There is little doubt that Sydney Leroux, a Canadian girl that grew up dreaming of being Mia Hamm, does not inspire anywhere near the emotion that Teal Bunbury, Owen Hargreaves or any of the other 10-million Canadians that have made cynical decisions about their international football careers do.
As Squizz wrote earlier, it’s a case of a bunch of things – she jumped ship a long time ago when she was quite young, her profile isn’t as big and, likely the biggest factor (unfortunately), the women’s game simply does not command as much attention as the men’s does.
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
Interestingly, those that care about the women’s game the most seem to accept her decision easier than more casual fans. In some cases, the Canadian female soccer community still celebrates Leroux’s accomplishments.
However, there are people within the game that remain upset at Leroux. For what it’s worth they are usually men and they are generally serious fans of the men’s program. I don’t think I’ve ever seen or heard a female fan of the game take a run at Leroux. In my experience, most look at you like you’re an idiot even for asking if they have a problem with her.
Even Squizz, a man that can’t bring himself to write Asmir Begovic’s name, gave Leroux a bit of a pass today. That’s more remarkable than you might imagine.
With full respect to Squizz, I don’t buy that line of thinking. If you are going to criticise any of the male players that made a switch, then you must extend that criticism to Leroux. The arguments both for and against it are the same regardless of gender.
Actually, I will make the argument that Leroux’s case is actually the worst of all. To those that disagree with nation shopping in international football, it combines the worst aspects of Hargreaves and Bunbury.
Like Hargreaves, this is a remarkable player and one that would make a significant difference to the Canadian team. Her connections to the US were a little stronger than Hargreaves were to England – her father is an American – but both players were (and, by all accounts, still are) clearly Canadians. They were born here and learned the game here.
Both left Canada at a young age to pursue their dream, but continue to spend significant time in this country. When Hargreaves made his infamous Youtube videos he was in BC.
Leroux has played several seasons in the W-League with Vancouver and is engaged to be married to a famous Canadian.
As with Bunbury, she is a target for criticism because she played in the Canadian youth set-up prior to making the switch to the US. She took resources and playing time away from girls that have remained loyal to Canada. Some Canadian fans feel aggrieved by that. They have every right to.
What makes Leroux’s case seem slightly worse, however, is that the readymade competitive excuses the men use do not apply. Hargreaves could not have played in the Euros and would not have played in two World Cups if he had represented Canada (although he’d still likely be in the mix for the 2014 qualifying campaign). Bunbury is more likely to get to a World Cup with the US (if he makes the team) than he is with Canada.
Yes, the Americans are better than the Canadian women, but Canada is highly competitive in the women’s game. Leroux would have played in World Cups. Actually, as an attractive women married to a Toronto Blue Jay, she’d have likely been the poster girl for the 2015 World Cup in Canada.
The family say they chose the US route because they thought it would provide a better development environment. If they were really after that she should be representing Germany now. The women’s development structure in the US gets by on scale, not technical brilliance. Boot and chase your way to the NCAA is the name of the game.
More likely the family were blinded by memories of sports bras and ponytails from the summer of ’99. There is little doubt Canada is less sexy than the American program, but that doesn’t seem a good reason to turn away from the country you are from and that you still identify as your home.
All were well within their rights to chose to represent other countries. The rules are clear, they were eligible. It’s perhaps naive to think that concepts of loyalty and pride in your culture should play a role in a player’s decision, but some people believe they should. And, if you are one of those people you are always going to have an issue with players that appear to not share those values. So, this is not an attempt to convince those that believe they made the right choice otherwise.
Rather, it is an argument against celebrating their accomplishments as Canadians. That media coverage of Leroux consistently fails to challenge her decision is problematic. It sends a terrible message – Canada isn’t worth representing if there are “better” options. Leroux made a choice. The consequence of that choice is that she occasionally might be made to feel uncomfortable.
And, that’s fair.