With about a million kids involved, soccer is the most-played sport amongst youth in Canada, according to a study done last year.
The 2023 Canadian Youth Sports Report is an independent syndicated study published by Solutions Research Group.
Researchers found that 16 per cent of all Canadian youth between the ages of three and 17 participate in organized soccer, or approximately one million of the 6.1 million children in the country.
Swimming was the second most popular athletic activity, followed by hockey.
The study found that a big factor for youth participation in sports was how much it would cost the family, especially as inflation continues to impact the cost of living.
In Edmonton, a few hundred youths are part of a north Edmonton club that is making a big impact.
BTB Soccer Academy has three teams going to nationals and it’s the second straight year the program has done so.
Last year, one of the academy’s teams captured gold, and another silver.
BTB started a decade ago with a handful of players and now has become a national power in club soccer. Many of its players are first-generation Canadians.
The sports involvement data came from 2,996 detailed interviews conducted in English and French with parents who had at least one child in the 3-17 age group in the home in January 2023.
It revealed the average annual expenditure related to youth sports is $1,820 per child, with 44 per cent of that money going to lesson fees or team dues.
As Slav Kornik explains in the video above, Alphonso Davies has even thrown his support behind the program.
— with files from John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press