Oh the defections....

[StartingEleven]

Got this in my press release inbox from US Soccer this morning

From the U.S. Soccer Communications Center:

" LEROUX SCORES AGAIN AS USA DEFEATS KOREA REPUBLIC 1-0

TO WIN GROUP D AT 2010 FIFA UNDER-20 WORLD CUP

* U.S. Will Face Nigeria in Quarterfinals on July 25 in Augsburg Live on ESPNU at 5:30 a.m. ET

* U.S. Defense and GK Bianca Henninger Record Second Straight Shutout

* Leroux Tied For Second in Tournament Scoring With Five Goals During Group Play

BIELEFELD, Germany (July 21, 2010) – The U.S. Under-20 Women’s National Team defeated the Korea Republic 1-0 in the final Group D match for both teams at the 2010 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup as forward Sydney Leroux scored the winning goal midway through the first half.

The win and accompanying three points vaulted the young Americans over the Koreans and into first place in the group with seven points. Korea finished with six points while Ghana, which defeated Switzerland 2-0 in the other Group D match, finished with four points. The Swiss exit the tournament without a point or a goal. "

It sting never goes away! Damn!

[Richard]

The only fault here lies with Canada's soccer infrastructure - don't blame this young player personally.

[yomurphy1]

^BS, Canada did nothing wrong with Leroux. She's simply a glory hunter who decided playing for the US looked better for her career.

I'm also sick of people blaming the CSA for everything, sure they've been a mess but there has to be a point where people need to show loyalty to the country that has given them so much instead of jumping because the grass looks greener on the other side.

[Vic]

The country that has given her so much is actually the USA. Had she fallen flat on her face no one would have cared or even noticed. Her decision is hers and hers alone. She owes no one anything.

[CoachRich]

Pure rubbish on the "glory hunter" as she like a lot of athletes is out learning her trade/craft and has to make some choices to get the best development to further herself in her chosen sport/job. She is not alone in making those choices.

As an athlete your loyalty comes to yourself first to better your trade/craft so the other aspects of your development and lifestyle choice can come due to your performance whether it's for an individual or team sport.

Both Richard and Vic get it about it being the players choice. The Canadians Aboard list is a important indicator of why some players go out of the Canadian system to get the best development -

http://www.cansoc.org/showthread.php?35734-Canadians-abroad&p=349264&viewfull=1#post349264

Add to that how many of our past, current and future Women's National Team Program players go/will go to the NCAA to get the development they can't get in the CSA or Canadian system yet. Are they defectors for not staying in the CIS and etc? Nope.

The whole system of sports is based on performance in a competitive environment and not on loyalty. How many jobs to people get based on loyality 1st over performance? Not many I think.

The CSA NT system for females lacks in so many ways. Just in the WP we have only 3 programs compared to other countries that have 6 or more (Women, U23, U20, U17, U15 and U14l). Add to that most countries have domestic pro/am or pro leagues (see Vic's list ). Some domestic leagues like Germany have female programs in their pro clubs as their women's league are modeled after the men's. The list goes on and on but it's up to the player to decide what is their best pathway from the pathways offered them. Like Tony Waiters knows some players go look elsewhere and overcome huge challenges to further their trade/craft.

Until Canada has a similar development and administrative model like other countries from youth clubs to the Pros' and NT's, our players will continue to leave the country. The US is one of the best examples of how to turn the sport around. Both their programs from club to pro to NT have succeeded and past Canada bye.

Remember these players are learning a trade/craft in a occupation that they love and have a right like any worker to better themselves with the opportunities out there.

[yomurphy1]

"She wrote an essay for school and drew a picture of herself playing for the USA by the age of 15, just like Mia Hamm had done. She longed to trade a maple leaf for stars and stripes and begged her mom to let her play for the United States. And what’s a mom to do when your only child makes such a passionate plea?"

What had the US done for her at that point?

http://www.ussoccer.com/News/U-20-WNT/2010/07/Trois-Pour-Sydney-Leroux.aspx

[CoachRich]

To start with opportunities -

“I saw Mia Hamm and how she was the big star,” said Leroux about her pre-teen dreams, which apparently combined soccer reality with some Hollywood glamour. “We didn’t really have that in Canada. I knew even at that young of an age that the U.S. was where all the opportunities were for women’s soccer. That’s where all the famous people were and that’s where all the movies came from. I just wanted to be involved in that.”

