On today's edition of Checking In With CanWNT, we've got defender Rhian Wilkinson. The 30-year-old from Baie D'Urfe, Quebec tells us about the team's shared leadership role, getting to share the Olympics with her family, weathering the injury storm during London 2012 and throwing a ball at Sepp Blatter's head.
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What have you been up to since the Olympics ended?
I've been keeping my head down. I got pretty much right back to work, headed to Norway. I did run some training camps with three other teammates, that we just finished. We were in Halifax and Ottawa. Just really hanging out with family, getting slowly back into training. I wasn't really in the mood to be running straightaway afterwards, so it takes a little while to get into full training mode.
You've been back and forth from Norway as a player throughout the last few years of your career. What was it like going back there and winning a league championship (with LSK Kvinner)?
It was fantastic. I first went over to Norway in 2005, and made such great friends. I knew how hard they work at a small club in that country. We were able to help them keep the momentum going -- they did all the hard work all year round, and we got to be there at the end. Diana Matheson went over there at the end to get some of the accolades, but it was really special to be there for that.
You guys were the year-end ringers they brought in, then?
I wouldn't say ringers, but definitely sometimes things get a bit stale at the end of the season. Just to bring someone else in just to liven it up again, give it a fresh look or feeling, I saw that going down.
As you said, you and Diana have played in Norway for a few years now, while a number of your Canadian teammates play in Sweden. Is there something about the Scandinavian leagues that's conducive to Canadian players?
Well, they have leagues. There's not many places Canadians can go to play. The Americans have had a league the last couple of years, but they limit the number of foreigners, so if you don't get into that league, your choices are really Scandinavia, Australia, y'know... Definitely I think it's positive for Canadians to go to Scandinavian countries, seeing as how it's so similar.
So were you excited to hear about the National Women's Soccer League starting play next year?
Yeah, I think it's great. The more players you can have in one league, meaning they're all on the same calendar, everyone in that league will be available for the same dates for national-team obligations, which is fantastic as well.
Earlier this year, the national team played a friendly in Moncton, which was the first time the team has played in that city. What's it like getting the chance to play in a new part of the country?
I love it. Whenever we've gone anywhere -- in general we go to Toronto and Vancouver -- the minute we go to other cities, you're reminded in a way that you're actually representing your country. To see all these kids come out, Moncton was really special, they filled that stadium. Little girls driving five, six hours just to come and see us. And that was before we'd really done anything.
The last thing they knew is we came last in the World Cup, and they were still there supporting us. I think that was a great send-off for us, a reminder of who we're playing for.
After the Olympics, you wrote "I am under no illusion as to why the team went from last in the 2011 World Cup in Germany to third at these 2012 Olympic Games. The reason can be ascribed to connectivity created by leadership." Could you say a little more about what that meant in the context of your preparation for the Olympics?
The most obvious, and one you've probably already heard about is, is when John (Herdman) came in as coach with an amazing idea of what leadership was. He was an amazing example to us of leadership. He gave everyone responsibility for not only themselves, but the team itself. All of a sudden you felt accountable for what you were doing on the field, to everyone around you. That's leadership.
From the newest girl on the team to the most senior, everyone has a role in leadership. Sometimes you just need to be reminded of that, and that's what John brought.
As someone who's been with the team for a long time, is that a role you felt comfortable playing, in terms of sharing your experience with the newer players?
I think a lot of us, the older girls on the team, had already tried to be the best possible leaders we could be for the team. Mostly you're guessing at that. Some people are natural leaders -- we've had those on the team, the Andrea Neils, then Charmaine Hoopers, those are natural leaders in all ways. The girls that are on the team at the moment, we're all leaders in different ways, but not standalone-type leaders. John taught us how to use that.
I think it has to do with what to do in certain situation. We needed to be taught, given ideas, and that's what John brought. Many people just automatically know how to be good examples to our teammates; obviously we can be good examples, but how to lead them, how to show leadership to those around you. We kind of took lessons in that, a couple of us. I think the most obvious example is Christine (Sinclair).
She's always been a leader by example on the field, but she took on a much bigger mantle during the Games. She spoke to the team at the most amazing times, when we needed her, in off-field roles. She wasn't comfortable in that, but all of a sudden she took that on, and definitely led in so many different ways.
Fans and media seem to have the experience that Christine is shy and reserved, so it's interesting to hear you say that she was very verbal with the team during the Olympics.
Yeah, she was. She's gonna be how she's gonna be with the media. She's a very modest, quiet, shy person. But with the team, she took on a bigger responsibility. She was definitely more vocal.
Speaking of leaders, you got the chance to meet Sepp Blatter earlier this year. What was that like?
It was obviously really interesting. I've heard a lot about this man ... ever since I can remember being in soccer, he's been with FIFA. It was interesting to meet him, and a lot more casual. I thought there would be more fanfare around it, in that you read about this guy all the time, and then all of a sudden he's standing in the room chit-chatting.
Karina was also there, and I think anyone who's met Karina LeBlanc knows she puts people at ease very quickly. I think she threw a ball at his head, that broke the ice.
Really? Was it intentional?
Yeah! She was checking his reflexes.
