As mentioned in another thread,
I long for the day that a player NOT from Southern Ontario, lower main land BC, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa or Montreal finds a simpler way to "make it" or into the national team.
Don't want to really compare countries too much but what France has done as a nation after their investment into the sport in the late 80's has clearly paid dividends for generations since '98 onwards.
Just think, a country half the size of Ontario geographically has 16 elite academies funded by the FFF ( yes one is in Guadeloupe). However this also does NOT include the countless club academies as well.
It's just to put things into perspective, under proper coaching platforms, guidelines and guidance you can develop young athletes. France to this day, is still pumping out talent. This starts with proper development at a young age.
In circling back to Christine Sinclair final send off note, I could only imagine the amount of young male and female potential talent "falling through the cracks".
So to answer the topic are we a football nation.
My answer: we have alot of people that want to play football and want us to be a football nation but we have a long way to go, to become a football nation.