fanatic Posted November 17, 2003 Share Posted November 17, 2003 I have a simple question, i would like to know where did your interest in soccer come from? mine came from a visit to europe, its hard to avoid it. I'm just wondering... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex M Posted November 17, 2003 Share Posted November 17, 2003 My interest started with Championship Manager 97/98. I knew nothing about soccer but the game was the ultimate sports sim and I was hooked. Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettermirror Posted November 17, 2003 Share Posted November 17, 2003 from playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ray Posted November 17, 2003 Share Posted November 17, 2003 -in grade 6 from leaning to play with my friends who were actually involved in soccer. After that I began to follow the Toronto Blizzard, the national team and later a bit of european soccer on CFMT 47. Wish I had played when I was a kid but I didn't have a great interest in sports when I was really young. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alberto7 Posted November 17, 2003 Share Posted November 17, 2003 We had 5 Brazilians on an apprenticeship with us(at the National Film Board) for one year in 1985-86. I watched a lot of the World Cup with them and it rubbed off on me(Canada was there which also helped). I also played one pickup game with them that summer. I think I touched the ball once in the entire game but man did I ever run...Been crazy about soccer ever since. Albert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcl_19 Posted November 17, 2003 Share Posted November 17, 2003 I played when i wa slittle..... stoped liking it (i was scared of the ball!!!) but then i watched world cup 98 and got instantly hooked...started to play with some friends......then got back into a league.....obsessed with it ever since. Started to folow the national team casually afrter the 2000 gc win and gradually started to follow it more.....now i hit the csa website and this board at least once a day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mimglow Posted November 17, 2003 Share Posted November 17, 2003 This is a great thread...hats off to Fanatic. My seed of my interest in the Beautiful Game was sowed with USA 94. Watched a few matches and the Final, and enjoyed. Unfortunately, I was a teenager then and getting up 9 on Saturday mornings to watch Soccer Saturday was not an option. France 98 is the one that really did it. The game sunk its teeth deep under my skin and has never let go. The game that did it was Argentina-England (Beckham sent off). The intensity of that match really put me over the edge, even though England lost After France 98 I started watching the English Premiership on CTV Sportsnet and I've been hard core (and so are most of my friends, whom I've converted) ever since. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Beaver Posted November 17, 2003 Share Posted November 17, 2003 I started playing in Prince George, BC (smack in the middle of the province) when I was 6 years old. My dad and mom never played soccer and are 7 and 3 generation Canadians, so I don't know why they put me in soccer. I guess because it is cheap to play. I loved the game from the start and played competitively until I was 22, and now I just play pick-up from time to time. Believe it or not, my passion for our national team kicked in when Holger took over the team. I thought it was a great move--still do--and have been an avid/obsessed fan since. {this is not to say i didn't think it was time for Holger to go, because i did and still do). It is fricking tough being a fan of Canadian soccer, internationally or domestically, and I give all of you credit for your unflagging loyalty and optimism and support. Now, let's get a result in ireland and kelowna. vive le Canada Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeanKeay Posted November 17, 2003 Share Posted November 17, 2003 Mine came from Playing the game for many many years and then i had always watched canadian games. But my love for the game came from November 15th 2000. Where my brother told me about how we were meeting up with these internet guys at some bar and then going to the game. I was kinda worried about it, hearing all those stories about the internet. But that game was the one moment where I knew I loved the game and started to support the lynx. I would also like to thank Sportsnet for providing more soccer coverage, i kno they get alot of complaints about there soccer coverage. But really do you guys remember the days when Soccer Saturday was the only chance to watch euro soccer over here. Thats about it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaku_bert Posted November 17, 2003 Share Posted November 17, 2003 My wife (Girlfriend at the time) had started a new job and became buddies with a guy who also just started the same day and who just emmigrated from UK. I also became pals with him and his wife. He was crazy about soccer and Southampton of the EPL in particular, so I decided to learn a bit about the game and to support a club he hated so we could have a bit of banter. I began watching good old Graham Leggat (what happened to him?) and Soccer Saturday. As it turned out, I was amazed by Matt LeTissier's skill