On today's edition of Checking In With CanWNT, we've got midfielder Kaylyn Kyle. The 24-year-old from Saskatoon tells us about staying focused at her first Olympic Games, finding her place in the Canadian midfield, the "ugliest fall ever" (that saved the bronze medal) and her love of that other kind of football.
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What have you been up to since the Olympics ended?
I've kind of been all over the place; it's been a roller coaster and a whirlwind. I've been traveling with sponsors, doing appearances and public speaking in North America. It's been a really cool experience, overwhelming at times, but I wouldn't change it for the world.
Is that a part of this that you've found rewarding, doing appearances and talking to people?
Yeah, absolutely. I love talking to people, I'm a really big social person. To have something we won so huge with our team, and being able to share it with our country -- it's an experience, a moment that you can't really explain to people. "How did it feel when Diana scored the goal?" It's a really tough emotion to explain, but it was one of the coolest moments of my life, and to share it with 20 of my best friends -- and I can honestly say that -- it's just a moment in my life that I'll definitely never forget.
I'll do the old-lady thing, in my chair, still telling my grandchildren about how we won the medal, and they'll be like "shut up!" It was awesome.
A lot of players on the team are very active on social media and getting involved with fans, and you're definitely one of them. Do you feel it's an important part of being a player, having that ability to market yourself and interact with fans?
Absolutely. Those are the people that make you want to get up in the morning and train every day. Those were the people that were supporting us even when we weren't winning medals, when we were not even making it out of our group at the World Cup in 2011. It's really nice to be able to answer some of their questions or retweet something. It's funny, when you retweet something says to you, it makes their whole week, and sometimes their whole year.
I just turned 24, and it's pretty overwhelming at times, because I come from a small town, I come from Saskatchewan where soccer players don't really come out of. And when you see a young girl tweet you and say she wants your jersey for Christmas, it's just remarkable. I think it just goes to show how many brilliant players we have on this team. Yeah, we have fun on Twitter, with the banter and all that, but we're very professional. That's the thing I love about our team, we do have a great fanbase with being professional and not being in the media for the wrong reasons.
So what was the reaction like when you came home to Saskatoon?
(laughs) It was crazy. I got off at the airport and I wasn't expecting anyone. Flying overseas, obviously we had a little bit of a party after we won the medal. Touching down in Saskatoon, tired, I just wanted to see my family, but there were tons and tons and tons of fans. There were congratulations, I signed things, they were wearing Canadian jerseys...
I mean, I wouldn't have changed it. It took me a lot to go as far as I did, but it's just really cool to see Saskatoon get behind one of their local players and really follow the game. There were little eight-year-olds saying, "remember that game against Sweden? how did that feel?" So it wasn't just the last game they were watching -- even though it was a fantastic game -- it was the whole tournament.
These were your first Olympics, after having been with the national-team program for a while. At what point did you realize the magnitude of what you were going to be a part of?
I think everyone's different. When we first qualified, I was very excited and it was a proud moment, but I don't think it really hit me until after the Olympics how big it was to be named to the team and to play in front of thousands of people for your country at an Olympic Games. I don't think it really, still, has sunk in, winning a medal. People have asked "how does it feel?" -- there's just no words to describe it.
I'm so proud and so thankful to be where I am, and to have the support from my family, our fan support and the player support, the coaching staff, our physiotherapist, our manager, it's just a great group of people. It's an awesome atmosphere to play in and hopefully it sinks in soon.
By the time you're telling your grandkids about it, it will probably have sunk in.
(laughs) Yeah, probably.
At the Games themselves, was it everything you imagined it would be? Or were you so focused on the games themselves that the other stuff didn't really affect you?
When I first walked in, it was a little bit overwhelming. We weren't really in the athletes' village, so it was like being in another town. We were so prepared and focused on wanting to podium, that was our goal. Everything else didn't really mean anything. You had big players like Marcelo walking around your hotel, but it was just another person to us. That sounds terrible, of course they're great players, but we were so focused and so driven that we knew if one person on the team got off focus it would wreck our entire plan.
We were just very focused, and I think stems from our coaching staff and the players wanting to prove to Canada that we can podium, and we can keep podiuming, and we can be that world-class team in the top three all the time.
Over the last few years, the team has seemingly solidified a midfield core, a group that you're a part of. Earlier this year, with Diana being out with injury, did that provide an opportunity for players like yourself to fully show and establish what you could do?
Yeah, absolutely. I think the world of Diana Matheson, I think she's a fantastic player, and I want to emulate my game like hers. But obviously with her being out with injury, it gave a lot of young players a chance to show John what we had, our tools, to show him we could play at this level.
