Canada’s men’s U-17 national coach Sean Fleming has concluded a cross-country scouting trip during which he visited the British Columbia, Prairie and Ontario National Training Centre (NTC) programs. During each visit, Fleming had the opportunity to watch Canada’s NTC players compete against high-calibre opposition. Fleming is currently preparing for this fall’s qualification phase before the 2011 CONCACAF Men’s Under-20 Championship.

“I was encouraged by the attitude and commitment of the players in all three centres,” said coach Fleming. “The players I watched took great pride in their individual performances. From a men’s U-17 perspective, this trip provided insight into what the 1994 age group will look like as we move forward. Over the past 10 days, I witnessed several great individual performances.”

Fleming opened his trip with a visit to the Prairies from 15–17 January. NTC Prairies, which normally operates out of Edmonton, was held in Saskatchewan at the SaskTel Centre thanks to the cooperation from the Saskatchewan Soccer Association and the Saskatoon Youth Soccer Inc. Kevin Holness, a former national player and the 2006 Sask Soccer Youth Coach of the Year and 2009 Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame Inductee, assembled a select team from Saskatchewan to face to NTC Prairies boys team. The University of Saskatchewan women’s program also supported the NTC weekend by providing the opposition on the NTC Prairies girls.

From Saskatoon, Fleming traveled to Vancouver to meet up with NTC British Columbia from 18-20 January. In Vancouver, Fleming watched NTC British Columbia compete against the Vancouver Whitecaps FC men’s and women’s sides.

Fleming concluded his cross-country journey by returning east to Toronto where he visited NTC Ontario from 23-24 January. Once again, Fleming was the beneficiary of the cooperation between NTC Ontario and the Toronto FC Academy program. Fleming concluded his trip on 24 January by watching the NTC Ontario boys test themselves against Toronto FC Academy.

“I want to especially thank the various clubs and individuals across the country who participated in the recent National Training Centre weekends,” said Fleming. “The opportunity to watch players in high-quality competition is invaluable. My visit to each of the three National Training Centres was extremely well organized.”

The national training centres provide daily training sessions for some of Canada’s elite young soccer players. The players are identified at the BMO National Championships (both All-Stars and Club Championships) and/or recommended by licensed coaches from across the country who have a keen understanding of the international game. The scouting visits throughout the year help national-team coaches monitor those selected players. The talent pool consists of potential prospects for future national-team service. The five National Training Centres are British Columbia (Vancouver, BC), Prairies (Edmonton, AB), Ontario (Vaughan, ON), Québec (Montréal, QC), and Atlantic (Nova Scotia, NS).