MISSISSAUGA, Ont. — On a soccer pitch in Mississauga the dreams of young players are becoming more attainable with each World Cup win by Canada’s national team.
“It’s giving us motivation to push for that goal that we all have,” says 16-year-old Jon Cannis, a left winger for Sigma FC.
Cannis is one of Canada’s rising soccer stars at Sigma FC - a football academy west of Toronto - where Canadian men’s national team members, Richie Laryea, Cyle Larin and Tajon Buchanan all honed their skills.
Cannis jokes that he was so young when he started kicking a soccer ball, that he can’t remember the moment he fell in love with the sport. His father reminds him he was just two years old when he took his first strike.
Academy teammate Nicholas Panait says his first memory of the sport is similar: learning to love the game by kicking a ball around with his father.
Panait’s says he wants to follow in the footsteps of Canada Men’s Soccer members Laryea, Larin and Buchanan.
“It’s a big inspiration for youth players at Sigma FC and those playing soccer across the country, to see that your dreams are actually doable when you see these players excelling on the biggest of stages,” says 15-year-old Sigma FC midfielder Panait.
Fostering Canada’s young soccer superstars
CTV News visited the Sigma FC academy during a special one-week camp, where players are receiving on-field tutelage from visiting coaches from Belgium and the Netherlands. Laryea, Larin and Buchanan also took part in the same game years earlier.
Their former coach Bobby Smyrniotis recalls the love the trio of players showed for the sport from a young age.
“They had a joy for the game, you can have all the talent in the world, but its that joy that keeps your drive. That was common in those three young boys then and we’ve seen it in their professional ventures up until now,” says Smyrniotis.
Smyrniotis is also the head coach of the Canadian Premier League club Forge FC, which provides a fertile training ground for future Canadian Premier League players, as well those chasing NCAA scholarships or club teams overseas.
Smyrniotis believes the next great Canadian players are on the pitch where he’s standing in Mississauga, Ont.
“We see it every year, players moving on from the academy to the first team at Forge FC and we always believe the next superstars can be on this pitch,” says Smyrniotis.
The legacy of the World Cup?
The professional coach says the legacy the World Cup will leave in Canada is an influx of young athletes gravitating toward the global game.
“How many Canadian kids are going to kick a ball for the first time after watching this World Cup in their country? Children who may have previously had no interest in the sport are now going to begin kicking a ball for the first time. That’s a beautiful thing,” says Smyrniotis.
Cannis and Panait say seeing Sigma FC alumni succeed at a global level, is driving a newfound belief in their game and their future.
“Two years ago, I was playing soccer at a small club in Vaughan, Ont. Now I’m standing on the same pitch where world-class players learned how to play the game, to have this opportunity is amazing,” says Panait.
Witnessing Canada win at a global level is also helping solidify a belief that’s been a long time coming for young Canadian soccer players.
“It brings more respect to our game (in Canada). We can really play, we don’t just kick and run,” says Cannis.
It’s a sentiment that’s now sweeping through soccer fields from coast-to-coast: where the grass grows in this country, so is Canadian talent.
