If there’s one thing Whitecaps fans have learned this year, it’s to expect the unexpected. While most have never faltered in their belief that, "In Rennie We Trust", the roster has at times seemed like a game of musical chairs, and even crowd favorites and heavy hitters haven’t been safe.
The month of July was a whirlwind of away games and exciting trades, seeing Eric Hassli, Sebastien Le Toux, and Davide Chiumiento leave the roster, but it started at the end of June with the Whitecaps decision to waive defender Michael Boxall. As I said farewell to him this past weekend, I couldn’t help but wonder what life was like for these guys, and how, if ever, you adjusted to life as the human equivalent of a trading card.
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
After spending a few weeks in a difficult limbo, Boxall officially left Vancouver on Saturday, bound for the Wellington Phoenix, returning to his home country of New Zealand. Trying to stay positive about the whole experience, Michael did admit that <i>"It’s very frustrating. Being a professional athlete, you want to play. If you don’t want to play week in and week out, then you’re in the wrong place. If you’re ok with not getting playing time, then you’re doing the wrong thing."</i>
Always a gentleman, Michael spent part of his final night in Vancouver with fans, watching the Whitecaps play Real Salt Lake, giving away jerseys and donating a few to be auctioned off for charity. He was able to see the silver-lining of it all, and recognize that <i>"this has allowed [him] to find a new opportunity"</i> where he feels <i>"valued"</i>.
Sadly it’s not all about the players' feeling of "value", in fact it rarely is, and we’ve seen it all too often that when the management and fans expect these guys to deliver results, we’re more than happy to send them packing when they don’t deliver.
Sure, when you dedicate your life to being a professional athlete you have to be prepared for trades and changes, but what about your family?
In addition to being talented athletes, many of the Whitecaps players are husbands and fathers to young families. Midfielder Matt Watson moved his wife and two children to Vancouver at the start of 2012, and is hoping to keep them here for a while as they’ve <i>"been moving twice a year for the past six years"</i>.
Fellow Railhawks import, goalkeeper Brad Knighton, saw nothing but challenges in trying to get his wife Britney and their young daughter relocated in time for the home opener. He has spent the last few years moving from Boston to Philadelphia to North Carolina and is now happy to call Vancouver home. Though only 27, and still positive about his career expanding before him, he admitted that <i>"it’s tough, and I don’t know if I can do it many more times"</i>.
Though getting here may have been difficult, Watson and Knighton are safe from the chopping block for now, but who knows when a move is in store for either of them, and their families, as their careers progress.
In the "not so lucky" category, after a move that came as a shock to some, Hassli headed off to Toronto FC just months after Whitecaps fans celebrated his nuptials. One can only imagine how much fun it was to pack up his pregnant wife, their farm and horses to move them 4,000km across the country.
Perhaps the smartest of them all has been Sebastien Le Toux. He arrived in Vancouver via Phoenix, joining the Whitecaps mid-training camp, and brought with him only his suitcases. Renting a furnished apartment, Sebastien teased his teammates about packing belongings and joked that instead, he is <i>"a citizen of the world, so everybody is my family"</i> and all he needs is what he can carry.
Regardless of whether they leave Vancouver by choice, the sentiment of those departing seems to be the same time and again – trades and cuts are part of the life of an athlete, but leaving the city of Vancouver is difficult.
Le Toux could not say enough positive things about Vancouver, but perhaps Boxall said it best when he told me, <i>"The thing that sucks the most is how cool and great this city is, and how the fans have embraced the team no matter what. The fans showed up week-in and week-out, despite us playing the way we did, that was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen."</i>
So as we say farewell to players we loved, we have to remember to always show respect to those who remain, and be ready to embrace whoever might be arriving next. It’s our job as fans to learn their cheers, get to know them, and make them feel welcome, because you never know what they’ve left behind, or how difficult it was to get here. And it’s ok to still love them after they leave, just don’t go sporting a TFC jersey with a 29 on the back around Vancouver anytime soon.
<p>