Bill Ault
CanadaKicks
Yet Another Fork in the Road
As yet another “annus horribilis” limps to a merciful end for Canadian Soccer supporters of the game in this country can only wonder how a year that looked so promising could go so horribly wrong by the time December rolled around.
A year that started with so much hope on so many fronts ended with a disastrous World Cup Qualifying campaign, the failure of the seemingly odds on favourite Montreal Impact to become Canada’s second MLS franchise after being told thanks but no thanks by the league after trying to low ball the franchise expansion fee and a number of other failures large and small too numerous to list.
You would think that these events combined with our jesters in Ottawa (both on the soccer and political fronts who appear to be drinking from the same Kool Aid), our economy slowly whirling down the proverbial drain and Canadian soccer as ever lost in the wilderness the masochists that consider themselves fans of the game in this country would be throwing themselves off buildings, bridges or even goals to bring it all to a cruel end.
Instead they approach the game at all levels with eternal optimism at all levels right from playing, administrating and coaching with local clubs to supporting our under performing national sides and while one would think that we’re at the point were there is only one direction to go – up – but knowledgeable people in the game know Canadian soccer has reached similar points before and amazingly found new, uncharted routes to new depths.