and began following / supporting Southampton as well. As soon as I started following EPL soccer I began following our men's national team. I became more passionate about our team after the victorious gold cup tournament and then after our failed WC qualifying campaign. My wife had a couple of cousins staying with us from Belgium during that campaign and they were pretty dismissive of Canadian soccer so that pushed me to root for our boys all the more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snake Posted November 17, 2003 Share Posted November 17, 2003 grew up watching the caps in the nasl during the 80s.between the the caps and the 86ers there was the program SOCCER MADE IN GERMANY with toby charles on pbs.it was a one hour program with the bundesliga game of the week condensed into a one hour show.also on sat mornings in east vancouver there used to be a lot of mens league soccer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fza Posted November 17, 2003 Share Posted November 17, 2003 I started playing soccer (3rd option after hockey and b-ball) in Elementary (OLGC) when I was in grade 6 (1992-93) as a goalkeeper. During the next 2 seasons we got to the finals but we never won (both against St. Helen´s), it was a bit frustrating. During those years I always watched soccer saturday and followed Team Canada especially players like Craig Forrest and Alex Bunbury. In the summer of 94 I moved to Chile, where I was forced to change the hockey stick for the ball, just in time for WC USA. I continued playing goalie for my new school. At the same time, one of the best Chilean forwards in history, Ivan Zamorano was at the peak of his career while playing for Real Madrid and we got every single game on national TV. So it was him who increased my passion for the sport. I was kicked off the high school team in grade 11 so I began playing as a forward idolizing obviously Zamorano but also players like Bunbury and Tomasz Radzinski, till this day. As a true Canadian I have never forgotten where I came from and because of that I`ve been always aware of what`s going on with our National team and all the players abroad. That`s why I visit websites like the forum, csa, evertonfc, etc. Today I play every weekend "futbolito", which is sort of like futsal but on Turf (6-on-6 or 7-on-7), wearing the red and white jersey all the time!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canuck Oranje Posted November 17, 2003 Share Posted November 17, 2003 Playing combined with growing up in a Dutch enclave in Rural Ontario. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mimglow Posted November 17, 2003 Share Posted November 17, 2003 quote:Originally posted by fza I was kicked off the high school team in grade 11 so I began playing as a forward idolizing obviously Zamorano but also players like Bunbury and Tomasz Radzinski, till this day. There's a story here...would love to hear it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redhat Posted November 17, 2003 Share Posted November 17, 2003 Hmm... I initially followed the game for the following reasons and events: 1) Soccer Made In Germany (PBS) followed Monty Python's flying Circus every Sunday; 2) there were 2 Argentinians in my high school who followed Canada's quest for WC1982; 3) Canada's entry in WC1986; 4) the CSL on TSN, as well as having some friends tryout for the Winnipeg Fury; seeing live games with Onstad, Tony Nocita, Ivor Evans, and Peschisolido; 5) lots of Portuguese friends/clients; and finally, 6) this board. For me, that's how soccer replaced hockey , basketball, and gridiron football eventually as my favourite sport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted November 17, 2003 Share Posted November 17, 2003 Italian-Canadian roommates in university persuaded me to join their intramural team because they were short of players. Having no soccer experience, I was slotted as a central defender. In high school, I'd played defence in hockey and I was very surprised at how different the art of defence in soccer was compared to hockey, so I began watching soccer matches specifically to watch what the defenders in order to learn and improve my game. Once I was playing twice a week and watching as much as possible on television, there was no saving me... This is also why I have a soft spot for Mark Watson - he was the hard man on the Canadian back line at the time (this was before Jason DeVos had even been capped) and was one of the players I tried to model my own play after. