Theo Bair

[Ed_S]

19 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

Any link to that Ed?

I also think that 4 years and the no 9 is amazing, that is a real vote of confidence in him from a team that could struggle to stay in Ligue 1.

I'm waiting on a response on whether it's shareable that from his father.

[h coach]

CTVnews Ottawa did a story on Theo Bair's transfer tonight. They cover Atletico Ottawa a bit, but I would say that story was pretty much due to Copa publicity... On a side note, at my pick up (semi serious oldtimers) soccer game on Monday I heard my first mentions of Canada's team and they were impressed with how well they played, even one of our hardcore Argentina players... Times are changing...

[Ed_S]

As posted by Theo's father on FB, who is humbled by the interest and support of his son Theo:

An Open Letter to Stuart Kettlewell!

I am writing as a father to all the football/sports dads out there. I know that you will all relate in some way to this story as it is a tale as old as professional sports itself.

My son Theo Bair left home at 15. He joined the Vancouver Whitecaps on the other side of our country. He was a gifted player with a high ceiling potential. I was one of his coaches up to this point and we had spent every day on the soccer pitch. I knew how good he could be and that he was still growing into his exceptionally tall body.

He left too soon. My job wasn’t done. The day he left I cried inconsolably until I shook. It was overwhelmingly sad. The sadness persisted. Life continued but it was profoundly and heartbreakingly different. I felt like we had somehow compromised our values by letting Theo leave so far away.

I tried to father from a far but he was strong and often didn’t need my help. That didn’t make anything easier. I couldn’t help him when he failed but I could celebrate from afar when he found success. That became my focus - to keep him positive during FaceTime calls and to help him find happiness in his privilege and successes.

Eventually he earned a professional contract and I felt like he was on a clear and set path. I quickly realized that being a father never ends. I still found incredible happiness when he found success. When social media was abusive or he met unexpected obstacles, I was deeply affected as if the stresses were my own. I worried about his isolation, mental health and forced independence.

He needed someone in his corner - to believe in him and to risk something. Despite this, Theo continued to grow and he was always improving and moving forward.

Then, just post Covid, Theo left for Scotland to join St Johnstone. He was recruited and I was so excited. I was feeling so proud of him for his willingness to take on a new adventure. He seemed so brave, mature and so competent. And then it happened again. His search for a team to invest and believe in him was not over. He was not the first striker, he was a late sub for so many games. He was lonely and it rained. It rained and it was cold. He became depressed, his confidence was shaken and his father who felt like he had failed to adequately parent for years, was once again devastated.

Being a professional athlete can, at times, and from an outside perspective, seem to be boring. Training, video games, Netflix, food and sleep. Early, sometimes cold mornings with nothing to do later but recover. Being in a different country compounds those feelings. Not finding success, being in a different time zone, having your worth diminished all makes it worse. Theo has experienced feeling these emotions and there was nothing I could do about it.

Then along came a great man. A champion for our family and a truly decent human being. Stuart Kettlewell risked his name and his reputation - on my son. At last Theo had a backer. A person who he could confide in and a leader of a support network so very far from home. I felt a kindness towards Kettlewell that is hard to communicate. To this day I have not been able to express myself but here goes.

I cannot thank Motherwell FC enough for providing a platform for Theo to find success. I cannot believe how much a father can love a team because of sheer decency and kindness.

Thank you to the fans who made me feel overwhelmingly proud as I sat in a stadium with a crowd chanting “Theo, Theo, Theo…!!”

Thank you for backing him. Thank you for supporting this team. Thank you for trusting my son!

Thanks to all of Theo’s teammates for being the most decent and collaborative group of professional athletes. Thank you for your leadership and support. Thank you for being part of a great experience for my family and hopefully for yours. Thank you for being real friends.

Special mention has to go to Rosco. You know how important you are to Theo and he has expressed it many times to us. Thank you for being such a positive and strong influence on my son. We can’t ever thank you enough.

I will continue to wear Motherwell’s jersey and I will continue to praise Stuart Kettlewell long into the future. I know who he is because my son has expressed his feelings about him and he has experienced many other coaches. I will follow the team and I will visit Motherwell. I am a Steelman.

