Canada's Boyz: Toronto trio ponders national options

[Oldtimer]

Yet another Canadian may end up playing for his ancestral country -- one which he's only visited once in his life, while he's training with Canada's U-23 team!

The kicker -- he's with the TFC Academy.

Two others also might turn their backs on Canada.

Morgan was born and raised in Canada. Now 19, he has already represented the North American nation at several youth levels, and is poised to begin a professional career, possibly with
club Toronto FC, where he is enrolled in its football academy. Canada is home, where Morgan embraced everything he knows - family, education and football. He visited Jamaica once - as a child. So Morgan leans heavily on the red and white of Canada. Yet he is not ready to concede he has worn a Jamaican jersey for the last time.
"I like to keep my options open," said Morgan in a more serious tone while attending a recent training camp in the with Canada's under-23 team. "You never know."

http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/glean.../sports11.html

[Batman]

lovely. Born and raised in Canada. What a joke. People should have to go live in the country they want to play for. Call me old fashioned...

[James17930]

FIFA should just drop all this 'where you're family is from shit' and go back to making it wherever you were born. End of.

[wzhxvy]

This is only acceptable if he is positioning and basically saying I may not be good enough to play for Canada or they might not select me, and I would like to play internationally and if Canada is not an option, I would like to keep my options open. That is the only acceptable explanation to this, because there is no freaking way this is acceptable.

Btw, I should have been warned that the President of the CSA was at the MLS cup so I could have prepared my vocal cords better for booing the absolute and utter incompetence of that organization and its leadership. Shame on you.

[deltox]

i thought one of the roles of the academy was to help grow CDN talent for the purpose to build the CDN national team.


did i make that up or did i hear that somewhere?

[razor787]

In a perfect world, CSA would ask him to declare now, and get him locked asap. If he says he is choosing Jamaica, then get him off the TFC-Academy.

I dont want someone like that playing for my club.

[Pigfynn]

This won't make him a very popular player at BMO. We do say some daft things when we're young though...let's hope it's that.

[shawn6597]

i thought one of the roles of the academy was to help grow CDN talent for the purpose to build the CDN national team.


did i make that up or did i hear that somewhere?

either way, the Academy ought to go all CD Guadalajara and keep only CDNS. If he wants Jamaica he gets the snips from the team.

[prizby]

either way, the Academy ought to go all CD Guadalajara and keep only CDNS. If he wants Jamaica he gets the snips from the team.

or Athletic Bilbao for that matter


If Canada says to Morgan, look your not in our future plans, feel free to look elsewhere...than i don't have a problem with a Canadian born playing for Jamaica

But if he rides his pony up the canadian system then has a change of heart...it'd be real disappointing and if he signs with the senior team and starts playing with TFC, he will probably be hurting his career and the team because I as a fan would have no problem booing his every touch.

Hopefully he will see some sort of reception he will get when Teal Bunbury comes to town in 2011

[Kaz]

Can the CSA open it's eyes and say hey maybe just maybe we should improve the program...

[prizby]

^well they are playing more friendlies...

[v00d00daddy]

Can the CSA open it's eyes and say hey maybe just maybe we should improve the program...

Kinda how I feel too.

I think these guys jumping ship is shitty but a part of me can't blame them cause our ship is not only sinking...it's been at the bottom of the ocean for a while now.

It's a catch 22. We need good players to improve the program but good players don't want to play for Canada cause the program sucks.

[jazzy]

In simple words, the greatest, welfare state, Canada, which will basically allow anyone in the world to start a life, gain an education, free health care, nurture their children and live terror free basically for their entire life.......for some reason can't encourage any sense of loyalty..................sometimes these youngsters are heavily influenced by their parents......and I look there..........harsh yes, but put this into context on Remberance Day

[TFC07]

Kinda how I feel too.

I think these guys jumping ship is shitty but a part of me can't blame them cause our ship is not only sinking...it's been at the bottom of the ocean for a while now.

It's a catch 22. We need good players to improve the program but good players don't want to play for Canada cause the program sucks.

What makes Jamaican soccer so special then? No offense, Jamaican soccer sucks as well.

To be honest, CSA shouldn't be blamed for this. Also CSA is slowly starting to change for the good (more friendly for men's team, their women program doing well, talk of having all Canadian pro league).

[Ossington Mental Youth]

i thought one of the roles of the academy was to help grow CDN talent for the purpose to build the CDN national team.


did i make that up or did i hear that somewhere?

i seem to remember this too, hope someones taking the boy aside and giving him shit. i think these kids get it into their heads that its something special to play for their parents countries. I can kinda understand it especially if youre raised in that culture. that being said theres something even more special in repping Canada.

[TFCRegina]

Only way you can stop this sort of thing from happening is if you crack down on multiculturalism and disperse ethnic communities.

So, it's not going to change short of this country developing a large fascist movement.

