{"id":2678,"date":"2025-07-17T11:46:07","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T11:46:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/2678\/"},"modified":"2025-07-17T11:46:07","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T11:46:07","slug":"soccer-on-the-rise-in-waterloo-region-with-world-cup-on-the-horizon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/2678\/","title":{"rendered":"Soccer on the rise in Waterloo Region with World Cup on the horizon"},"content":{"rendered":"

In about one year from now, the 2026 World Cup<\/a> will be coming to a climax at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. The build-up to the tournament and the buzz around the sport of soccer is reaching fever pitch across the country as Canada prepares to host the tournament for the first time.<\/p>\n

In Waterloo Region, local soccer clubs<\/a> are experiencing significant growth in demand and interest, but the change isn\u2019t just coming on the pitch. <\/p>\n

Soccer culture is taking over Waterloo Region as well in anticipation for the World Cup. Soccer jerseys with the names of the sport\u2019s brightest stars are becoming a more common sight around town, and are arguably more visible than hockey jerseys.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a kid in our under-seven age group yesterday tell me that Lamine Yamal is the G.O.A.T., which, I think he\u2019s like 17 years old. He\u2019s won the Euros with Spain, he\u2019s a regular starter on Barcelona. So there\u2019s a seven-year-old who already knows of an up-and-coming star,\u201d said Ryan McCord, general manager of Waterloo United<\/a>. <\/p>\n

McCord said their programs are seeing a spike in interest, especially on the boys side. That growth also opens the door to opportunities to collaborate with corporate sponsors who can help fund the non-profit organization\u2019s youth programs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe accessibility will always be paramount to growing the game,\u201d said McCord. \u201cJust keeping it about the game, not just about trying to play in a certain tier.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t have to be volunteering as a coach, giving up your evening and weekends. If you have connections to local businesses, corporate sponsors, people that want to enhance the experience for kids at a local level, that\u2019s massive.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Danielle Byers, engagement manager at the Kitchener Soccer Club<\/a> and Kitchener TFC, interest in their program has grown by roughly 20 per cent this year, and they have just under 5,000 athletes currently enrolled in their programs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would think that\u2019s a little more than most of the Toronto clubs would have, and we do predict that to grow quite a bit,\u201d said Byers. <\/p>\n

Byers added that bringing the World Cup to Canadian soil helps give young soccer players motivation to achieve great things in their own athletic pursuits. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf you can see it, you can be it,\u201d said Byers. \u201cIt\u2019s one thing to watch that on television, but to be able to potentially go and watch some of the greatest players in the world compete on the field and see that with your own eyes, feel the energy in the stadium. What that\u2019s going to do for a kid\u2019s dream and trickle down to the work that they want to put into that is incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, the 2026 World Cup gives the Canadian men a chance to impress on the world stage, but the Canadian women have already been doing that for decades. Byers and the Kitchener Soccer Club are capitalizing on the growth in interest in the sport by making sure young girls have equal opportunity to play and love the sport. <\/p>\n

\u201cOne of our team\u2019s had the opportunity to go out to the Canadian women\u2019s game that they had at BMO field in June as well,\u201d said Byers. \u201cThey had the opportunity to get down in the tunnel, meet some of the players, get some autographs. For them, for those young girls, I think that it\u2019s an experience they\u2019ll never forget.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Waterloo United and the Kitchener Soccer Club noted that they\u2019re planning on hosting some fun events in the lead-up to the tournament, and watch parties while it\u2019s taking place. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf you think about downtown Kitchener, uptown Waterloo, can we host things there?\u201d said McCord. \u201cOutdoor watch parties similar to what you see when the Blue Jays make the playoffs, the Raptors, the Leafs, things like that. I think rallying the community around it will be very important.\u201d<\/p>\n

The World Cup\u2019s first whistle is just 329 days away.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In about one year from now, the 2026 World Cup will be coming to a climax at MetLife…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2679,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[49,48,561,82],"class_list":["post-2678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2678"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2678\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}