Stuart Kettlewell is the one. A real leader with integrity and insight. He can talk - sometimes more than the Motherwell fans want to hear, but if I had any advice, it would be to listen.

He is a good man and a permanent friend of the Bair family. He is my friend who I have never spoken to and, I’ll be honest, whose accent I don’t always understand! What I do understand is that Kettlewell told the truth, backed up his words and made our collective lives better because he believed in my son and gave him a chance.

Stuart Kettlewell is the kind of person and coach who I would “hang my hat” on.

Thank you.

Bradley Bair

Mon the Well!!

All reactions:

136You and 135 others

 

[jordan]

https://www.instagram.com/p/C9h2cqat1fX/?igsh=MXR1dGtzbmFwMmZxNw==

 

[Cheeta]

Blue is the man's colour.  Clearly.

[masster]

He is training already? No summer break?

[costarg]

10 hours ago, Ed_S said:

As posted by Theo's father on FB, who is humbled by the interest and support of his son Theo:

An Open Letter to Stuart Kettlewell!

I am writing as a father to all the football/sports dads out there. I know that you will all relate in some way to this story as it is a tale as old as professional sports itself.

My son Theo Bair left home at 15. He joined the Vancouver Whitecaps on the other side of our country. He was a gifted player with a high ceiling potential. I was one of his coaches up to this point and we had spent every day on the soccer pitch. I knew how good he could be and that he was still growing into his exceptionally tall body.

He left too soon. My job wasn’t done. The day he left I cried inconsolably until I shook. It was overwhelmingly sad. The sadness persisted. Life continued but it was profoundly and heartbreakingly different. I felt like we had somehow compromised our values by letting Theo leave so far away.

I tried to father from a far but he was strong and often didn’t need my help. That didn’t make anything easier. I couldn’t help him when he failed but I could celebrate from afar when he found success. That became my focus - to keep him positive during FaceTime calls and to help him find happiness in his privilege and successes.

Eventually he earned a professional contract and I felt like he was on a clear and set path. I quickly realized that being a father never ends. I still found incredible happiness when he found success. When social media was abusive or he met unexpected obstacles, I was deeply affected as if the stresses were my own. I worried about his isolation, mental health and forced independence.

He needed someone in his corner - to believe in him and to risk something. Despite this, Theo continued to grow and he was always improving and moving forward.

Then, just post Covid, Theo left for Scotland to join St Johnstone. He was recruited and I was so excited. I was feeling so proud of him for his willingness to take on a new adventure. He seemed so brave, mature and so competent. And then it happened again. His search for a team to invest and believe in him was not over. He was not the first striker, he was a late sub for so many games. He was lonely and it rained. It rained and it was cold. He became depressed, his confidence was shaken and his father who felt like he had failed to adequately parent for years, was once again devastated.

Being a professional athlete can, at times, and from an outside perspective, seem to be boring. Training, video games, Netflix, food and sleep. Early, sometimes cold mornings with nothing to do later but recover. Being in a different country compounds those feelings. Not finding success, being in a different time zone, having your worth diminished all makes it worse. Theo has experienced feeling these emotions and there was nothing I could do about it.

Then along came a great man. A champion for our family and a truly decent human being. Stuart Kettlewell risked his name and his reputation - on my son. At last Theo had a backer. A person who he could confide in and a leader of a support network so very far from home. I felt a kindness towards Kettlewell that is hard to communicate. To this day I have not been able to express myself but here goes.

I cannot thank Motherwell FC enough for providing a platform for Theo to find success. I cannot believe how much a father can love a team because of sheer decency and kindness.

Thank you to the fans who made me feel overwhelmingly proud as I sat in a stadium with a crowd chanting “Theo, Theo, Theo…!!”

Thank you for backing him. Thank you for supporting this team. Thank you for trusting my son!

Thanks to all of Theo’s teammates for being the most decent and collaborative group of professional athletes. Thank you for your leadership and support. Thank you for being part of a great experience for my family and hopefully for yours. Thank you for being real friends.

Special mention has to go to Rosco. You know how important you are to Theo and he has expressed it many times to us. Thank you for being such a positive and strong influence on my son. We can’t ever thank you enough.

