What are the most popular sports among Canadian children, by participation?
The results, published by Maclean’s magazine, show that soccer is by far the most-played sport among kids ages 5 to 14. In 2010, 42 per cent of Canadian kids participated in soccer, with swimming second at 24 per cent and hockey third at 22 per cent.
This doesn’t surprise me, and shouldn’t surprise anyone. Soccer is still, by and large, the most accessible sport to play, whether you’re in Canada or Cameroon, since you need little more than a ball and, ostensibly, shoes. Swimming is also an inexpensive sport, as well as a critical life skill. Hockey? Still pretty much elite, overall. Costly to outfit kids, even secondhand. And while public skating is a relatively cheap pastime, ice time for hockey teams isn’t.
Then there are the issues pertaining to injury. The awareness surrounding hockey injuries, in particular concussions, has skyrocketed. Interestingly enough, there’s much less awareness about concussions in soccer, which is why children continue to head soccer balls with glee, completely unaware of the potential ramifications.
The Maclean’s piece, by Amanda Shendruk, is well worth reading. It’s worth noting that among the top 10 sports in Canada, by participation, football is not on the list. And seeing that participation in soccer, swimming, hockey and basketball — the top four — have all dimished a bit over the past decade, it makes you wonder if those numbers have been replaced by emerging sports that haven’t yet hit the top 10.
THE SELFIE CHANCELLOR OF GERMANY
Mario Gotze’s World Cup-winning goal was nothing short of stunning. I have no idea how he took that pass off his chest, somehow controlled it, then dropped it to his striking left foot — not even his dominant foot. No idea.
What I do know is this: Gotze loves the selfie. Seriously. These are his last four tweets:
IT’S TRUE, THE DIVES ARE SPECTACULAR
It is with much excitement that Arjen Robben was named the winner of the Golden Dive Award. It wasn’t easy. He had to beat the likes of Brazil’s Fred and Marcelo, Germany’s Thomas Mueller and Greece’s Giorgos Samaras.
Here’s a great photo of Fred making his appeal:
And a great photo of Pepe delivering some sort of message to Mueller:
CANADA, BETTER THAN IRELAND? SIT DOWN, OUR HEAD IS SPINNING
Great news, Canada. Bodog has released the early 2018 World Cup winner’s odds. And while Germany is the current favourite, at 5/1, and Argentina is right behind at 7/1, Canada at 400/1 is at very least seen as a better bet than the following teams at 500/1: Bolivia, Macedonia, Finland, Peru, Wales, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland.
Stunningly, Iran — which actually participated in this year’s World Cup — is at 1,000/1 odds. Seriously, is Canada that much better than Iran?
GREAT CHINESE HOPE
Have you ever heard of Zou Shiming?
I’m guessing not, unless you’re a) a boxing aficionado, and b) really, really, really know that sport.
Zou Shiming is a 33-year-old flyweight, and he’s from China. As an amateur, he won gold in the light flyweight division in London two years ago (beating a Thai opponent, below), and in Beijing four years before that, but there are serious doubts about his capabilities in the sport.
On Saturday night, at a casino in Macau, he’ll face a Colombian fighter in his fifth pro bout. He beat the first four guys; none of them you’ve ever heard of, or are significant enough to warrant their own Wikipedia pages.
Now, Zou Shiming is training with the famed Freddie Roach. But here’s some intriguing insight from Gray:
“Roach’s mission is nearly impossible. The talent and skills a fighter needs to exhibit in amateur bouts are at odds with what a pro needs to do in the ring. The difference is so vast that amateur and pro boxing are truly different sports. In the amateurs, the face and head are protected with gear, and bouts last only three rounds, so the way to win is through speed. Darting in and out like a fencer, the successful amateur moves much like a ninja, racking up points by invading the opponent’s defensives and flicking punches. To the judges, it doesn’t matter how hard the punches are, only that they land.
“A pro fighter can’t flick a punch. A pro must box with bad intentions, anchoring his feet into the cushions of the ring apron, summoning the power through his hips, twisting the torso and punching with a full rotation of weight. Fighting this way requires the commitment of a gladiator, and a good punch is crucial to earning an opponent’s respect. There’s no headgear, and a title bout lasts 12 rounds instead of three. It’s a kill-or-be-killed mentality. Few seasoned amateurs adapt.”
Yes, you can probably guess which one Zou Shiming is.
TODAY, A RELUCTANT COVER BOY
Lionel Messi adorned the cover of EA Sports’ global blockbuster FIFA series for the 2013 and 2014 versions. And now, at the end of what was pretty much a down season for the Argentina/Barcelona superstar, EA has announced that Messi will score a natural hat trick by being the poster boy for FIFA 15, which is in stores Sept. 23.
He does score a sweet goal at the end of this very good trailer. How great would that have been to see that in Rio on Sunday?
MUSIC VIDEO OF THE DAY
An occasional feature here at 12 Bells is the Music Video of the Day. A nice departure from sports. A celebration of the best, the cheesiest, the musically stunning and the musically incontinent.
So yesterday my colleague Patrick Johnston sent me this fabulous tweet:
Which is really quite funny. And led to this rather clever response:
But it made me think about Kenny Loggins. Was he worth Music Video of the Day status? Really? Think about this carefully. So I checked out his video for Footloose, which was really quite enchanting in that quaint, wow-Kevin-Bacon-looks-the-same way. And then I thought I needed to watch his Danger Zone video — somewhat reluctantly, since it wasn’t one of the three or four best songs on the Top Gun soundtrack.
But I decided that Loggins should be included, only because he decided it would be an excellent idea to intersperse images of a young, hot, angry, fun-loving Tom Cruise with images of himself in a billowing white collared shirt, lying back on a messy bed, taking photos of the ceiling fan. Strange, strange stuff from Kenny Loggins. (That’s him in the above photo, playing at the Beverly Hills Bar Association’s Entertainment Lawyer of the Year celebration. Yeah, that’s a real event.)
Right. That one doesn’t have to be seen again. And on that note, we’ll see you Thursday.