Is it easier to get into the CFL vs. the NFL? (2013, high school)
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This is a good point and I agree, but the divide between the NFL and CFL is much greater than what you see in European Football. La Liga and the EPL are the number 1 and 2 leagues and the talent level is extremely close, the NFL and CFL you see a huge drop-off in talent level.
You referred to La Liga (Spain), whereas I referred to the French first division.
The Spanish league is one of the top three in Europe alongside the EPL and Italy's Serie A.
If we are talking about these three, then the level between them is certainly closer than that of the CFL vs. NFL.
But for most other European leagues, there is a significant drop-off from a league like the EPL to their levels of play.
Note also that there aren't that many professional gridiron football leagues in the world, and that thousands of players play at a decent college level in the NCAA in the States, yet only 1200 players in the NFL.
So many pretty good athletes are shut out of the NFL, and end up playing in Canada.
Soccer has many more players of course, but it also has hundreds of pro leagues around the world where they can play.
maybe during a practice they might do something NFL "like", but all high school teams and college teams play using Canadian rules... always.
Mostly always but not quite. A few areas (in BC for example) do play American rules in high school, and this might also be the case in extreme southern Ontario like around Windsor (though I may be mistaken).
Also, most Quebec high schools and pre-university colleges (CEGEPs) play with four downs (instead of the Canadian three), but the rest of the rules are Canadian there (12 players, no-yards penalties on punts, single points on punts and missed FG, etc.)
CIS, which runs the Canadian equivalent of the NCAA uses Canadian rules only.
Mostly always but not quite. A few areas (in BC for example) do play American rules in high school, and this might also be the case in extreme southern Ontario like around Windsor (though I may be mistaken).
I did some research and found that some variation on Canadian rules generally dominates throughout the country (even in SW Ontario, so I was wrong). Only BC's high schools actually play the exact American rules with the field size, 11 players, posts on the end line (as opposed to the goal line), etc.
But even minor football that is non-high school in BC is Canadian rules.
However, a significant minority of minor/high school leagues across Canada will play the four downs but with all of the rest of the rules Canadian. The rationale is that it favours more offensive output.
I wonder if it isn't also to make the game "feel" more like the American game that all of the kids watch on TV.
Apparently the move to four downs, where it did happen, took place mostly in the 1980s, when CFL popularity declined dramatically (to the point of the league nearly collapsing) and the popularity of the NFL (and even the NCAA) surged in Canada.
However, BC high schools have played American rules since the 50s, apparently because the coaches who brought the game to BC schools were Americans, and also because they wanted to be able to play teams from Washington state (but which apparently they almost never do/did).
You referred to La Liga (Spain), whereas I referred to the French first division.
The Spanish league is one of the top three in Europe alongside the EPL and Italy's Serie A.
If we are talking about these three, then the level between them is certainly closer than that of the CFL vs. NFL.
But for most other European leagues, there is a significant drop-off from a league like the EPL to their levels of play.
Note also that there aren't that many professional gridiron football leagues in the world, and that thousands of players play at a decent college level in the NCAA in the States, yet only 1200 players in the NFL.
So many pretty good athletes are shut out of the NFL, and end up playing in Canada.
Soccer has many more players of course, but it also has hundreds of pro leagues around the world where they can play.
I agree, I was just focusing on your point that the CFL is the number 2 league when it come to "American" football, with La Liga being the number 2 to the EPL.
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