⚽️ Player development is perhaps the one area in which the incompetence of @OntarioIsSoccer and @CanadaSoccerEN is most evident. 📉 In fact, if ever we were to look at the ratio between the number of registered soccer players in Canada (which totals over 1 million), and the number of Canadians playing in top professional leagues (a great indicator of a county's ability to develop players), Canada would likely rank as one of the worst countries in the world. ➕ Add to that the fact that virtually none of the Canadians who are currently playing professionally at the top levels are products of our own "player development leagues," and you get an idea as to just how dysfunctional the "talented player pathway" really is in this country. ❓Why are we so bad at developing players, and how can we become better at it? Below are my suggestions: ▶️ To start with, our Provincial and National Associations need to stop lying to parents, players and coaches. 🚫 It is NOT TRUE that top youth academies of professional clubs do not train with unopposed dribbling, passing, and shooting exercises. ✅ Players need to develop technical skills BEFORE they develop "decision-making" ability, and a good coach should be able to help players develop BOTH at the SAME TIME. 🚫 No league which claims to have "high standards" for coaches should use the Canadian Provincial and/or National coaching courses as the "standard." NOTHING in these courses, from the knowledge and experience of the instructors, the content itself, or even the teaching methodology, is comparable to the actual high standards in Europe and South America. ✅ Include UEFA and/or CONMEBOL licenses as the standards from now on. 🚫 3 practices and 1 game per week are NOT sufficient to develop world class ability or fitness. ✅ Players need to be encouraged to train EVERY DAY, and coaches, players and parents need to be educated about training load and how to accurately track and monitor it, so that daily training volume and intensity are kept within an optimal range. 🚫 We need to do away with the no scores, no standings, no heading, retreat lines, 3-4 "periods" of play, excessive water breaks, and ANY other rule that leads to a decrease in competitiveness and a corresponding increase in self-entitlement. ✅ Youth soccer CAN be fun AND competitive, if coaches are educated properly and are able to help players put winning, losing, and LEARNING into perspective. 🚫 Eliminate ALL restrictions which prevent and/or discourage youth soccer players from participating in extracurricular sports or supplemental training. ✅ Not only is there NO evidence that such restrictions lead to better athletic development, this practice is also contradictory to the "late specialization" model of "long-term athlete development" that the Provincial/National associations purport to endorse. 🚫 Along with eliminating restrictions on physical activity, we also need to eliminate ALL restrictions on travel for competition. ✅ International tournaments and friendly matches are the BEST way for young Canadian players to test and compare themselves against their more skillful, better-trained, and better-coached peers from around the world. More of these experiences will lead to better development of Canadian players (with the added benefit of also improving coaches' knowledge and ability in the process). 🚫 Finally, bring in COMPETENT LEADERSHIP capable of bringing the nation together, instead of constantly bogging everyone down in a quagmire of threats, rules, fines, intimidation and punishments. ✅ There are SO MANY talented players and coaches in Canada who have completely lost faith and trust in the Provincial and National associations, primarily because of the negative experiences they have had when dealing with those in positions of power. ✅ Perhaps famous WWII British Royal Air Force pilot Harry Day put it best when he said: "Rules are for the obedience of fools, and the guidance of wise men."