Canada loves sports. So, naturally, there are different sports to indulge in and participate in. While some sports are classified as staples, like ice hockey and lacrosse, others deal with little to no popularity.
In this article, we delve into a few sports with growing popularity in Canada recently:
Soccer
Soccer didn’t make an instant mark on Canada. It was a background sport in the country for the longest time – until recently. Its popularity stems from the global interest in the sport, which has made it rather impossible to overlook.
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The first soccer game played in Canada was held in October 1859 in Toronto. The match was made up of a side of Irishmen and the St. George Society. As years passed, the Dominion Football Association was created, highlighting the recognition of soccer as a distinct sport in Canada away from the British Isles. Since then, soccer has grown as both a local and international sport. Canada’s national team faced off against other sides from America.
By 1910, soccer was played as a professional sport in Canada. The first game marking this era was between the Callies and the Rovers. The popularity of soccer has since spread across the country, with more people interested in spectating and participating. Matter-of-factly, from the perspective of participation rate, soccer has gained more popularity than even national sports, like ice hockey. Fan engagement is a massive part of soccer culture – in Canada and all around the globe. This fact also shows in the world of online betting. Thanks to the ever-growing popularity of the game, the best sports betting site in Canada, often cited as the long-established Unibet platform, offers soccer as one of its most popular categories. The site offers fans and spectators a platform for staking before or during games on their smartphones. These advancements in technology have further helped soccer’s popularity in Canada.
Cricket
Cricket is the second sport that has recently found its feet in Canada and has started to attract some levels of popularity. While the sport pulls in huge crowds in countries like South Africa, Australia, and India, other world areas have started adopting the sport, including Canada.
While it might appear like a relatively new introduction to the country’s sports, cricket has been in Canada for quite some time now. The first cricket match in the country stretches back to the early 1700s, between the Royal Navy and the British Army. These sides were likely the pioneers of the sport in Canada. The first time Canadian civilians deigned to put up a game of cricket was in 1785 at Ile-Ste-Helene, near Montreal.
Cricket caught on at the time and was made the country’s national sport by Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada’s first prime minister. While the sport never quite reached the fever pitch of ice hockey or soccer, cricket experienced a resurgence in interest in 2018 after Toronto played host to the Twenty20 league.
The weather has been one of the defining factors for the stalling of cricket growth in Canada. The land is often frozen over half the time, making it almost impossible to maintain the grounds and guarantee safe play. Despite these inhibitions, the country has a cricket organization that oversees the development of the sport nationwide.
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