Mississauga Eagles FC of the Canadian Soccer League announced a few days ago that a pair of 1993-born players -- Patrick Majcher and Mike Krzeminski -- have signed on with the reserve side of Slask Wroclaw, a team that finished second in Poland's top league last season and are currently in Europa League qualifying.
I won't insult your intelligence by pretending to know enough about these youngsters, or the team to which they're going, to make any pronouncements about what this specific move means for Canadian soccer. But the Erin Mills Soccer Club (the banner under which MEFC plays) is quickly establishing itself as the standard-bearer in terms of the way things should be done in this country -- and signings such as this are a reminder to the rest of the community to sit up and take notice.
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See, MEFC is the professional team attached to the Erin Mills Soccer Club, which provides recreational and competitive play for thousands of kids in Mississauga, a suburb immediately west of Toronto. MEFC entered the CSL this season as a means of providing the long-desired "missing link" for kids who play competitively and want to continue doing so within their own community beyond the age of 16 or 17.
Kids who grow up in Erin Mills SC's catchment area now have a straight line -- if they have the skill, dedication, desire, etc. -- from learning to kick a ball at age four, all the way to playing professionally. Say what you will about the level of play in the CSL, but with these transfers to European sides, MEFC is showing that the CSL is not the be-all and end-all... again, for those with the skill, desire and so on.
Majcher and Krzeminski are just the latest additions to a group that includes 21-year-old Igor Pisanjuk (who has two goals in five appearances for Canada's U20 side and moved to Kecskemet in Hungary) and erstwhile Toronto FC trialist Andrew Ornoch (three caps for the senior men's national team, and a new deal at Dutch second-division side Telstar).
Of course, Canadian kids have gone off to Europe before. As Jonathan de Guzman reminded folks via Twitter the other day, he left Toronto for the Netherlands at the age of 12 to pursue his footie dreams. But he, as you almost surely know, entered the youth system of that nation, rather than his birth nation.
David Hoilett of Blackburn Rovers is in a similar situation. He went to England as a young teenager and now, evidently, finds himself in an existential crisis over whether or not to represent the True North on the international stage. You may have also read on Canadian Soccer News earlier this week that Fraser Aird, a Canadian teen signed to play at Rangers, has now been linked to Scotland's youth system rather than ours.
The reality is, no Canadian supporter will ever be able to feel completely safe about a promising young prospect since -- almost invariably -- the chance of them choosing to suit up for the nation of their parents (or grandparents) is ever-present.
That's why what Erin Mills SC is doing is so important. Milltown FC, which played in the CSL last year, followed a similar model of connecting a professional club to a local youth club, and earned many well-deserved plaudits for it.
Showing youngsters that not only can they continue playing at a high level through their teen years, but that it can lead to a pro deal on home soil and potentially a move abroad, will encourage them to stay in the game longer, and encourage those whose only previous option may have been to get lost in some foreign side's setup to develop their skills domestically before considering a move abroad.
The more time spent here at home, the better chance that the kid will want to represent Canada if and when they develop the skill level necessary to do so.
Sure, ostensibly transcendent talents such as de Guzman and Hoilett will probably still get scouted and scooped up by foreign clubs. There's not much that can be done to prevent that. But the more opportunities that Canadian kids have to play the game in Canada, and the more links that Canadian clubs can establish to foreign clubs, the better off our entire system will be.
So sure, no one knows what the future holds for Patrick of Mike. But best of luck to them, and here's hoping their move is a sign of things to come in Canadian soccer.
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