Footyscout has been in the works for a while now; the only barrier has been a decision on the avenue to take in passing my experience and knowledge onto the next generation of football talent. A blog gives me the platform to communicate my perspective on the beautiful game to a wide-ranging audience. Yes, this is absolutely my panoramic view on the players, coaches, philosophies, training and fitness methods and random football variables to what it ultimately takes to succeed in the game – all complemented by my personal experiences.

Footyscout has a vision to provide an outlook of opportunity for soccer players and others who are objectively trying to progress in the sport, specifically but not limited to my home country of Canada. My career allowed me the opportunity to play with and compete against some of the best players I have seen within particular age groups and a lot of these players were from Canada. The threat to this pool of talent was and still is the age of 18. Ultimately, a decision must be made whether to market yourself to Colleges and Universities across Canada and/or the USA, to market yourself to an MLS club or an International club abroad or to move into local men’s soccer. All three are daunting propositions. The first two due to the sheer difficulty involved, whether it be competing with local American players for scholarship money or obtaining a VISA to play in Europe or somewhere else abroad. The last proposition is ultimately a dead-end in terms of your career progression in the sport as even though the strength of association and competition is strong in men’s soccer, the mentality of priority has shifted into treating football as a ‘for the love of the game’ endeavour rather than a potential career.

As a country and a province in particular, we can work together to improve the outlook of the aforementioned possibilities. First, the talent pool needs a reference to develop a foundation of understanding about football through. This begins with the origin and history of the game evolving into analysis on players, coaches and teams and ultimately culminating in techniques to aid personal development. Footyscout aims to educate and entertain the readership through posts about various football topics, starting with the below:

Professional and amateur football talents
The training philosophies of different clubs and how their systems provide an opportunity to youth to advance into the professional ranks
The University and College soccer culture in the USA, provided through my own personal experience playing in the NCAA Division 1
Developmental methods and techniques for players, coaches and parents
Personal experiences which I have had throughout my football career including on and off the pitch stories to the harrowing familiarity with injuries and how to overcome them

The variety of the posts will evolve over time with the aim of tailoring feedback into readings that will widen the scope of material.

Once a foundation in football has been established to a viable level, a player will understand their competencies and capabilities and hold the building blocks needed to ascertain for themselves which aspects they need to develop their game in. After all, a baby needs to learn to stand before they can walk just as a child needs to learn to count before they can add. An objective of Footyscout is to provide a waterfall approach to football development as summarised in the step-by-step processes above.

My general observation of football in Canada and more specifically, British Columbia is as follows:

My evolution in the beautiful game has aided my personal growth and enhanced the fabric of my personality. I’ve had the opportunity to connect with different cultures through travelling the world to play football and have been blessed to venture into different football hotbeds to develop my understanding on what makes the game a passion and culture rather than just a sport, for so many people.

I hope this blog enriches your passion for this amazing sport and that I can contribute to building on strengths, eradicating weaknesses, materialising opportunities and mitigating threats within the soccer community.

Finally, the priority of this wonderful game is to enjoy so have fun and check back every Tuesday for a new, exciting post!

Happy Reading.