The rise of Canada centre-back Moise Bombito demonstrates the flaws in the country’s youth development, writes Dylan Krain
Less than 24 hours after finishing fourth in the 2024 Copa America, Jesse Marsch, head coach of the Canadian Men’s National Team, embarked on a press tour. Marsch discussed the tournament in numerous interviews with Canadian media, praising his players’ performance and commitment. At the same time, he sought to place their achievement in context. To Marsch, who had only been in charge for three months, the Copa was merely a step in the right direction towards the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
“The best example of what is wrong with the sport in our country is that Moise Bombito never really was identified until 23 years old,” he told CBC Sports. “That can’t be.”
Bombito played every minute of the Copa America as Canada’s starting centre-back. On account of his performances, Ligue 1 side Nice signed him a month later for a reported €7 million.
“I will repeat again,” Marsch said in a later press conference. “It is unacceptable that a player like Moise Bombito is not discovered until he’s 23 years old.”
Bombito’s journey began at CS Saint-Laurent, a semi-professional club in Montreal. He played as a forward for the club’s youth team before enrolling at College Ahuntsic. There, he met Francois Bourgeais, head coach of Ahuntsic’s men’s soccer team.
“He already had technical skills and he was fast,” recalls Bourgeais. “But he lacked efficiency in front of goal.”
After Bombito’s first season with College Ahuntsic, Bourgeais realised that the 19-year-old’s strengths would be better utilised in defence than attack. In addition, Bombito had grown to 6ft 3in. Bourgeais met with him to discuss a position change and Bombito was open to the idea.
“Then, I discovered another Moise Bombito with more confidence,” said Bourgeais. “He was able to use both feet to make short and long passes, he was tough in one-v-one situations and he could take the ball into midfield.”
A year later, Bombito joined semi-professional club CS Saint-Hubert, also coached by Bourgeais. He was now playing against adults and was “the best player on the pitch.” From Saint-Hubert, Bombito moved to the United States, playing for Iowa Western Community College, the University of New Hampshire and the Seacoast United Phantoms. He was selected as the third pick in the 2023 MLS SuperDraft by the Colorado Rapids.
After two impressive seasons in MLS and standout performances for Canada, Bombito moved to Nice at 24 years old. There, he has become a regular starter, making 35 appearances in his first season.
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Bourgeais believes Bombito’s path from Quebec to Nice is symptomatic of Canada’s youth development system.
“I 100% agree with Jesse Marsch,” he said.
According to a recent national report, 50% of Canadians aged 18 and under play soccer, making it the country’s most popular youth sport. Canada’s youth development system determines if these young players can pursue the sport professionally. However, the system is often challenged by a lack of structure and funding. What’s more, addressing these challenges will be key to Canada’s success beyond this summer’s World Cup.
After coaching in Quebec for 11 years, Bourgeais returned to his native France to coach at FC Lorient’s academy. In his experience, players and coaches in France are more mature than their Canadian counterparts. He noticed many Canadian coaches seem to prioritise winning games over player development. In his opinion, these coaches made young players train too much, leading to fatigue.
“The coach just wants their best player to win the game,” said Bourgeais. “You want to tell me that your game this weekend is more important than a potential professional career. Are you serious?”
Matt Ferreira, the director of development at Ontario Soccer, noticed a similar issue.
“[Youth leagues] had become very much about the outcomes tied to score and standings,” he said. “We weren’t developing enough talent to propel, not just Ontario, but Canada onto a world stage.”
Ferreira sought to address this using the Ontario Player Development League (OPDL). The league consists of around 30 local clubs and academies from across the province. These clubs follow standards set by Ontario Soccer regarding coaches and facilities, among other criteria.
“However, the funding ultimately has to come from somewhere which gives rise to the elephant in the room: the pay-to-play model,” said Ferreira.
In a pay-to-play system, the costs associated with youth sports are paid for by players and their families. At OPDL teams, annual costs typically total $4,000-$5,000 per player. As a result, not everyone can afford to play in the league.
On the other hand, there are three large youth academies in Canada that correspond to the three Canadian MLS teams: Toronto FC, CF Montreal and the Vancouver Whitecaps. Players at these academies are less burdened by cost.
“Our players don’t spend a dime,” says Rich Fagan, technical director of the Vancouver Whitecaps academy.
Team owners fund the Whitecaps academy alongside the MLS team.
“They afford these kids the opportunity to come into our academy and get top coaching and top facilities.”
MLS Academies, like their European counterparts, offer a streamlined pathway to the professional game. The best can be sold on for large transfer fees, helping to fund the next generation of talent.
In many ways, Canada star Alphonso Davies is the platonic ideal. He was invited to play for the Vancouver Whitecaps academy at 14 years old and made his MLS debut two years later. At the age of 17, he was sold to Bayern Munich for €14 million.
But unlike England or Germany, which have far more youth academies in a far smaller area, Canada cannot depend on academies to develop players. Geographically, it is simply too big.
“Can we take some lessons from those countries and create a system that works for us?” asks Joe Baker, a sports science professor at the University of Toronto. “Systems are always going to be limited by the environments they’re placed in, so we need to create a system that is unique to Canada.”
Ultimately, Canada’s youth development system needs to balance the funding provided by large academies with the scale afforded by universities, colleges and local youth teams.
At 26 years old, Bombito has found success for club and country, but without being scouted by a major academy, his pathway was arduous.
“The next Moise Bombito – at 15, we need to know exactly who he is and we need to be able to challenge him to be a pro at 17, 18 years old,” said Marsch.
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