Gerry Dobson

Some thoughts as we launch a new week with some very interesting developments on the horizon.

First, Stephen Hart officially embarks on his newest adventure with Canada's national team with a training camp now underway in Florida. We'll be down there for a couple of days next week to see some of the new players he's brought in. Goalkeeper David Monsalve is one I'm very interested in.

Word has it Hart is very high on the youngster and perhaps he's the answer down the road. We'll see.

There's no question this year marks the beginning of a new era with the usual questions looming. Is there enough young talent to make Canada competitive internationally? And are we facing more defections?

The questions are related as the potential defectors are also arguably the best young players. If you watched our interview with Teal Bunbury on Soccercentral Saturday, you saw a mature, well-spoken and confident 19-year old who claims he'll play for the country of his birth. Bunbury counts Toronto Defender Nana Attakora as a close friend by the way. His father, former Canadian international Alex Bunbury was living in Hamilton when Teal was born. Hopefully the Mac Hermann award winner as top U.S. college player is even half as talented as his father. It is worrisome though that he is eligible to play for the United States.

Then there's David Hoilett. The rising star who is finding playing time at Blackburn these days is eligible to play for both Jamaica and Canada. His good friend Simeon Jackson told me they talk about it from time to time. Jackson's choice was obvious to him. He says Hoilett is still thinking about it.

That takes us to TFC striker O'Brian White. He once claimed he would play for Jamaica as well, but there are indications his mind is not entirely made up. We don't even know if he's good enough yet anyway. Last year was a lost season following knee surgery. We'll get a better indication as this season wears on.

Although still unofficial, the possibility of playing World Cup heavyweights Argentina in May might be a powerful draw hard to resist for any young player hoping to make a statement on the world stage. What an opportunity.

Here's anothing interesting aside. I remember a day back in 1999 when then National team coach Holger Osieck held a camp in Toronto for North American based players. He did it only as a courtesy as he believed, correctly by the way, that virtually all of his team would be made up of players on European clubs.

That's obviously not the case anymore. While its true many of our best players are in Europe, 11 of the 17 players at the current Florida camp play for North American clubs. That's the way it was designed of course as many European leagues are in mid-season. But of those eleven, there's probably at least a half dozen that Hart would name to his best team. I don't know if that's good or bad, but its a fact.