Annual report shows significant drop in registered Canadian soccer players
Maybe those of us who call soccer “Canada’s fastest growing participation sport” need to tone it down a bit.
As Canada Soccer held its annual general meeting this past weekend, the organization also released its annual report, covering 2017. And, the registration numbers across the country are sobering.
Registration numbers are down in 12 of Canada’s 13 provinces and territories. The only province to see an uptick was Alberta, and that was a slight one. In Ontario, there were more than 24,000 fewer registered players in 2017 than there were in 2016.
What’s interesting is that in the 2016 annual report, Canada Soccer published a number of 818,940 registered players in the country. In the new report, it had a participation number of 834,363. Yes, on first glance, it seems like numbers went up — but, in the new report, Canada Soccer also included coaches and referees in the participation number.
Take the coaches and referees out, and you get this: The number of registered players fell from 818,940 in 2016 to 776,176 in 2017. That’s almost 43,000 fewer players in 2017 than had been registered the year before.
More and more kids are choosing to specialize in one sport, year-round. So, if a kid played hockey in the winter and soccer in the summer, (s)he boosted registration numbers in both sports. But more kids are choosing to play only soccer or only hockey or only (place sport here), and that hurts numbers.
What also jumps out is that the Women’s World Cup looks to have no appreciable impact on girls registering in youth soccer. In all of the jurisdictions that had data available, all showed decreased in youth female registrations. Ontario itself shed more than 8,000 girls players over the course of one year.
Manitoba’s information was not available, though The 11 has contacted Canada Soccer for some clarification on that province’s numbers.
Ontario
TOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2016: 326,959
TOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2017: 302,664 (DOWN 24,295)
SENIOR MALES IN 2016: 38,449 2017: 36,696
YOUTH MALES IN 2016: 160,738 2017: 147,971
SENIOR FEMALES IN 2016: 38,449 2017: 36,696
YOUTH FEMALES IN 2016: 106,586 2017: 98,457
Quebec
TOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2016: 179,928
TOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2017: 173,879 (DOWN 6,049)
SENIOR MALES IN 2016: 14,705 2017: 13,471
YOUTH MALES IN 2016: 99,298 2017: 97,084
SENIOR FEMALES IN 2016: 9,647 2017: 8,201
YOUTH FEMALES IN 2016: 56,278 2017: 55,123
British Columbia
TOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2016: 121,828
TOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2017: 114,823 (DOWN 7,005)
SENIOR MALES IN 2016: 13,227 2017: 11,205
YOUTH MALES IN 2016: 62,426 2017: 59,131
SENIOR FEMALES IN 2016: 8,181 2017: 8,702
YOUTH FEMALES IN 2016: 37,994 2017: 35,785
Alberta
TOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2016: 95,181
TOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2017: 95,406 (UP 225)
SENIOR MALES IN 2016: 15,074 2017: 13,925
YOUTH MALES IN 2016: 43,062 2017: 45,957
SENIOR FEMALES IN 2016: 10,039 2017: 10,312
YOUTH FEMALES IN 2016: 27,006 2017: 25,392
Saskatchewan
TOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2016: 23,659
TOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2017: 21,964 (DOWN 1,695)
SENIOR MALES IN 2016: 3,392 2017: 3,136
YOUTH MALES IN 2016: 10,956 2017: 9,939
SENIOR FEMALES IN 2016: 2,062 2017: 1,762
YOUTH FEMALES IN 2016: 7,249 2017: 7,127
Nova Scotia
TOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2016: 22,866
TOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2017: 21,539 (DOWN 1,327)
SENIOR MALES IN 2016: 1,884 2017: 1,948
YOUTH MALES IN 2016: 10,583 2017: 9,774
SENIOR FEMALES IN 2016: 1,481 2017: 1,520
YOUTH FEMALES IN 2016: 8,918 2017: 8,297
New Brunswick
TOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2016: 15,057
TOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2017: 13,383 (DOWN 1,674)
SENIOR MALES IN 2016: 1,185 2017: 978
YOUTH MALES IN 2016: 7,646 2017: 6,907
SENIOR FEMALES IN 2016: 570 2017: 547
YOUTH FEMALES IN 2016: 5,656 2017: 4,951
Manitoba
TOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2016: 14,161
TOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2017: 13,789 (DOWN 372)
BREAKDOWN N/A: SASKATCHEWAN INFO REPRINTED UNDER MANITOBA SECTION IN REPORT (HAVE ASKED FOR PROPER NUMBERS)
Newfoundland and Labrador
TOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2016: 11,339
TOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2017: 11,181 (DOWN 158)
SENIOR MALES IN 2016: 869 2017: 1,062
YOUTH MALES IN 2016: 5,732 2017: 5,516
SENIOR FEMALES IN 2016: 579 2017: 603
YOUTH FEMALES IN 2016: 4,159 2017: 4,000
Prince Edward Island
TOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2016: 5,155
TOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2017: 5,122 (DOWN 33)
SENIOR MALES IN 2016: 267 2017: 421
YOUTH MALES IN 2016: 2,337 2017: 2,188
SENIOR FEMALES IN 2016: 216 2017: 300
YOUTH FEMALES IN 2016: 2,335 2017: 2,213
Yukon
TOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2016: 1,360
TOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2017: 1,247 (DOWN 113)
SENIOR MALES IN 2016: 212 2017: 257
YOUTH MALES IN 2016: 715 2017: 629
SENIOR FEMALES IN 2016: 101 2017: 74
YOUTH FEMALES IN 2016: 332 2017: 287
Northwest Territories
TOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2016: 1,194
TOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2017: 948 (DOWN 246)
SENIOR MALES IN 2016: 281 2017: 236
YOUTH MALES IN 2016: 359 2017: 355
SENIOR FEMALES IN 2016: 148 2017: 110
YOUTH FEMALES IN 2016: 406 2017: 247
Nunavut
TOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2016: 253
TOTAL REG. PLAYERS IN 2017: 231 (DOWN 22)
YOUTH MALES IN 2016: 119 2017: 119
YOUTH FEMALES IN 2016: 134 2017: 112
