INVESTING IN CANADIAN QBS

MORE RESOURCES NEEDED AT GRASSROOTS LEVEL, COMMISSIONER SAYS

Brandon Bridge isn’t playing football for Canada. He’s playing in the Canadian Football League for the Saskatchewan Roughriders. That’s an important distinction.

But the very existence of a Canadian quarterback produces such widespread elation (We can do it!) and despair (Why is Bridge the only one?) that the significance of his performance, or lack thereof, can transcend Regina and the Riders’ roster.

The focus on the 26-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., intensified when Calgary native Andrew Buckley chose medical school over the No. 2 spot on the Stampeders’ depth chart. That left Bridge alone to carry the Canadian flag.

He carried it into battle against Montreal Saturday night, making just his third start in four years.

It was a brief and unsuccessful appearance. Some observers, like TSN broadcaster and former CFL safety Glen Suitor, said it was too brief.

“Because it’s a Canadian quarterback, there is less patience,” Suitor said as Bridge’s replacement, David Watford, struggled through the second half and the Riders lost to the Alouettes. Because Bridge is a Canadian quarterback, there is certainly more attention from fans, pundits and the league.

“One of the things we have not done a lot of as a league is we have not had a comprehensive football development strategy for the nation,” CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie told Postmedia in the pre-season.

“I think we’ve got to sit down with all of our partners. We just sit down with Football Canada and have a conversation.

“How do we grow the game? How do we get more kids playing? You’ve got to get massive participation in the game because that’s going to get your best athlete.

“Your best athletes are going to choose to play this sport and what will emerge out of that is going to be a slew of people who might be that next superstar quarterback.”

Made mandatory in 2012, an internship program brings nine CIS quarterbacks to CFL training camps. B.C. starter Jonathon Jennings is a big fan.

“I think they’re grooming those guys in a really good manner. I’m not sure what more you could do, unless you considered the quarterback a ratio player.”

Ratio rules demand 20 Canadians and at least seven starters, but do not affect the quarterback position. The ratio argument has been raised, debated, discounted and debated some more. It was raised by Bridge in an off-season chat with Ambrosie. It was raised again on Twitter even as Bridge was struggling.

In the absence of administrative advantage, the alternative is more and better development at the grassroots level.

Ambrosie isn’t prepared to accept defeat.

He said the league needs to invest more thought and resources before reaching any conclusions on the long-term fate of the Canadian quarterback.

“We have to set some big hairy audacious targets for participation and we have to invest in that as a country and as a football ecosystem. I think then and only then can we ever know just how many Canadian quarterbacks we can ultimately see starting and contributing to the CFL because we just haven’t done enough at this stage.”

YOU’VE GOT TO GET MASSIVE PARTICIPATION IN THE GAME BECAUSE THAT’S GOING TO GET YOUR BEST ATHLETE.

KAYLE NEIS The Roughriders’ Brandon Bridge of Mississauga, Ont., is the only Canadian quarterback playing in the CFL. He started against the Alouettes Saturday, but struggled and was yanked en route to a loss.