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A quarter of a century ago in Costa Rica, Canada’s soccer team was competing for a spot in the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. At halftime, one of the Canadian players was shivering, shaking and involuntarily urinating in his shorts. His fever-like state was unusual considering the temperature was 34.

The player was suffering from the onset of dehydration, more from excessive exertion than the lack of water intake prior to the game. Regardless, he played the second half, which ended in a scoreless tie that eventually led Canada to the one Olympic berth available for the North American, Central American and Caribbean (CONCACAF) region.

It was a watershed moment for Canada’s soccer team and program, the beginning of a stretch of unparalleled success. This success was marked by a pride for representing Canada, a grit and determination to beat more-talented opponents, a strong work ethic and a selfless mentality to do it all for ostensibly nothing in return – at least from a financial perspective.

Twenty-six years later, times have changed. Canadian soccer is in a period of unmatched failure and the country has to endure the ignominy of another homegrown soccer talent abandoning ship to play elsewhere. Vancouver-born Jacob Lensky, who had agreed to compete in Canada’s coming exhibition games against Macedonia and Poland, has decided to change national allegiances after receiving a late call from the Czech Republic, his father’s homeland.

Whether 20-year-old Lensky is truly a soccer talent who will have a long and distinguished career is an argument for another day. So is the decision by the International Association Football Federation (FIFA) to have opened the door for such defections to take place in the first place.

The point to be made here is the ease in which the modern Canadian soccer player or parent can brush the national program aside for nothing other than selfish reasons. Before Lensky, Owen Hargreaves and Jonathan De Guzman blazed similar trails, with Calgary-born Hargreaves opting to represent England and Toronto-born De Guzman wearing the orange of the Netherlands.

Nobody seems overly concerned. The media tend to glorify exported Canadian players, and then many sycophantic fans justify the decisions these defector players make. But the ripple effects are damaging, right down to the lowest levels. At local summer soccer camps, for example, no eight-year-old kid wants to “represent” Canada in make-believe World Cup soccer tournaments because Canada is considered no good. They want to represent England or Holland and, now maybe, the Czech Republic.

As much as the Canadian Soccer Association is criticized for the state of the soccer industry in this country, there are justifiable limitations to what it can do. It is a cultural issue at this stage. Canada lacks a soccer identity.

Positive changes are abound with Major League Soccer entering the landscape, but it is a drop in the ocean for what needs to be done. Canada has infrastructure problems that hinder the motivation for young Canadian players to keep playing the game at a significant level. The country’s philosophy of fun first is all well and good for the recreational level, but for the elite levels, a professional approach should be first. All certified coaches should be mandated to encourage players to play for Canada, not some other country.

In turn, Canada’s focus should be on the many players who represent the country with great dignity and pride, and not on the turncoats. There again we should be polite to them. Good luck Owen, Jonathan and Jacob – and goodbye.