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gian-Luca Posted November 17, 2003 Share Posted November 17, 2003 Well why not, a little nostalgia can help when your frustrated about so many consecutive losses (Cuba, Finland, Czechs, El Salvador - we're due for some positive results). My interest just came naturally, before I can even remember. My father & grandfather, cousins, relatives etc. were all big fans of the game before I was born. My father used to take myself, my brother & my cousins to Toronto Metros games back in the mid-1970's, we would watch them on TV & listen to them on the radio and I played the game for fun all the time before being old enough to join organized soccer in the late 1970's. I first became aware of international soccer for the 1978 World Cup when my father, uncles & grandfather headed to downtown Toronto (probably Maple Leaf Gardens) to watch Italy's first round matches - can't remember why they wouldn't take me (probably didn't want to be bothered with a 6 year old) but I had to wait until they came back to hear that Italy beat Argentina 1-0 (the same Argentina that won the tourney). I saw my first international match on tv shortly thereafter (Italy losing 2-1 to either Holland or Brazil - they lost both by that score in the semi-final & then 3rd place match, I just can't remember which one I saw on tv). I was hooked onto international soccer just like I was with domestic soccer. Wasn't aware of Canada's team until qualifying for 1982. Remember the Gerry Gray goal & the draw with Cuba that eliminated us (allowing El Salvador to go through), then the famous Canada-Brazil match in the 1984 Olympics. Watched the WCQ in the semi-final round, & became an absolute fanatical supporter when I attended my first live international match, with Canada drawing 1-1 with Costa Rica at Varsity Stadium in Toronto on their way to qualifying for Mexico 1986. I haven't looked back since. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fza Posted November 18, 2003 Share Posted November 18, 2003 quote:Originally posted by Mimglow There's a story here...would love to hear it! Thanks for your interest!!!..I`ll just give you a summary of this "chapter"!. The thing is that while I was playing goalie for my school (The Mayflower School)I was also playing basketball for this club. One day at basketball practice I sprained my ankle and I was forced to miss the weekend`s soccer game. The next day, I showed up at practice limping and my coach asked me what happened and I told him. He got so mad that he kicked me off the team because I had "lack of dedication" to the team. So I grabbed my gloves and left. So I never played again. The funny thing was that my coach came up to me one day and asked me if I could play because the other goalie really sucked and I showed him the "hand"!. I began playing forward, believing that if I utilize my goalie knowledge and athleticism I could have the upper hand on other goalies. It was hard at the beginning because in the eyes of Chileans, and probably of all Latin Americans and the world, being Canadian I would never be good at soccer. Maybe at first I didn´t have as much technique but I had speed, agility and a good vertical the things that Chileans lack in general. I realized that soccer is just practice and the more you play and observe (Zamorano, Radz) the better you get. I`m glad that I swithched the number "1" for number "9" because in 5 years I`ve improved a lot and I love playing this position. Now my friends don`t bug me anymore!! Looks like they`re starting to respect Canadian soccer. Hopefully our National team can open the eyes of the soccer world and demonstrate that we can put the ball in the net with our feet and not just with hockey sticks. ---End of Chapter---- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fza Posted November 18, 2003 Share Posted November 18, 2003 quote:Originally posted by Mimglow There's a story here...would love to hear it! Thanks for your interest!!!..I`ll just give you a summary of this "chapter"!. The thing is that while I was playing goalie for my school (The Mayflower School)I was also playing basketball for this club. One day at basketball practice I sprained my ankle and I was forced to miss the weekend`s soccer game. The next day, I showed up at practice limping and my coach asked me what happened and I told him. He got so mad that he kicked me off the team because I had "lack of dedication" to the team. So I grabbed my gloves and left. So I never played again. The funny thing was that my coach came up to me one day and asked me if I could play because the other goalie really sucked and I showed him the "hand"!. I began playing forward, believing that if I utilize my goalie knowledge and athleticism I could have the upper hand on other goalies. It was hard at the beginning because in the eyes of Chileans, and probably of all Latin Americans and the world, being Canadian I would never be good at soccer. Maybe at first I didn´t have as much technique but I had speed, agility and a good vertical the things that Chileans lack in general. I realized that soccer is just practice and the more you play and observe (Zamorano, Radz) the better you get. I`m glad that I swithched the number "1" for number "9" because in 5 years I`ve improved a lot and I love playing this position. Now my friends don`t bug me anymore!! Looks like they`re starting to respect Canadian soccer. Hopefully our National team can open the eyes of the soccer world and demonstrate that we can put the ball in the net with our feet and not just with hockey sticks. ---End of Chapter---- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheeta Posted November 18, 2003 Share Posted November 18, 2003 Very interesting read. Quit surprised how many aboard seem to have taken to the game later in life. Kinda encouraging, you know? Grew up poor with some Scottish bachelors in the neighbourhood and they always found time for a yell and a jeer when we were kicking it about at the park. Had some old Babas and Gidos about too, who'd laze about