As a February snowstorm raged away outside his North Toronto home, a very proud father named Bobby de Guzman may have danced a little in his living room while listening to music and celebrating some good news from across the Atlantic Ocean.
As the sleet hit the window and the snow piled up outside the de Guzman home, the weather wasn’t getting him down.
Instead, he was in a celebratory mood after learning that his 20-year-old son will receive the final signatures for his Dutch citizenship during a ceremony in Rotterdam Friday paving the way for him to join Holland’s national soccer program instead of Canada.
Hang on a second here - a Canadian father celebrating that his son will play for Holland instead of Canada?
First Owen Hargreaves of Calgary joins England’s national team and now this - have our young players and parents sunk to a new low?
Word out of Holland just hours ago was that Jonathan had made his final decision and will join Holland's U21 and Olympic team in the coming weeks.
But before you read this, wrap yourself in the flag and bust out a rendition of O Canada or even worse declare “Say it isn’t so Jonathan” - you must first understand the de Guzman family and also the status of the world’s game in the Great White North.
His own older brother Julian - a key player with Spanish La Liga side Deportivo La Coruna - was recently named MVP at the CONCACAF Gold Cup for a performance which propelled Canada into the semi-finals of last June’s tournament before a heart-wrenching loss to the United States.
Even though Julian has said in public that he wished that his brother would play for Canada, he knew it really wasn't going to happen.
“I’m glad Jonathan appears to be on the verge of deciding not to play for Canada,” said the de Guzman patriarch Bobby.
“Definitely - I am ready for all the nationalists and I know they will pounce on this - just remember that before you do there is also Jonathan’s brother Julian. He is one of the leaders of the national team and its top player so If you want to go after Jonathan and say he is unpatriotic - you are going after Julian as well. Julian is one of the leaders of the national team.”
The thinking here from a caring and concerned soccer dad is that although he is proud that his eldest son who wears the Maple Leaf for our national team - there is no way he wishes both of his sons to endure the hardship of a national governing body which for so long seems to have been driving the bus with their heads below the dashboard.
Both de Guzman brothers were forced to leave Canada in their early teens to embark on professional careers in Europe simply because there is no real development structure for talented young players in Canada.
The list of foul-ups and yellow cards that should be issued to our governing body is almost too long to mention for our purposes here.
For anyone who isn’t convinced: here is the latest in this constantly unfolding Canadian soccer tragedy.
This is the same governing body of Canadian soccer and its national teams which has been without a Chief Operating Officer since the departure of Kevan Pipe in November 2006, without a technical director for two years and seems to quickly move from one scandal to the next.
Last year we had a nasty dust-up between senior women’s coach Even Pellerud and star player Charmaine Hooper over a controversial residency program. Hooper has yet to return to the Canadian camp.
And there is also a nasty little $1.75-million wrongful dismissal lawsuit which was launched by former Basketball Canada head Fred Nykamp.
Followers of may remember Nykamp was supposed to be Pipe’s replacement and was even marched out at a CSA press conference at BMO Field last spring being introduced as Canadian soccer’s top dog.
That was before CSA executives went behind his back and made sure he never worked for the CSA.
Since then the two parties have settled out of court for a tidy and undisclosed sum which is sure to have an impact on player registration fees taking the money out of programs which are in dire need of more funding.
Then there was also the senior men’s team coaching vacancy.
The team was without a permanent coach for over a year. The CSA thought they had settled on Brazilian Rene Simoes as a logical choice.
With Simoes all set to pack his bags for Canada the boys in red told him to cancel his trip north and instead hired under-20 coach Dale Mitchell who led our troops to a fruitless zero goal and winless performance at last summer's FIFA U20 World Cup.
Oh yes - we almost forgot the nasty little secret of one of FIFA's biggest tournaments which was hosted last June and July by six Canadian cities.
Overall the event was a smashing success on the field - but many aren’t aware that it also lost a whopping $1.75-million because of mismanagement and poor planning.
So dig into your pockets a little deeper kiddies and forget that new pair of cleats for next spring - it's all going to cost you.
Last August well meaning Colin Linford decided he had enough as CSA president and quit - declaring that he hoped young children out there would “never aspire” to wear a Canadian jersey.
So when so called "patriots" turn themselves to the discussion of Jonathan de Guzman and curse and swear - and hum and hah - that he is playing for Holland instead of Canada - you may want to reconsider hear the advice of Bobby de Guzman to his son.
“Do what is best for you Jono and have no regrets when you make your decision”