Hat's off for her to see the difference, to make the choice and to tough it out by working hard at it.

This link, I got from the Mens' NT thread and is a good read -

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/20/AR2010072003679.html

[Guest Ed]

I have no support at all for LeRoux. She was a valued member of WCQ women's youth teams and was seeing action with our U19's when she was only 14. She had every opportunity to grow into our star player and bailed on the country. If she was dead set on the Yanks she should have declined the invitations and let some proud Canadian girls to get the training and experience she was given.

[Vic]

The problem in a nutshell is the star player on our U20 team is not only at home right now, nobody in the country knows or cares who she is. This isn't men's soccer. The odds of making a living in women's soccer and being able to play as a career are astronomical. Are there people who manage to do it, sure we have a handful. But at what odds and what cost? What do we do in Canada to support our women and make that dream a reality? We don't have a league. We don't even have a single professional team. We love to put it in the middle of the mantle and parade our great women's program around but the truth is it's simply the byproduct of the NCAA and a great national network of youth leagues and coaches. We have one woman on our board of directors and they puppet her front and center for photos. We don't have a women's committee. Nobody gives a damn about women's soccer. How can anyone expect someone who wants to make a living to choose that?

I believe the article say's she changed her mind after her first Canadian experience at the age of 14, at which time she would have began declining invitations. I have a hard time holding anything against a 14yr old girl who has the wherewithal to make that decision at that age and the guts to leave home at 15 to follow her dream of being the best player in the world. It's common to hear of boys leaving at young ages but you NEVER hear of women doing it.

Good trivia question too - who is the only player to play in three U20 tournaments and for two different countries.

[kj52]

The problem in a nutshell is the star player on our U20 team is not only at home right now, nobody in the country knows or cares who she is. This isn't men's soccer. The odds of making a living in women's soccer and being able to play as a career are astronomical. Are there people who manage to do it, sure we have a handful. But at what odds and what cost? What do we do in Canada to support our women and make that dream a reality? We don't have a league. We don't even have a single professional team. We love to put it in the middle of the mantle and parade our great women's program around but the truth is it's simply the byproduct of the NCAA and a great national network of youth leagues and coaches. We have one woman on our board of directors and they puppet her front and center for photos. We don't have a women's committee. Nobody gives a damn about women's soccer. How can anyone expect someone who wants to make a living to choose that?

I believe the article say's she changed her mind after her first Canadian experience at the age of 14, at which time she would have began declining invitations. I have a hard time holding anything against a 14yr old girl who has the wherewithal to make that decision at that age and the guts to leave home at 15 to follow her dream of being the best player in the world. It's common to hear of boys leaving at young ages but you NEVER hear of women doing it.

Good trivia question too - who is the only player to play in three U20 tournaments and for two different countries.

It saddens me to say it but when it comes to women's soccer it's hard not to support the player over the country. Vic is right, there are so very,very few opportunities for females to make a living in anything related to sports, plus they still get very limited respect. I would support any girl or woman's right to do whatever she can to be successful in soccer. My 21 year old daughter had a look at these comments and agreed with Vic's comment 100% and had some choice words about *****old men who support the other side. By the way she fully supports our national teams when they play - male or female, but young people today reserve the right to make their own decisions no matter what those of us who are getting a little long in the tooth think.

[hc1]

Leroux is probably going to score a ton of goals against us over the next 10 years - and each one will hurt. But I don't blame her. Its not the player's job to fix our issues. We need to pretty much completely revamp our development system, turn around the general population's view of soccer, and generate a bunch of extra revenue. If we do that, then maybe the next Leroux may not make the same choice. The situation is not hers to fix. Good for her for having the attitude: "If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere". The list of Canadian entertainers/newscasters/etc who went south to seek fame and fortune is a long one - and I am no less proud of them because they wanted to play on the world's biggest stage.

So, while shes off to prove herself to the world - what are all the complainers doing to fix the situation we have where we rely on the US to do all our heavy lifting for our college aged girls?

[yomurphy1]

young people today reserve the right to make their own decisions no matter what those of us who are getting a little long in the tooth think.

How does age factor in the legitimacy of someone's point of view? Sydney was offered a position on the Canadian U-19 at 14! its BS to think that the Canadian system somehow let her down. She didn't have the role models in Canada? That statement spits in the face of the Charmaine Hoopers and Christine Sinclairs of the world, and even if they failed their "duties" when is it time to be a trailblazer for the sport instead of being just another follower.

