
 
That's not to say Canada would have missed out again had the Mexicans been part of the qualifying equation. There's plenty of evidence to suggest otherwise, but it would be foolish to deny Canada's path to their first finals since 1995 did not receive a leg up.
 
The majority of Canada's squad was drawn from what we might describe as the Big Three. The academies of Toronto FC, Vancouver Whitecaps and Montreal Impact supplied seventy per cent of the players selected by head coach Sean Fleming.
 
Significantly, every one of them has progressed through the provincial system. The Canadian Soccer Association was quick to jump on the bandwagon of success and inform the media of its involvement in the development of these young stars.
 
The CSA is routinely criticised for dropping the ball on player development. The complaint is always the same - too many have been missed or lost over the years. So when there is good news to report, it is no surprise the CSA wants credit where credit is apparently due.   
 
Just who is responsible is not important. The point is that these players, and those who follow, must be identified and nurtured at an early age. The developmental landscape is changing and Canada's senior clubs will have an increasingly important role to play.
 
Canada's 2011 U17 heroes have something denied their predecessors. Their path to professionalism is laid out before them. Most are already in the club academy system where the policy must be to produce home grown players good enough for Major League Soccer.
 
Toronto FC is clearly paying attention. Academy prospect Keven Aleman, who caught the eye in Jamaica, has been invited to join Aron Winter's pre-season camp. The 16 year old attacking midfielder could be the latest off the burgeoning production line.
 
Not all of them will make it. The failure rate is alarmingly high but that's the nature of the business. Converting a promising teenager into a first team regular is much easier said than done. History tells us most of them will not make a career as a professional.
 
The last Canadian team to qualify demonstrates the point. The class of 1995, which travelled to Ecuador, introduced a 15 year old midfielder named Patrice Bernier. At 31, he continues to play in Europe and represent his country. He was the only one to fulfill that early potential.
 
MLS didn't exist in 1995. Had it done so, perhaps more of Bernier's team-mates would have stuck at the game and created opportunities for themselves. Next year, MLS will feature three Canadian franchises, a scenario impossible to imagine all those years ago.
 
This is a golden chance for Fleming's golden generation. Over the next few years some of Canada's U17's will have the chance to turn their dreams into reality. They will go on to make a living out of the game in North America - and become senior internationals.
 
The U17 World Cup is a proven testing ground for future professionals. Bernier's 1995 adventure featured kids who became household names. Cambiasso, Kewell, Howard, Julio Cesar and Juan were all in Ecuador. So was Nick Garcia.    

Follow Nigel Reed on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/Nigel_Reed

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