over the fences or sit on the benchs smoking like chimnys whenever we'd play some soccer/football after school or on summer evenings. So it's always been there, as long as I remember. Realy took off though in the late 70's with the arrival of a couple of familys from Northern Ireland and the Pol's helter-skelter satelite system. One of the EIRE lads was in my year and scored every single goal the community club squad scored that year on it's way to the Provincials. A real eye opener to be sure. Sort of fell out of the game (okay, maybe just a little) in the mid 80's largely because of the English crowd violence if you can believe it, but continued to follow the national team's WCQ runs with a zelot's passion. As soon as the CSL came to town, it was over for me. There weren't many "Ultra" voices, but I was one of them and didn't care if I was the only one. You might say I finaly came to understand. Here's an intersting bit. The day I had 4 wisdom teeth removed the Fury where playing the Blizzard at the WSC. Wee Elf was 9 months pregnant, I had borrowed my Mum's car while mine was in the body shop and on the way to the match that evening some kid made an illegal left had turn across Taylor and we just missed t-boning his Honda. Clipped him, though. Funny thing is I wasn't worried about the Wee Elf or what I'd tell Autopac, or upset about my Mum's car. I was pissed 'cause now I'd miss kick off. Pretty stupid, eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheeta Posted November 18, 2003 Share Posted November 18, 2003 Very interesting read. Quit surprised how many aboard seem to have taken to the game later in life. Kinda encouraging, you know? Grew up poor with some Scottish bachelors in the neighbourhood and they always found time for a yell and a jeer when we were kicking it about at the park. Had some old Babas and Gidos about too, who'd laze about over the fences or sit on the benchs smoking like chimnys whenever we'd play some soccer/football after school or on summer evenings. So it's always been there, as long as I remember. Realy took off though in the late 70's with the arrival of a couple of familys from Northern Ireland and the Pol's helter-skelter satelite system. One of the EIRE lads was in my year and scored every single goal the community club squad scored that year on it's way to the Provincials. A real eye opener to be sure. Sort of fell out of the game (okay, maybe just a little) in the mid 80's largely because of the English crowd violence if you can believe it, but continued to follow the national team's WCQ runs with a zelot's passion. As soon as the CSL came to town, it was over for me. There weren't many "Ultra" voices, but I was one of them and didn't care if I was the only one. You might say I finaly came to understand. Here's an intersting bit. The day I had 4 wisdom teeth removed the Fury where playing the Blizzard at the WSC. Wee Elf was 9 months pregnant, I had borrowed my Mum's car while mine was in the body shop and on the way to the match that evening some kid made an illegal left had turn across Taylor and we just missed t-boning his Honda. Clipped him, though. Funny thing is I wasn't worried about the Wee Elf or what I'd tell Autopac, or upset about my Mum's car. I was pissed 'cause now I'd miss kick off. Pretty stupid, eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snake Posted November 18, 2003 Share Posted November 18, 2003 anyone remember super socco Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snake Posted November 18, 2003 Share Posted November 18, 2003 anyone remember super socco Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mimglow Posted November 18, 2003 Share Posted November 18, 2003 quote:Originally posted by MikeD This is also why I have a soft spot for Mark Watson - he was the hard man on the Canadian back line at the time (this was before Jason DeVos had even been capped) and was one of the players I tried to model my own play after. Did you also have a hard time quitting International play? Hahaha... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matthew Posted November 18, 2003 Share Posted November 18, 2003 My buddy's EPL fantasy team is called Super Socco Juice. That brought back some memories. Glad someone else remembers that stuff. I grew up in a sports mad household and in the early 80s soccer was a part of the sporting landscape. I had Blizzard pajamas and when we went to Vancouver for vacation we saw the Lions, the Canadians and the Whitecaps. It never seemed weird to like soccer at that time. I played all of the major sports as a kid and played competitive soccer until I was about 13 when I focused on the other football full time. I'm not really sure how I became fanatical, but qualifying for the World Cup when I was eight played a huge role. We played out every game of that World Cup in a park near our apartment. The CSL really helped carry that on, keep me interested and have something to watch every week. The Guatemala loss in 1988 crushed me in a way I can't understand. I don't think anything had ever upset me that much. The internet has definitely helped keep my interest at an unhealthy level. Good thread! cheers, matthew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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