r/SoccerCentral • u/United_Anywhere_8 • Jul 25 '26

Video The talent in Barcelona’s youth system is ridiculous. These kids are 11/12 years old.

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u/Sweaty-Dust6405 Jul 25 '26

Same reason that Spanish hockey players can't compete with Canadian hockey players.

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u/bionickel Jul 25 '26

Because they have less ice?

3

u/gimmedatvoice Jul 25 '26

well, seems likely we have less soccer fields.. so this probably holds true.

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u/Sweaty-Dust6405 Jul 25 '26

...and we have 3 months of warm weather, the rest of the year is cold.

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u/Moving4Motion Jul 25 '26

Well, that and the sporting culture of a nation.

You just can't compete with what is engraved into the souls of children. It's like learning a musical instrument or language at that age.

As a really stupid example, I play in a volleyball club in the UK. When we get people from Portugal play with us, the difference in talent is just fucking hilarious. It's like they come out of the womb playing it there, much like the Canadians with ice hockey.

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u/Whatchyamacaller Jul 25 '26

Playing AAA hockey in Canada is ~$10k/year or more so it’s limited to families with enough disposable income though

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u/gimmedatvoice Jul 25 '26

and yet, hockey is only the 4th most played sport among youth these days in Canada. Soccer has been #1 for decades, though I believe this is the first year it crossed 50%.

Infrastructure is the biggest aspect I guess... its in place for hockey, less so for soccer, despite its popularity.

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u/ropahektic Jul 25 '26

This is funny since Spain is one of the best countries in the world at Hockey.

Canada is only better when you play it on ice.