It was really cool to see -- usually when you're out with injury, you think "oh, I don't want anyone to take my spot", but Diana was in the room with me, saying "if you change this aspect of your game, it could help you on the field" or "if you did this differently, this could help grow your game." For a player to pull you aside and want to help you grow your game while she's out with a major injury, that just goes to show how much the team is wanting to do to win.
In the midfield I don't have a solid starting spot there, I'm in, I'm out, depending on what teams we play or systems we're playing. So it helped me out just to show John that I can play at this level.
You and Diana will be inextricably linked in the moment of that medal-winning goal. So let's settle this for folks who've seen the highlight: Were you intentionally getting out of the way to avoid any chance of offside?
I knew I was offside because at the last moment, when the ball came over to D, I did a look across and the defensive line took a step on me, and I was like, "oh shit". By that time I didn't have time to get in the line of play, and I knew that if I touched it, it's game over, it's not a goal.
Honestly, I didn't know what was going through my head, I was like "just fall out of the way". It was probably the ugliest fall ever, but it worked, and I didn't get in the way, it didn't touch me, it wasn't offside. It was an awesome moment. I remember sitting on the ground looking at the ball roll into the back of the net, and I looked directly at the referee, because I didn't want her to think I was offside or in the play at all. She didn't call it, and I knew at that moment that we'd won.
There were a lot of younger players brought into camp in December. What's it like now, seeing a new generation of players getting their shot?
It's awesome. Obviously for us, you still want to work 10 times harder so they're not stealing your spot. We can just see in their eyes they're hungry, they want to make that 2015 team, and they'll really do anything. You can see it in testing, they're pushing themselves to the limits. It's nice to see.
They came into camp in shape, and I know as a younger player, it's tough, you want to go to those parties instead of going to the gym and working out. But you see, you can tell with their bodies right now they were putting in extra stuff. They were really prepared for camp, so it's awesome to see. To have that young energy, it kind of gives us energy too, as in, "yeah, let's do this." It's great to have them in camp, and it's great to see old faces as well.
How excited are you about the prospect of the 2015 Women's World Cup?
Oh, I cannot wait, it is like a dream come true, honestly. I thought it was amazing making the 2011 World Cup team, but to hopefully make the 2015 World Cup team and play in front of our home fans, in our home country, and my friends and family, it would just be a storybook ending. And to win a medal at that tournament would just put the cherry on top. I'm really looking forward to it; it's going to be a hard four years, but I'm looking forward to that journey.
It's been a tumultuous year on the club side in North America. But are you now looking to get involved in the National Women's Soccer League?
Yeah. As of right now there's 16 Canadians that will be in that league, and I'm hoping I'll be one of those 16. I'm just working hard right now, because I would really love to stay in North America. I think it will be one of the best leagues in the world, with the U.S. players, Canadian players and some Mexican players. And just being close to home, it helps out a lot -- even though I love Europe, and I wouldn't have a problem going there. But it would be really nice to play in North America.
This is going to seem like the most obvious question in the world, but you're a Roughriders fan, right?
(laughs) I kind of have to be. If you're from Saskatchewan, you have to be.
When I was speaking to Lauren Sesselmann, she said she's considering becoming a Riders fan because they're similar to her favourite Green Bay Packers. Will you welcome her on board if she becomes a Riders fan?
Hell yeah! I'll buy her a jersey for sure! I could use a wine-drinking partner at the football games, or a beer-drinking girl, so yeah, I'd absolutely have her along with me.
So the Riders bandwagon is open, and anyone who wants to jump on it is welcome to, in your mind?
Well, Lauren for sure. Other ones, they might have to go through some testing. Definitely Lauren. I know she's a football fan, she's been helping me out with my NFL, so I'll definitely invite her on my CFL bandwagon.
Is it like a cross-border exchange? Is she trying to convert you into a Packers fan as well?
Yeah, basically. I kinda have to like the Packers. But I dunno, I'm just trying to get into the NFL stuff. Every Sunday night, Monday night, I'm texting her and asking "what does this mean? oh, OK, thanks."
Looking back at 2012, if you could sum up your year in a sentence or so, what would you say?
One of the best years of my life, that I'll never forget. Proud to be Canadian, and proud to share it with everyone. It's not really about the medal, I look at it as how much hard work we put into it leading up to the Olympics and how much hard work our families did, our friends, our supporters. That's kind of how I look at the bronze medal -- it's not about that hanging around my neck, it's about how much went into it and who helped us for it.
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