I will continue to wear Motherwell’s jersey and I will continue to praise Stuart Kettlewell long into the future. I know who he is because my son has expressed his feelings about him and he has experienced many other coaches. I will follow the team and I will visit Motherwell. I am a Steelman.

Stuart Kettlewell is the one. A real leader with integrity and insight. He can talk - sometimes more than the Motherwell fans want to hear, but if I had any advice, it would be to listen.

He is a good man and a permanent friend of the Bair family. He is my friend who I have never spoken to and, I’ll be honest, whose accent I don’t always understand! What I do understand is that Kettlewell told the truth, backed up his words and made our collective lives better because he believed in my son and gave him a chance.

Stuart Kettlewell is the kind of person and coach who I would “hang my hat” on.

Thank you.

Bradley Bair

Mon the Well!!

 

 

 

All reactions:

136You and 135 others

 

Thanks for posting. 

On top of Theo, I'm also a fan of Bradley, Stuart and Motherwell now.  His family seems special.

[ahmedou]

I like the fact that he speaks french. His adaptation will be more easy with his french team.

Now all he gotta do is to speak the language of goals in front of the net. 

⚽

[InglewoodJack]

https://x.com/aja/status/1818683821967208534?s=46&t=spIaqlQfufAO3HreB1455Q

[Atlantic]

 

[WestHamCanadianinOxford]

Like a bloody spawning salmon.

Edited July 31 by WestHamCanadianinOxford

[ahmedou]

🐇🇨🇦

[narduch]

Starting in the season opener v Nice.

It's on BeIn and Fubo

[dyslexic nam]

50 minutes ago, narduch said:

Starting in the season opener v Nice.

It's on BeIn and Fubo

Crazy.  From the MLS wilderness to Scotland to starting in Ligue 1.   Hope he has a good game today and justifies the coach’s faith.  He at least has shown enough in training to grab the lone striking spot in this game. 

And I know he is the same player he was a couple of months ago but this has to strengthen his case for some playing time with Canada.   
 

[VinceA]

subbed off. No idea how he did.

[dyslexic nam]

Just now, VinceA said:

subbed off. No idea how he did.

Pretty quiet.  Good header opportunity that he put wide.   Would have been a beauty debut.   

Seemed like his teammates weren’t finding him as much.  He looked a little bit disconnected from some of the plays from what I saw but that may be a byproduct of the fact that many of them have been playing together for a long time so have more familiarity.  There were definitely times where he found an open space but wasn’t picked out by a teammate.   

 

[dyslexic nam]

He was obviously subbed off at the time, but Auxerre managed to grab a late winner against Nice.  They are a tough opponent so great to open the season at home with a W.  Auxerre will likely have to battle to stay up and 3 points at the start of the season are worth exactly as much as 3 at the end.   

[Borjans Sweatpants]

Starts again

 

[narduch]

Too bad this one isn't on Fubo

[vancanman]

Nantes score.  The TV commentator said, of the Auxerre keeper:   "He just went all floppy-hands on it."

Bair hasn't seen a lot of the ball yet.  

40'. Bair with a good header from a corner that the Nantes keeper tips over the bar.

54' Auxerre's Ado Onaiwu sent off for an overly aggressive tackle.

58' A weird substitution, Bair's off, and he's the only Auxerre player to get the ball anywhere near the net, despite having most of the possession until the red card.

Edited August 25 by vancanman

[narduch]

Auxerre got a red card in the 53rd minute and Bair ended up getting subbed out at 58th minute for a midfielder 

[ahmedou]

25 years old today 🎂🎈

[blueseeka]

Bair with the start again. Needs a goal soon before he gets moved to the bench.

69 minutes in first game, then 58 in the last game

[DeRo_Is_King]

6 hours ago, blueseeka said:

Bair with the start again. Needs a goal soon before he gets moved to the bench.

69 minutes in first game, then 58 in the last game

Subbed at half today. 

[blueseeka]

29 minutes ago, DeRo_Is_King said:

Subbed at half today. 

In his defense, Auxierre received a red just before half. Probably a defensive change to try to get a point.

But he only had 7 pass attempts and 10 touches in the first half. Has to get more involved somehow