American recruiting for football in Canada

Other Leagues and Entertainment
#1

Good article here for young people looking south for their collegiate/university football program:

Top USA recruiters and former NFL coaches coming to Toronto for showcase event

If you have dreams of playing football in the United States, you can get some first-hand tips from leading NFL recruiters at an upcoming event at Toronto’s Downsview Park. The recruiters will be taking part in the Can American Football Showcase, a “combine? that’s designed to give Canadian football players the opportunity to display their skills and receive top-level instruction by experienced American coaches. It’s happening June 29. Event organizer Paul Watkins says Canadians don’t get enough opportunities to compete at the American level....

“Football is a culture [in the U.S.],? he said. “If you want to be the best at what you do, you go to the culture. Until they go to a combine where they are being taught and looked at and competing against American kids, they will never know if and where they stack up."…
But former CFL star Duane Forde says young athletes also need to be cautious.
“A ‘free ride’ doesn’t always mean a [scholarship],? said Forde, who played 12 seasons for the Calgary Stampeders, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Toronto Argonauts and Hamilton Tiger Cats, and now works as a broadcaster for TSN.
“Find out the legitimacy of the offer and their connection to the sport. Do not pay exorbitant recruiting fees and get the answers you need for yourself.”


#2

The problem, though thinking about this, is that Toronto only has 12 high schools, or around that depending on the geographic area one considers “Toronto”, that have gridiron unlike basketball where I’m sure there umpteem numbers of high school teams compared with football and therefore more players for US colleges to look at.

NFL and US colleges, football seems to be a dying sport in Canada for your recruiting but that doesn’t mean the CFL is a dead league, not at all, two very different things.

Let’s put it this way, there will way more top NBA players in the NBA from Canada in the future than there will be NFL top players from Canada and I don’t think this is even arguable. In the least.

Meaning as well, the NFL will be more “American” than the NBA will be depending on how one defines “American” in the new era of a very diverse US as never seen in the past, of course whether that matters whatever I guess for the business of making money for the NFL and NBA. The NFL may very well continue to be the no. 1 pro sports league in the US for money making even as it loses out to other sports for youth involvement and participation.

And will any domestic league pro sports in Canada challenge the CFL for money making as a domestic league in this country? I don’t see it. No challengers at all at this point.

#3

Interesting I had a few friends who were recruited for baseball but just like Forde says it wasn’t a fee ride at all . Good thing they have money .

My step kids were recruited in track and field in major US universities and in no way was it free . Thanks but no thanks .

Know many parents who got US College scholarships for hockey /football etc for their kids but still paid way more in the end than staying here and playing U sports .

Be cautious and read the fine print .

#4

I’d highly recommend any parent see the documentary, featuring former players of the University of Southern California and its premiere football program, called “The Business of Amateurs” before sending their kid to college on an athletic scholarship.

The documentary discusses more than only football.

You can probably find it On Demand via your cable company or a pirate copy online or perhaps even YouTube.

#5

Yup, seems Youtube, will have to watch Paolo: