On today's edition of Checking In With CanWNT, we've got defender Lauren Sesselmann. The 29-year-old, originally from Marshfield, Wisconsin, tells us about how she ended up with the Canadian team (and how she fit in), the importance of versatility in the modern game, her aspirations as an actress and which CFL team she might consider supporting.
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What have you been up to since the Olympics ended?
I am in Green Bay, Wisconsin, that's where my family lives. I've been here the last couple of months. I was coaching at UWGB, the University of Wisconsin Green Bay, the D1 school here. I was helping out there as an assistant. I've been doing private lessons and just training. And I've also been doing a little bit of acting.
Stage acting? Screen acting?
Screen, film. I'll be in my first film coming up here in a few months.
What kind of movie is it? What kind of role do you have?
I'll be the main lead, and it's like a horror-drama type thriller movie. Yeah, we're just getting everything put together for it, and I'm going to be doing it when I have a couple weeks off in between January and February, between tournaments. So, trying something different, something fun.
Is that something you'd aspired to do for a while, or is it a situation that just came up?
It's kind of something I've gotten into in the last two years. I met the producer that has taken the movie on, it was her production company. I met her through soccer, she's a huge soccer fan. We got to talking, I've done a few things here and there with her. It's just something fun to do. I've always been into musicals and stuff like that. It's something I'm interested in, but soccer is definitely the #1 thing right now, but maybe that will take me somewhere after soccer is over.
If they make a sequel to Bend It Like Beckham, I'd imagine you'd be getting a call from the casting director, then?
(laughs) You know, I would definitely love to do that.
Do you have any role models within the world of acting?
I wouldn't say people I look up to, though I did have the chance to meet Susan Sarandon a couple of months ago when we were in Toronto. We were there for the men's game (World Cup qualifier), and we went out one night and had the chance to meet her, and I just think she's incredible. I've watched all her movies. Just seeing people act on screen, that is not an easy job. It's a lot of work to perform, and I think it's just kind of cool to see, and it's an inspiration to see people become different characters on screen.
Going to the Olympic Games -- if someone had said to you, five years ago, that you'd one day be an Olympic medalist, and an Olympic medalist for Canada, what would you have said?
You know, I probably would have been like, "Yeah, I will be there!" but probably also would have laughed. It's something I've always aspired to, something I've always dreamed about since I was a little girl, but I never knew as I was getting older if it was going to become a reality. I actually reached out to Canada, probably about four years ago, when Carolina (Morace) was the coach. I was playing in WPS and I said, "Hey, I'd like to play for you guys some day, here's some footage and can you watch me, keep an eye on me?"
I didn't really know if maybe I fit the U.S. or Canada. I grew up watching both of them. My father was born there, and I loved the girls on the team and everything. When the opportunity came after a few years, when John (Herdman) came into the picture and he was looking for new talent, the opportunity came at the age of 28. I started late, but it's everything I've dreamed about.
The team seems like a very tight-knit group. You came into the team in late 2011, having not previously played for Canada. What was it like coming into that locker room, and trying to become part of that unit?
I was really nervous going into my first camp, when we were doing the USA camp. I didn't know what to expect. I had played against a couple of the girls in the professional league and in college. I didn't really know how they were going to accept me. ... I know there's a lot of girls who live in America, there's another American on the team but she's lived in Canada for many years. So I didn't know what they were going to think.
But since Day 1, they accepted me right away. It was awesome. They didn't treat me like an outsider at all. They were like, "What can you bring to the table? You're going to help us make a better team." So I was very happy and I made a lot of new friends and we became very close, so I'm very lucky.
Was there any sort of test of your "Canadian-ness"?
I would have to say Karina LeBlanc, she asked me a lot of questions. But they also helped me, they taught me a lot, just so if anybody asked, I would be very Canadian. I would know the answers to everything. I got teased a lot about the national anthem, but little did they know that I did know it. But they liked to tease me about that kind of stuff.
So you've got all the words to O Canada down pat now?
Oh yeah, down pat. I'm good to go. Yep. You put me on the spot and I'll know it.
You were a striker early in your career but you were converted to a fullback, and that seems to fit into John Herdman's system. He likes to have fullbacks that get involved in the attack. Did having a skill set that fit into the team's system also help you adjust and find your spot?
Yeah, when I was going into camp I had no idea what to expect. I told them I'd been a forward, in college I was a forward, in the pro league I played pretty much anywhere. I didn't know what he wanted, but he said, "I want a left back, because we don't have a lot of left-footers on this team." And I'm like, "I'll try it; I've never done it, but I'll try it." I just started working on it, doing extra training on the side to really understand the position.
