Brazilian Soccer School for kids in Canada

Brazilian Soccer Academy abre turmas de verão para crianças e adolescentes na GTA

May 11, 2025

Kids practicing soccer (Photo © Matimix)

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At the first signs of the change of season, when warm, sunny days become more frequent, Canadians rush to seek out outdoor activities. During this period, ice skates give way to soccer shoes and the rink is replaced by the grassy field delimited by the four lines.

Although it is not yet among the country’s favourite sports, soccer is gaining ground and, in 2026, Canada will be one of the host cities of the World Cup, with matches played in Toronto and Vancouver.

Since 2010, the Brazilian Soccer Academy (BSA) has been operating in Greater Toronto. In addition to training athletes, the space aims to collaborate with human development through sports, teaching values such as respect for others, rules of conduct and valuing friendships.

With extensive experience in the sport, the technical director and one of the partners of BSA, Guilherme Azevedo, explains that it is very important to understand that each person has qualities. Also, everyone on the field needs to help each other.

The classes are made up of students aged 4 to 16. Those interested in joining the school can contact the BSA website and social media, or by calling +1 (647) 619-4530.

Summer season

The summer season begins in May, and runs until September, when students can play traditional soccer – played on grass pitches and outdoors. However, the BSA also maintains its indoor soccer (futsal) teams throughout the year. Training takes place on its own courts located in Etobicoke and near Mississauga.

Guilherme believes that in futsal, children understand that soccer needs to be played with the ball at their feet and develop quick reasoning skills for decision-making. “The indoor game also improves creativity because the space is reduced and this puts the player in situations where they are more challenged,” he said.

The school has two major projects. At the Academy, students are physically and technically prepared for internal competitions, but they do not compete against other teams. At the Elite level, students join teams that will represent BSA in competitions in Greater Toronto and other cities outside the GTA.

Many nationalities

In addition to Brazilians, representatives from other Latin American countries, Portuguese and young people from all over the world are among the students who make up BSA.

“Today, 40% of the athletes are Brazilian and others are Hispanic, Portuguese and many other nationalities”, highlights Guilherme.
The Canadian public has sought out the school because they recognize that Brazil is a reference in soccer, but also because of the methodology used in training, which prioritizes freedom for the player to develop their style of play.

Currently, about 90% of BSA students are boys. The girls who are part of the academy share the courts and fields with them. However, the school plans to resume exclusively female teams.

Work, transparency and training

Since soccer is still in the process of establishing itself in the country, it faces some difficulties in Canada. Among others, finding good spaces to play and improving the management system for the sport.

“Since we Brazilians see soccer differently, we realize that here there is a lack of support from the institutions that control the sport, especially about work like that developed by BSA”, says Guilherme.

The recipe for overcoming these barriers is hard work, transparency and maintaining a focus on the students’ personal development. Thus, according to the director, the school is always very clear with parents that it dreams of their children becoming professionals.

“Many parents get frustrated when we tell them that their child is not ready to compete yet and they end up looking for other clubs. But we are concerned with developing the child technically, physically, but also emotionally and psychologically, showing that sport is very important for life”, he concludes.