Canada is on a football high at the moment. Fresh off qualification for the FIFA World Cup for the first time in 36 years, and on the heels of an historic Olympic gold medal for the women’s team, the country is a buzz with football excitement. However, it’s not just the beautiful game that’s taking over pitches in Canada. Another, more curved, sport is also making its presence felt in the North American country.
Teqball has recently ramped up youth engagement efforts in Canada in hopes of converting some youth footballers into youth teqers. The Canadian National Teqball Federation has looked to premier youth football tournaments and teams to find new talent amid the country’s football renaissance.
The ability of football and teqball to coexist was demonstrated by the founding of the St. Anthony Futuro Teqball Club. Its establishment was made possible after a meeting between federation officials and Sanjeev Parmar, technical director of Futuro Soccer Academy.
Youth players at the Umbro Top Rated Invitational Soccer Showcase Finals in Burlington, Ontario, one of the largest youth football tournaments in Canada, were also given an introduction to the sport as part of the federation’s outreach efforts.
Teqball co-founder and Chairmen of the Fédération Internationale de Teqball (FITEQ) Viktor Huszár explained the sport’s appeal to Around the Rings earlier this year, stating, “I think the nature of this sport is what every sport athlete has - this inner child inside - and that brings it back from the streets and from their bringing up.”
He added, “every football player used to play some form of foot tennis, or keep-ups and so on, and we just created an amazing platform where they are able to compete.”
The Canadian National Teqball Federation will be hopeful their efforts result in the development of a new crop of elite athletes. The country was absent from last year’s world championships, with only one player represented in the current world ranking.
A recent statement from the sport’s international governing body read, “FITEQ looks forward to the participation of Canadian athletes and the continued growth of teqball in the country.”
FITEQ has highlighted the rapid growth of the sport in recent years, with a spot on the Olympic sports program becoming more feasible. Social media popularity, increased global participation, and versatile organization could all work to the benefit of the sport as decisions are made about the final composition of the LA28 Summer Olympic Games sports program.
For now, however, the sport’s focus remains on growth.
“We would like to be exposed, but it’s more important that the sport is growing organically,” Huszár told Around the Rings.
Recent efforts in Canada seem to underline the seriousness of the statement.
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