Randip Janda

The moment that billions of people across the world have been waiting for has almost arrived! Now, for those of you that may not know what this moment may is, don’t worry, just ask someone near you. They are most likely to answer you by excitedly screaming: "The World Cup!"
The world's largest sporting event will start on June 11th when the host South Africa takes on Mexico. 32 of the world's best teams will be facing off in the month long tournament to decide which country deserves the title as the globe's best soccer team. The partying and euphoria will not be limited to South Africa however. The streets in the cities of South America, Europe, Africa and Asia will be full of nervous soccer fans, who will be surely watching the action closely.

Due to the multiplicity of cultures and ethnic origins in the Lower Mainland, patrons are likely to be packed like sardines in many of the bars in Downtown Vancouver, Commercial Drive and all over Greater Vancouver. Although Canada will not be competing in this year’s World Cup, the vibrant Italian-Canadian and Portuguese-Canadian communities in the city will be hoping their talented teams from Italy and Portugal can claim the World Cup trophy.

The story is significantly different for the Indo-Canadian community. Both Canada, ranked 63rd in the world, and India, ranked an abysmal 133rd in the world, have both failed to qualify for this year’s World Cup. But that isn’t stopping the community from loving ‘the beautiful game’. A trip to Surrey’s Newton Athletic Park or Vancouver’s Killarney Park on a weekend morning is evidence of this. Scores of Indo-Canadian children, supported by their parents, can be seen playing soccer can be seen every weekend.

The strong support and participation at the grass roots level has started to filter into the professional ranks. For instance, 20 year old Gagandeep Dosanjh, of Abbottsford, and Bobby Jhutty, of Surrey, have recently been selected to play for the Vancouver Whitecaps FC Residency team. Dosanjh also returned from a brief stint with FC Energie Cottbus in the German league, while Jhutty played with Sparta Rotterdam of the Dutch league last year. The local Indo-Canadian community is starting to make its mark on the beautiful game in Canada and abroad.

Although a majority of Indo-Canadians may be watching the upcoming World Cup as neutrals, this may not be the case in World Cup tournaments to come in the future. Soccer continues to grow as a sport in Canada and this summer’s World Cup will undoubtedly inspire more kids to emulate their favourite soccer heroes in local parks and gyms. Some of the youngsters who are now kicking around soccer balls at Newton Athletic Park and Killarney Park may soon move to play at bigger venues like BC Place Stadium or for big clubs in Europe. The support for grass roots soccer in the Indo-Canadian community, where kids start to play the game from a very young age, may hold a key to the potential revival of the Canadian soccer program. So sit back, enjoy the great action and look forward to the future!

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