There are 26 players on the Canada squad at the FIFA World Cup.
There are players from as far west as Vancouver and as far east as Kentville, NS, but the largest concentration of players comes from a city in the central part of the country and, while it’s near Toronto, it’s not Toronto.
A whopping 23 per cent of the Canada squad is comprised of players who were either born in Brampton, Ont. or grew up there: Cyle Larin, Promise David, Tajon Buchanan, Jayden Nelson, Liam Millar and Jonathan Osorio. A city of fewer than 700,000 is responsible for nearly a quarter of the team.
Beginning with the emergence of former Canada captain Atiba Hutchinson to winger Junior Hoilett to the crop of players currently at the World Cup, Brampton has become Canada’s preeminent football factory.
How did that happen?
“Is there something in the water?” Buchanan joked. “I wish I knew. I don’t know. It’s just a very diverse city. You’ve got a lot of people from different backgrounds.”
Now 31, Larin remembers his early days of playing the sport in the city. Nicknamed “The Brampton Bagsman” at Southampton, the UConn product says part of the rise of Brampton soccer is due to money and infrastructure catching up with talent.
“I think we’ve always had a lot of kids playing soccer, but when I was growing up, I don’t think it was as [popular] back then because you had the other big sports – hockey and basketball, they were really the most-played sports,” Larin said. “And the money was mostly put into that back in the day. But I think it’s changed a lot. You have a lot of talented players coming out now, but [the talent] has always been there. I think it was just overlooked because there wasn’t the money to scout players and to find players in these places.”
Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty is the latest Brampton-born player to make his debut with the senior side. The 22-year-old New York Red Bulls winger played 15 minutes in the team’s scoreless draw with Tunisia in March. The most recent addition to what is now a long line of Peel Region talent, Marshall-Rutty points to the systems in place that Larin and those before him didn’t have as key to his development.
“It’s a huge credit to the youth system they have in place – [teams like] Brampton East, Brampton Youth, Brampton Blast, Brampton West – because it just seems like there’s so much talent coming from Brampton,” Marshall-Rutty said. “It’s player after player, but arguably, Atiba Hutchinson is the best player [from Brampton], who set the standard for us.”
Marshall-Rutty is now standing shoulder to shoulder with those he looked up to as a kid and he doesn’t feel out of place being there.
“Obviously, in the beginning, it was a bit weird, but these are my teammates,” Marshall-Rutty said. “I’ve earned the right to be here. They’ve earned the right to be here. I’ve looked up to them in so many ways, guys like Jonathan Osorio, who I played with starting my whole career [at Toronto FC]. They set the foundation for the younger players like me, like Atiba set for them, working around here to make sure the national program stays in a good place.”
Conversely, for players like Larin and Hoilett, they are now peers with the Bramptonians who once looked at them as examples of what was possible in their wildest dreams. The inspiration has become reciprocal, Hoilett says.
“It’s a surreal moment,” Hoilett said. “It’s good that we inspired the kids, the youth, not only in our city, but throughout Canada to fulfill their dreams. Jahkeele’s now part of the squad. He’s a talented player and he has a bright future. It’s very inspiring for us that we could inspire the youth to live out their dreams.”
And Marshall-Rutty won’t be the last. As the current generation of Brampton-born players transitions into the next, Larin believes soccer in his city is in good hands.
“It feels good to just know there’s guys coming up and just to see them growing in their career and making steps in their career, believing in themselves and being proud [of where they’re from],” Larin said.