[Guest Ed]

How does age factor in the legitimacy of someone's point of view? Sydney was offered a position on the Canadian U-19 at 14! its BS to think that the Canadian system somehow let her down. She didn't have the role models in Canada? That statement spits in the face of the Charmaine Hoopers and Christine Sinclairs of the world, and even if they failed their "duties" when is it time to be a trailblazer for the sport instead of being just another follower.

Exactly. My post was in response to those saying that Canada let her down and only the USA offered her any opportunities. She was being groomed as a star and was pushed to the front of the line ahead of a lot of other Cdn girls. To blame the CSA for not providing her opportunity is baseless. Whether or not you agree with her decision to turn her back on her country, the CSA gave her more opportunity than most players will ever get.

[Free kick]

The situation is not hers to fix. Good for her for having the attitude: "If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere". The list of Canadian entertainers/newscasters/etc who went south to seek fame and fortune is a long one - and I am no less proud of them because they wanted to play on the world's biggest stage.

So, while shes off to prove herself to the world - what are all the complainers doing to fix the situation we have where we rely on the US to do all our heavy lifting for our college aged girls?

the question was "what are all the complainers doing to fix the situation we have where we rely on the US ?" My response to that is: What is there to fix when it comes to the womens soccer in Canada. Aside from a handfull of countries, the funding and resouces available to women who play soccer in canada is the envy of just about every country.

We are ranked 11th in the world (that means that there might be 150 counties behind us), we have a world class coach, we have multitude or leagues for women to play the game. Maybe not full pro leagues, but how many of those are there out there. We have college programs that allow women to play and develop. You can get a scholarship worth tens of thousands to play soccer in the US. This is an oportunity that is not as accessible if you are from Europe, Asia or south america due to language and cultural barriers.

There might one or two countries where women can play professionally but how rich are women getting from those leagues? and how well supported are those leagues? I'd like someone to explain to me how women soccer players are better off in, say, Mexico or Argentina or Italy or France?

And thats not good enough for Sydney Leroux? what else is there to conclude other than the fact that she is a glory hunter.

If there is something wrong with the game in canada its our style. Or to be more precise our past style. But thats more self inflicted (ie.: nothing to do with CSA or opportunities in Canada).

[CoachRich]

Plenty to fix for the females in Canada when they don't get the same $ for development as the males. Youth clubs and districts still don't give females their fair share based on membership. If they did leagues and clubs would be run by the same entities.

Female clubs exist because they got burnt by the traditional focus on males. Even the WNT goes through that when the MNT get appearance fees and the women do not. Thankfully Charmaine Hooper took a stance one year but the CSA forgot the next. In the WNT Olympic year they existed on their Sports Canada and Kerfoot dollars as the CSA only gave them about $150K. The IOC funded the team to the Olympics. Where was the CSA for the Olympics?

Is Sydney Leroux case for someone who has dual citizenship she made the right choice if we just look at the dollars in a Olympic year -

1. CWNT - Sports Canada $24K per player.

2. USWNT - $75K per player and they have a CBA

Sure there are issues with Canada's style of play top to bottom but until the admin side of the game creates a better structure, organizes top to bottom and gets more sponsors, we will suffer and see players go outside of the country to better themselves.

[Guest Ed]

Plenty to fix for the females in Canada when they don't get the same $ for development as the males. Youth clubs and districts still don't give females their fair share based on membership. If they did leagues and clubs would be run by the same entities.

Female clubs exist because they got burnt by the traditional focus on males. Even the WNT goes through that when the MNT get appearance fees and the women do not. Thankfully Charmaine Hooper took a stance one year but the CSA forgot the next. In the WNT Olympic year they existed on their Sports Canada and Kerfoot dollars as the CSA only gave them about $150K. The IOC funded the team to the Olympics. Where was the CSA for the Olympics?

Is Sydney Leroux case for someone who has dual citizenship she made the right choice if we just look at the dollars in a Olympic year -

1. CWNT - Sports Canada $24K per player.

2. USWNT - $75K per player and they have a CBA

Sure there are issues with Canada's style of play top to bottom but until the admin side of the game creates a better structure, organizes top to bottom and gets more sponsors, we will suffer and see players go outside of the country to better themselves.

So it's all about the money then. Perhaps she should have the unmentionable ones sobriquet???

