For many people, women's international soccer hit the big time at the 1999 World Cup when during the final, Brandi Chastain scored the decisive penalty kick, ripped off her jersey and fell to her knees. That picture remains an iconic symbol of women's soccer announcing their arrival.
In terms of the Canadian Women's National Team, for a lot non soccer fans, or more specifically non women's soccer fans, the team really attracted mainstream attention at the 2012 Olympics during the disappointing loss to the United States, It was an incredible display by our team on the whole and by Christine Sinclair individually. We felt robed by the ref and applauded Christine for doing a very untypical Canadian thing and openly speaking out with criticism instead of being the usual polite Canadian and turning the other cheek. The team rebounded from that disappointment and won the bronze medal a few days later. It was the start of 4 years of the women's game being front and center in Canada, with the country hosting both the U20 (2014) and Senior (2015) World Cups and then repeating as bronze medalists at the Rio Olympics. I thought I would put together a brief history of the women's program prior to the 2012 Olympics where all of Canada discovered our national team. Canadian women's soccer in its current form and on the international stage goes back to the mid-1980s. People might remember that 2002 U19 World Cup in which Canada lost in the final to the United States ( again) in dramatic fashion but was also the launch of a generation of players who would mark our national program for years. Players like Christine Sinclair, Erin McLeod, Candace Chapman, Kara Lang, Carmelina Moscato, Robyn Gayle, and Brittany Timko (now Baxter) have all made significant contribution to the women's game in our country since that tournament. On a side note, that tournament was also the launch of some players of note from other countries that you might have heard of ; Brazil's trio of Marta, Daniela and Christiane, France's Camille Abily, Germany's Anna Mittag, Englands, Fara Williams and Laura Bassett and finally, from the US Lindsey Tarpley, Heather O'Reilly and Ashlynn Harris. However, Canadian women's soccer, didn't start in 2012, or 2002 but much earlier. We have been a participating in 7 World Cups and 4 Olympics. I thought I would share a little bit about the history of Canada's national women's program. Canada's participation at international events actually dates back to the late 70s. In 1977, a team from the Greater Vancouver League, participated in an international tournament in Hawaii that was played over two weeks. A year later, this same team represented Canada at an invitation international tournament held in Taiwan alongside 12 other countries. This event turned out to be the precursor to women's world cups. The first formal Canadian Women's Team was formed in 1986 following a tournament bringing together provincial teams. The top 18 players were selected and they were formed as the national team. This same event was held the following year. In the early years, Canada participated in the 1988 Women’s Invitational Tournament in the People’s Republic of China. Played over the course of two weeks, the 12-team tournament served as an antecedent to the inaugural FIFA Women’s World Cup that took place three years later. Canada took part in the qualifiers for the 1991 World Cup but did not advance to the final competition in China after losing to the United States by a score of 5-0 in the inaugural CONCACAF Women’s Championship (then known as the CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup) held in Haiti. In 1994, Canada hosted their first Women’s Gold Cup, consisting of five teams – Canada, Jamaica, Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United States The tournament took place in Montreal and was played in a round-robin style with Canada posting three wins and one loss at Stade Claude-Robillard and eventually qualified in 2nd place, securing a spot in their first ever FIFA Women’s World Cup to be held the following year in 1995. The second installment of the Women’s World Cup lacked the same excitement that the inaugural tournament in China had brought and obviously TV coverage and social media traffic was non-existent in the mid-90s While over half a million fans showed up over the course of the 26-match tournament four years prior, only approximately 100,000 total spectators managed to attend the various games (an average of only 4,316 per match), with a disappointing 17,158 showing up to the final between Norway and Germany that was held in Stockholm. In their first match, played on June 6th of that year, Canada went down 3-0 to an English team that had also not qualified for the tournament’s opening installment. The team went on to tie their next match 3-3 against Nigeria and then lose their last match, 7-0 match to the eventual winners, Norway. With 11 female referees in the tournament, including Sonia Denoncourt of Canada who served as head referee during the United States victory over China in the 3rd place game, and Ingrid Jonsson, who oversaw Norway’s 2-0 victory over the Germans, the 1995 tournament served as a positive step for both women’s soccer as a whole and the women’s game in Canada