Soccer might not be the first sport that comes to mind when thinking about Canada, but it’s rapidly becoming one of the fastest-growing sports in the country.
While hockey, football, baseball, and curling dominate the Canadian sports scene, and lacrosse holds the title of the national sport, soccer has quietly gained traction, especially among youth. Many kids start out playing soccer because it’s affordable and easy to set up before branching out into other activities.
Several homegrown stars have also emerged through Canada’s youth system, including Alphonso Davies, Jonathan David, and Jacob Shaffelburg. On the women’s side, Canadian soccer has long produced top talent, with legends like Christine Sinclair—who holds the record for the most international goals in history with 190.
London, Ontario, has its own soccer superstars, including Jessie Fleming and Shelina Zadorsky. The pinnacle of Canadian soccer success came when the women’s national team won gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, cementing their legacy in the country’s sporting history.
While hockey, football, baseball, and curling dominate the Canadian sports scene, and lacrosse holds the title of the national sport, soccer has quietly gained traction, especially among youth. Many kids start out playing soccer because it’s affordable and easy to set up before branching out into other activities.
London, Ontario, has its own soccer superstars, including Jessie Fleming and Shelina Zadorsky. The pinnacle of Canadian soccer success came when the women’s national team won gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, cementing their legacy in the country’s sporting history.
Joe Ostojic. (Credit: London Dinamo Football Club Facebook page)
Joe Ostojic is the President of London Dinamo Football Club here in London and St. Thomas.
“I’m president of the club. The club is London Dinamo now, it used to be formerly called London St. Thomas Croatian Soccer Club. Now we have our affiliating club that we have in Europe that we affiliated with about five years ago called Dinamo Zagreb.”
Joe Spoke about where their soccer teams were seeing the biggest growth.
” In the minis between 8 and 12, huge numbers are there, and we’re seeing that the level and the attendance and the desire of playing under 18 and higher are starting to fall off the bus. Some of those pathways, as soon as they get to League One they have nowhere else to play. The Ontario soccer doesn’t have much option for those, those groups. ”
When asked if he had noticed an increase in talent over recent years, Joe Ostojic spoke about the youths abilities he’s seen grow in the academies.
“Yes, talent is definitely there. You see the kids at a younger age that are more now with better talent than it was before. With the way the ball moves now, with the game being advertised on TV, more professional teams, you see that more often. Yeah, and training has become a lot more serious and taken more seriously in the club? Definitely.”
Soccer continues to grow in Canada every year, with more young talent emerging from youth academies at an impressive rate. The development of players has become a priority, with coaching for children and young adults being taken more seriously than ever before. As a result, the overall quality of Canadian soccer is steadily improving.
The love of the sport is continuing to grow here in Canada. When asked if he thought the talent and desire to play soccer would keep rising Joe said it would continue to rise especially with new soccer elated events coming to Canada and surrounding countries.
“I believe it will the exposure from the world cup is coming in. I think a lot of people are going to get exited about the love of the game, and having it so close being hosted here in Canada, Being hosted in the United states and being hosted in Mexico. You’re gonna have a lot of culture together and I think it’s gonna bring the game back up to those numbers we have seen.”
With this strong foundation in place, soccer is on track to become one of Canada’s most popular sports. As more players succeed on the international stage and the sport gains greater recognition, its influence within the country will only continue to expand.
