Editor: When CSN first met Pierce Lang he politely asked us to not stress that he was Kara Lang's brother. Fair enough, as a writer he should be given the chance to stand on his own terms. Today, however, I'm sure big brother would be just fine with the association. The following is his account of his sister's remarkable (but too short) career - DR
At just a mere 24 years old the Canadian International and Vancouver Whitecap is calling it a career. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
It is a pretty simple choice when you really take a look at it. Like step back and really take a look at it. Play on through the pain everyday to risk further injury, or lead a relatively normal life like everyone else your age. Aside from a Championship on the World Stage almost everything has been ticked off your list before the age of 25. Not even at the quarter century mark of your life and suffering from agonizing arthritis in your knee with the prospects of full surgical replacement by age 35. It was a decision that she made fairly quickly.
When team doctors took Kara aside in Brazil and broke the news to her about the condition of her knee, and her bid to recover from yet another injury, she wasted very little time in making a decision in regards to her future in soccer and really life as an adult. She almost immediately told the teams coaching staff. The next day a team meeting was held where she announced her plans to her teammates, and returned to Toronto just in time for a lovely Christmas in Oakville.
It's funny I know. It's so hard to imagine for those of us who have never been there, but always dreamed of the glory of representing our country internationally, or even playing in a game that actually meant something. Seemingly giving it all up before every drop of oil has been burned by the engine. It seems so absurd.
She's a smart kid, and has always made good decisions. UCLA came knocking on the door just after the University of Tulsa and UTEP if I recall correctly. It would have been a few weeks into her Grade 9 year at St. Thomas Aquinas Secondary in Oakville. Basketball scholarships, the letters kept coming from all over the US, but it became quite clear after every additional training session at the National Soccer Centre in Vaughn, that soccer was in fact the path Kara was going down. Eventually she turned down North Carolina and accepted a scholarship to UCLA and was set to star on the soccer team. UCLA always seemed to come up short in the end, year after year. Kara's senior season was cut short by yet another injury.
She did finish her studies though, and graduated from one of the top institutions in the U.S.
Having been a regular on the national squad for the better part of a decade there isn't a whole lot she hasn't done as stated before. Her college team was consistently ranked in the top 10, usually in the top 3. Domestically she won club championships with both Vancouver and the Pali Blue of the W League. Personal records and awards are too many to name.
So entering the WPS draft this year was going to be a big challenge. Still recovering from a recent operation she quickly fell from a potential top 5 pick, down to right off the radar for most clubs. That sort of thing will really put your career in perspective.
Realizing that most teams were unwilling to risk a coveted international spot on their roster for a player who was likely to miss the first half of the season rehabbing a serious injury, Lang opted to sign with her former club in Vancouver.
With the club realizing the marketing potential of bringing back such a familiar face to the lower mainland she was signed on as a player and a club ambassador. As one of her main tasks this past summer she was sent out into the community to speak about the benefits of physical activity for teenage girls. Then there were the camps and clinics for youth clubs and the like.
Once she was finally back in form and match fit she was struck down by more injuries. The Whitecaps had to play their playoff run without Lang, Melissa Tancredi, and Jodi Anne Robinson, eventually losing to the Buffalo Flash in the League Final.
I find it hard to believe that it was her level of play that had diminished so much as simply her physical inabilities held her back from doing what she wanted to do. She's using the same body as someone twice her age. She was never one to take no for an answer, or be told she couldn't do something. Everything in her life has been on her terms to an extent. She wasn't about to be told she wasn't good enough to make the roster. All you need to do is look at the line up for the recent Brazil tourney where she was brought on as a defender. Not simply because she could no longer do the job up front but because she was to valuable too leave behind.
I've asked about a million times already and have always got an adamant "No!" in response from her. She has absolutely no desire to coach... but she's really into the Yoga...
While I have a million memories I could share like the WAGS Tourneys in D.C. or National Tournament fights between Oakville and Burlington parents in Ottawa I think the best one is this.
We used to have a Scotch Collie, her name was Lassie. Lassie was a pretty chilled out pet and we were tasked with walking her as per every parent/child "can we have a dog" agreement.
Aside from that agreement, Kara (Grade 2) and I (Grade 5) had a side agreement. She held the leash and I scooped the poop. We would walk Lassie for a grand total of 3 minutes from our house to the nearest park and tie her to a bench.
On one particular occasion Lassie performed her business almost immediately after we left our yard. We ditched the evidence in the big green barrel tied to the Park Sign, and went about with our usual tree climbing. Kara fell from her tree. Maybe 12-15 feet to the ground. Kara immediately broke out into tears. She begged me to take the leash and walk Lassie home but I reminded her of the stipulations of our agreement and refused. That little girl put on her bravest faced and ran that dog home as fast as she could before she burst into tears again just in time to get me in trouble before she left for the hospital.
Turns out she'd broken her arm. The following week she still insisted on playing the other kind of football with us at recess.
If anything this young lady is as tough as they come. If the pain was too much for her, you have to believe that it would be too much for anyone.
Well done lil sis, we're all very proud.