It seems to be the new thing that a lot of people, especially on the U.S. team, they've done it too, converting forwards into fullbacks. It's kind of the new generation type of fullback, being able to get more into the attack. Look at Kelley O'Hara, she's played amazing at left back after being a forward her whole life.
It's been crazy, because I had to step into the centreback role in the Olympics, I was so nervous because I've never played there before. It's kind of nice to be able to play different positions because then I know John can use me wherever he needs to.
When I spoke to Carmelina Moscato, she said that situation was all about players doing what was necessary for the team, and she also said she yelled a lot of things at you that she didn't really mean. Was that what it was about, looking at the players around you and saying "We've just got to get this done, one way or another"?
I always told myself, go into things with an open mind. Wherever someone wants to play you, you put everything you can into that position. When I found out, the day before, that I was the one that was going to step into that role, I was extremely nervous. A couple months prior to that, he tried me at centreback and I just wasn't grasping the position, I wasn't doing well. So I went back on the left.
So when he said, "you're going to play centreback", I was like, gosh, I really need to get that confidence up. Being with Carm, being with Chappie and Emily, they were there 100% to support me, and to help me with anything. Even the fullbacks that surrounded me, were always talking to me. Erin and Karina back there, it's amazing the support system you have. I spent endless amounts of time with Carm, going over footage and trying to take in anything I could before stepping on the field.
Is it fair to say, then, that versatility is one of the best traits for a player to have in the women's game?
Yeah, definitely. I train a lot of kids, especially around the area here, and I always tell them it's good to play different positions. It's funny because I actually think that maybe I could have been a defender my whole life, maybe I fit in better there. But it's so good because a coach never really knows what they need or what they want. My physical strength helped me in my role as a defender, and I think that's why John wanted me to play defence. So I think that vesatility in huge and I try to instil that in the players I coach.
It's just like acting, in a way -- you need to show you can play a number of different roles and not get typecast.
Exactly.
So stepping out on the field in the semifinal, with Canada on one side of the field, the U.S. on the other. How did that feel, psychologically, to you, with Canada and the U.S. facing off in a game of that magnitude?
It was awesome. We played them a couple times throughout the year leading up to that point. You know it's always going to be a good game when we play them. I think this team has come together so much this past year and has grown so much that when you go out there against the U.S. you think, "we can beat them, we're just as good as them, we're just as good as the #1 team." I love being able to play against people I've played with, I've played against or were inspiring to me as I grew up. I always think it's such a good game when we play the U.S., people always look forward to us playing each other.
But I love playing for Canada, I love the team and I love where this team is headed. So I'm extremely happy to be a part of it.
Are you already looking ahead to the 2015 Women's World Cup being played on Canadian soil?
Oh yes. I think it's going to be phenomenal, especially for my family who lived in Canada for many years, my dad grew up there. It's a part of him and it's a part of me now. I've grown to love all the fans we have up there. You just want to do so well for the country, and to have the World Cup there is amazing.
I have so many friends, Americans, who are already like, "we want to see you up there, cheering you on, Canada is our new team we're rooting for." I think people really fell in love with our team over the Olympics. So I think that 2015 is something I have my sights on. Hopefully I stay healthy. We'll see what happens, but that is definitely my goal.
The fates of the U.S. and Canada are very closely linked, as we saw the folding of WPS early in 2012, but now there seems to be hope again with the launch of the new domestic league. How important is it for players to have that domestic option in North America?
The last couple years, the WPS was the best league in the world for people to come in and play with and against the best. It's going to be a great stepping stone to get, especially, more Canadians in it and more Mexican national team players as well. It's going to be great for the future of soccer.
To have 16 girls being able to come and play in the strongest league will help us individually to become much stronger and more competitive in the international play. It's amazing, and I'm looking forward to it. It's great for all of us to be role models for the new generation, so I hope it all works.
You've got to be a Green Bay Packers fan, right?
Ooooooh yeah, I own part of the team! We're the only team that the whole city owns.
There's a team in the CFL with a similar setup, the Saskatchewan Roughriders, they're publicly owned too.
Oh yeah.
So, you're fully Canadian now, you've got to have a CFL team. Do you think you might support the Roughriders since they're publicly owned too?
Ummm, yeah, I guess I would. I've watched a couple of their games. Somebody I went to college with plays for them. I still can't get over the fact they have goalposts in the middle of the end zone, but I still like watching the CFL. But I still love my Packers.
Looking back at 2012, if you had to try to sum up the year, what would you say?
It's been an amazing ride, that would be the best statement to describe it. We've won three medals in the last, what, eight months. It's crazy. That's the most medals Canada has won. I think it's been an amazing ride and I look forward to the future of this program.
So that amazing ride will continue for the Canadian team, you think?
That is definitely a hope. The bronze medal is the most surreal thing ever, and once you have a taste of it, you want more. So we hope to do even better next time.
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