despite low attendance among European fans. Canada hosted the fourth installment of the Women’s Gold Cup that was held in 1998. In the decade following the formation of Canada’s first women’s team in 1986, players like Geri Donnelly, Silvana Burtini, and Charmaine Hooper played a pioneering role in establishing the women’s game in the country. These three, along with several other key contributors like goalkeeper Nicole Wright, who posted five clean sheets in five wins, and midfielders Amy Walsh and Andrea Neil, led the charge for a team that would eventually outscore its opponents 42 goals to nil over a dominating 7-week period. In front of a sellout crowd in Ontario’s Centennial Stadium, Canada’s 22-year old midfielder Liz Smith scored the sole goal that led them to a 1-0 victory over Mexico and their first CONCACAF Women’s Championship and a spot at the 1999 Women's World Cup that was to be held in the US. In their first match against Japan, a formidable and veteran team that had reached the quarterfinal of the 1995 cup, the Canadian women tied 1-1 in front of over 23,000 at Spartan Stadium in San Jose (almost 5 times as many people as they played in front of in the 1998 Gold Cup final) After losing back-to-back matches to Norway and Russia, the team was eliminated from further play. The 2002 CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup was co-hosted by the United States and Canada. Held in Seattle and Vancouver, the two hosts ultimately made their way to a final after dominating their respective groups and met at the Rose Bowl Unlike prior Gold Cups, final would not who would advance to the World Cup as new FIFA rules allowed for two Concacaf teams to reach the World Cup. Despite losing 2-1 to a heartbreaking Mia Hamm golden goal, the Canadian women seemed to be closing the gap and ready to compete at the international stage. As I wrote earlier, the summer of 2002 also saw Canada host the U19 World Cup and Canada place second but most importantly, was the beginning of the great career for Christine Sinclair who continues to shine today. The 2003 tournament was moved from China due to the outbreak of SARS, and with just 5 players from the previous World Cup the team was quite young with an average age of 23. Following a 4-1 opening loss to perennial power Germany, the team rebounded with its first ever World Cup win securing a 3-0 victory over Argentina followed by a 3-1 victory over Japan. Advancing to their ever knockout stage, the faced a Chinese team that had placed second in the ’99 Cup with a significant number of returning players. The team once again made history by winning 1-0 and earning the right to face Sweden in the semi-finals. Two late goals, ended their magical run. By finishing second once again at the 2006 Gold Cup, Canada qualified for the 2007 World Cup which was to be held in China ( as replacement for having lost the 2003 competition). Unfortunately, the team could not match their performances from 4 years earlier and were eliminated following the group stage. However a few months later, Canada participated in an Olympic qualifying tournament where once again they finished second to the US but qualified for the team's first ever games. at the 2008 Olympic Games, held in Beijing , Canada opened with a solid 2-1 victory over Argentina in their opening game, the team drew against the hosts China but lost to Sweden which eliminated Canada from the competition. Two years later Canada participated in the 2010 Gold Cup which took place in Mexico. CONCACAF was now allocated 3 sports for the 2011 World Cup which was to be held in Germany. After progressing through the group stage and fairly easy semi-final win, Canada found themselves facing the hosts Mexico that had shocked everyone by pulling off a 2-1 upset of the United States in front of a sellout crowd in Cancún. Three days later, Canada defeated the home side to win their 2nd overall CONCACAF Gold Cup, the first of which was won during a year in which the United States received an automatic bye because they were hosting the upcoming World Cup. Full of confidence from their resounding victory at the previous year’s Gold Cup, the Canadian team entered the 2011 World Cup in Germany looking to improve upon their record-setting performance in 2003. With a generation of players entering their competitive primes and an in form Christine Sinclair now firmly established as one of the world's top players, expectations were high. However, over the course of three games, Canada managed to only muster up one goal on its way to three consecutive losses to host-country Germany, a strong French side and African champion Nigeria. The soccer program was in a mess, then coach Carolina Morace resigned in somewhat controversial fashion and with the Olympic games just 12 months away, the outlook was bleak. Within a few months, the CSA hired an Englishman by way of New Zealand who would try and rebuild the team prior to London 2012. As the saying goes, the rest is history.
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AuthorAfter many years of coaching at various levels and with different teams, I thought I would share some of my experiences and thoughts about coaching. Archives
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