[TFC07]

Only way you can stop this sort of thing from happening is if you crack down on multiculturalism and disperse ethnic communities.

So, it's not going to change short of this country developing a large fascist movement.

[TFCRegina]

Also, from what they're saying, they're with Canada but it was a mixed choice.

It's disgraceful that it is a choice and not automatic, but they did come to Canada.

[TFCRegina]

Never said it was a good thing.

[westrouge]

It seems to me like Canada is the primary choice for these guys. You can't really blame them for keeping their options open if Canada does not select them.

Ironically, sometimes the rules about residency end up helping the Canadian, as opposed to what seems like the usual "Hargreaves/Jono De Guzman" situation. I've known Sean Hart (one of the three players in the article) since we were little; he was born here, moved to France for 3 or 4 years, moved back here for 4 or 5 more, and has been living in the U.S. for the past 5 years. We should be thankful that Canada is in fact his first choice.

[Pinkie]

It seems to me like Canada is the primary choice for these guys. You can't really blame them for keeping their options open if Canada does not select them.

you'd be hard pressed to find a single person who cares even a little if we reject a player and they go off and play for another country. footballers should love to play, and to challenge themselves at the highest level.

however, if you're born here, raised here, go to school here, play timbits soccer here, join the academy for Canada's National Club Team (eat it montreal/'couver), and then decide that you have a slightly better chance of going to a World Cup with someone else? fuck off you judas cunt.

e: lol postin' as pinkie

[Toronto Ruffrider]

Can the CSA open it's eyes and say hey maybe just maybe we should improve the program...

To be sure, the CSA needs to improve its programme, but I get tired of players using the CSA as a crutch to validate their international career moves. It is so easy and convenient to blame the CSA, then jump ship. Would it be too difficult for players to represent the actual country that they feel the most pride in?

[westrouge]

however, if you're born here, raised here, go to school here, play timbits soccer here, join the academy for Canada's National Club Team (eat it montreal/'couver), and then decide that you have a slightly better chance of going to a World Cup with someone else? fuck off you judas cunt.

e: lol postin' as pinkie

Absolutely, couldn't agree more.

[SilverSamurai]

In a perfect world, CSA would ask him to declare now, and get him locked asap. If he says he is choosing Jamaica, then get him off the TFC-Academy.

I dont want someone like that playing for my club.

+1.
Boot him off the team.

[UltraSuperMegaMo]

Meh, it all boils down to the fact our national team sucks. England is every as bit as diverse as Canada, but you never hear about this over there (okay, England kind of "suck" too, but it's super relative). There's an element of chicken and egg to it.

As for booting someone off the team because they want to play for a country other than Canada, hardly a very Canadian thing to do. Can't fire someone because you don't like the way he's exercising his freedoms. I think a more reasonable thing to do would be to demand that players in the U20 and U23 setup commit to Canada at the senior level.

This is a problem that's not going to go away until soccer is bigger in Canada and the men's team grows in stature too.

[rocker]

if these guys stopped defecting our team would be better. it's a self-fulfilling prophecy.

hopefully some good canadian players come along and have the balls the take the tough, but noble route, rather than jumping to an easier option.

[ag futbol]

Let`s face it, once FIFA made those rule changes things have been completely flipped on their head. If you`re a country like Canada you have to compete to retain your players which is pathetic but in other ways good because it forces the CSA to clean up their act.

But really, if were talking about competing against Jamaica, is it REALLY about he CSA. They are every bit as backwards as we are.

I just think these guys are stating the facts. If they are good enough they most likely will commit for Canada. If it doesn`t look like they can fit well in the program they will play for Jamaica.

[Stouffville_RPB]

i thought one of the roles of the academy was to help grow CDN talent for the purpose to build the CDN national team.


did i make that up or did i hear that somewhere?

I know for a fact that when players come into the academy they have to sign papers stating their intention to play for Canada.

[razor787]

As for booting someone off the team because they want to play for a country other than Canada, hardly a very Canadian thing to do. Can't fire someone because you don't like the way he's exercising his freedoms. I think a more reasonable thing to do would be to demand that players in the U20 and U23 setup commit to Canada at the senior level.

Why not? The academy is a training ground to improve players to prep them not only for TFC but for the canadian nats. If a player states that he doesnt know if he is going to play for Canada, then why waste money developing him? Tell him he either commits, or he is gone (have vancouver and any other Canadian academy do the same).

Im tired of seeing players go through the Canadian ranks, just to stab us in the back later on.

[Fort York Redcoat]

you'd be hard pressed to find a single person who cares even a little if we reject a player and they go off and play for another country. footballers should love to play, and to challenge themselves at the highest level.

however, if you're born here, raised here, go to school here, play timbits soccer here, join the academy for Canada's National Club Team (eat it montreal/'couver), and then decide that you have a slightly better chance of going to a World Cup with someone else? fuck off you judas cunt.

e: lol postin' as pinkie

Haha! Well said Azer!