[Richard]

CoachRich, to be fair, men have been playing the game for almost ten times as long as women. The women's game has made great strides and internationally women are far better off in Canada with soccer than in most other countries around the world. How long did it take after women began demanding it, for men to finally concede that they could vote in elections on an equal basis with men or even open bank accounts in their own name? Cultural evolution takes time, we'll get there eventually, but that doesn't mean we can sit back and relax about it. We need the activists to lead the rest of us by the nose :-)

[Vic]

Not that it matters much but the US WNT performance bonuses and add-ons can often multiply that number in tournament years.

Free kick - the most important thing to fix in women's soccer in Canada is a league that enables players to train seriously ("professionally" for lack of a better word) and play at a high level and is longer than six weeks.

The truth is we aren't really the envy of anyone. We used to be a well-backed women's soccer country on a global standard. But we've sat still and watched the world catch up and many pass us by. It's not like the 80's or 90's anymore. Most of the Top 30 countries in the world have women's leagues and all have similar programs that meet a few times a year.

Outside of the W League all we have is a disjointed collection of amateur leagues that rarely train if at all. And the W League isn't a serious development solution. It's a 6-week season and like the WPS an American solution available by proxy (the WPS international cap screwed Canadians, much like the NCAA when they used to release Americans and not Canadians for national duty). There isn't even a semi-serious solution for our women like most of the top 30 countries provide.

The majority of our starting 11 ply their trade around the world. I can't think of another single women's country in the world where that's the case.

[Jeremy]

I tend to have no sympathy at all towards athletes born in Canada that chose to represent another country. If you are a proud Canuck you are going to represent this country even if the infrastructure is ****. If you prefer to represent the USA because you can make more money, fine. But don't come back to live here and enjoy our privileges or tell people around the world that you're Canadian.

International sports are not professional sports, you can't just switch like that. If you do, don't expect anything from your ex-fellow countrymen.

In the same optic, if you immigrate here from say, Cameroon, and choose to represent Canada because you are proud of being Canadian, then please do so and welcome! But don't expect anything from cameroonians.

[kj52]

How does age factor in the legitimacy of someone's point of view? Sydney was offered a position on the Canadian U-19 at 14! its BS to think that the Canadian system somehow let her down. She didn't have the role models in Canada? That statement spits in the face of the Charmaine Hoopers and Christine Sinclairs of the world, and even if they failed their "duties" when is it time to be a trailblazer for the sport instead of being just another follower.

I'd like to hear from some women on this. Men are naturally brilliant at running women's lives of course. How about more women involved in leadership roles in soccer in this country.

[mtlfan]

Leroux seals USA exit from U20 WWC with missed penalty

USA 1:1 a.e.t. (1:1, 1:0) 2:4 PSO (2:4) NIG

[kj52]

Interestingly enough I've been following an american coaching forum thread on the u20 world cup and Leroux is not exactly earning accolades for her performances (touch like a mule, can't finish, not that fast, etc.).

[StartingEleven]

Interestingly enough I've been following an american coaching forum thread on the u20 world cup and Leroux is not exactly earning accolades for her performances (touch like a mule, can't finish, not that fast, etc.).

Thats all fine, what burns me the most about all this is that when she was early in her youth development she took away a roster spot from a kid that would be happy (I hope) to suit up for Canada, this should never ever happen, and if some sort roadblocks ( someway of gaurateeing these kids will not bail to another Nation ) along the way are not placed this will continue to happen.

[Richard]

Well FIFA has just facilitated switching countries yet further by their latest rule amendments. Don't blame the kids for making the choices they do, the FIFA rules encourage it. Maybe those who object so viscerally to choices made by peole like Sydney Leroux would prefer if FIFA rules simply said you can only play for the country of your birth and that's that!

[Cheeta]

^ I think extending the age limit for a one time switch was a fair move. Putting an artificial age cap on such moves didn't recognize real world realities.

Playing for the parent's or grandparent's country of birth makes very little sense to me when at the same time FIFA has set up some pretty serious roadblocks to playing for the country in which you hold citizenship. Yes, I know, those road blocks are meant to prevent certain countries from being overly mercenary about handing out citizenship papers but really how big of a problem would that be? Suspect it's a bit of a red herring. As much as anything I suspect it's just a tool the richer/western nations use to keep the middle powers from recruiting the unwanted nationals from abroad into their NT programs.

Does grate pretty hard when you invest NT playing experience on an individual and then see that individual ship out without so much as a "Thank you, but.."

To put it mildly that's kinda rude, no?