How were his reflexes?
Well, his assistant had very good reflexes, let's put it that way. ... It was just funny. It was just Karina all around.
Your teammates have almost all said that the team was very focused during their time in London. But on a personal level, what was the coolest thing you saw or did off the field during the Olympics?
Honestly, my family is British and so having my whole family there, aunts and uncles and grandparents... John was really good about after games, giving us family time. Usually during these big tournament, it's soccer soccer soccer, everyone's really this one mindset.
But after games I could go home with my family, almost, and just go sit with them and talk about something different. That's my memory of the Games, that it wasn't just us, it was our families as well, since so many of us had friends and families come, and they got to be included in the wild ride. That was amazing.
Was there a bit of a family crisis when you guys played Great Britain in the quarterfinals?
(laughs) Yeah, I think a few people were torn on that one. But definitely, I think, family won out over nationality.
So by the end of the game, everyone said they were Canadian all along?
Well, you know historically there's a lot of support in Great Britain for Canadians over the French and the Americans, so we had a pretty good following by the end.
During the Games, the injuries on the backline became a major story. You were one of the players that remained healthy during the tournament, but how did you deal with everything that was going on around you?
The injuries started straight away, before we even got to the Olympics, Emily Zurrer went down. Well, okay, one, we'll be okay. Then in the first game, Candace Chapman went down with an injury. Wow, two centrebacks, what now? I remember looking across the line in the second game, against South Africa, and I was the only one in their real position on that backline.
I was a little bit worried for a second, just, "oh my goodness, this isn't a good start." And then Robyn Gayle went down in that game! So it worried me for a second, and then straightaway I thought people were playing out-of-their-skin well. So many people didn't realize that that backline was really makeshift; even people who were natural defenders were not playing in their real positions, except me.
So it was just amazing to watch people step up and be bigger than themselves for the team. And that's what I meant by leadership -- every single person took a role of leadership, from the bench to the field. If you're playing a different position you knew it's because we needed you in that position and we needed you to perform. And that's what happened. You know you're going to do well when that starts happening.
You've mentioned the team's last-place finish in 2011. So when the team went down 2-0 against Sweden, was there a sense of "uh oh, here we go again"?
No, there wasn't. I haven't seen any of the games again except for the Sweden game, because it was on again. I ended up watching the whole game, because I believe that was our best game of the tournament. It really changed the momentum. In the first 20 minutes, we played some outstanding soccer, and we were down 2-0. Usually when that happens, a sense of panic sets in, like "okay, I'll do this myself" -- if you watch the game, no one ever looks rattled.
It definitely took us a few minutes to get back in our stride again, but we're right back playing great soccer and we just stick to the game plan. It's the 85th minute when we end up tying it up. No one ever looked like we doubted we were going to get it. The interesting thing for me, when I think of that game, is that a lot of people say "oh, it's lucky Canada came through third from their group."
But we were also very aware of what was going on at that point. We had an injury when we scored, and you can see we're playing very confidently. We already know we're through, we know the matchup's going to happen. That's the benefit of the Olympics, you can ease up a little bit at the end, and you see that happen in that game, which is kind of fun to watch again.
Even with those few minutes of easing up, it was still six high-pressure games in a short period of time. So by the time you got to the France game, were you more or less just running on adrenaline?
Our athletic trainer is one of the best in the world, and we went into that tournament really fit. We needed to be, because we had a very small team at the end, just from injuries and little niggling things. A lot of people put in a lot of minutes. But the real fatigue the final -- of course, the physical fatigue, especially going double overtime against the U.S., and every single game we played hadn't been easy, we had to fight it out and get goals at the end of the game. Against Great Britain we played really well at the beginning, got a 2-0 lead, but we were really hanging on at the end. It was definitely tough.
And then with the U.S., not only physically but mentally shattered after that game. We believed with every ounce of our bodies, every fiber, that we were going to win that game. When you believe in something so strongly and it doesn't happen, you can imagine the sort of feeling that comes over you; it's not something you can just erase. It takes a huge toll, physically and mentally, to recover from something like that.
After 20 minutes in the bronze-medal match you can see it, everyone's sort of like "this isn't going to be easy." Everyone knew it was going to be a real scrap, that game.
Looking ahead, what does the future hold for you?
I had defiintely thought of retiring at this point; however, I've loved playing for John, I've loved being part of this really special group. So at the moment I'm just going to take it as it comes, see how my body reacts and how I react mentally. Whether I can commit to three, four years -- I don't think I can answer that at this point. I can just say that I'm excited for the year to come, and I'll give it my all and see where that leads me.
If you could try and summarize 2012, what would you say?
What do you say when a dream comes true? I got my mother's Christmas card this year and it said congratulations to my brother on his little girl being born and congratulations to my sister on her little boy being born, and congratulations to Rhian on nine years of labour and a bronze medal. It's something momentous. You put it in the same lines as having children.
For me, it's been a lifelong ambition to be the best possible player and to make Canada the best possible team. No one can ever take that away from us. This team will always have that connection, and hopefully we've left a legacy for future generations, because this country deserves it and I know we can be a huge force in soccer in the years to come.
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