Canadian Olympic soccer team to train on home soil

Canada’s women’s soccer team is heading back to Vancouver.

Currently preparing for the final of the Cyprus Cup, where they’ll face France on Tuesday, Canadian coach John Herdman said his side will be heading back to the West Coast in April to live, train and play together in a residency camp as part of their final preparations for the 2012 London Summer Olympics.

After a short break, the plan is to get non-affiliated players to assemble in Vancouver in April 13-27 for the residency. The logistics, final details and funding are still being worked out, but the camp would involve matches with local amateur men’s teams and, when possible, fitting the camp around international games, including a tournament in Switzerland in July.

"Systematically, the way it will work will be residency for two to three weeks of the month and the last week of the month, I hope we’re going to be off in an international environment playing an international game," Herdman told CBCSports.ca.

Before the residency begins, Canada will face Sweden in an away friendly in Malmö on March 31 and is also finalizing a friendly against Brazil in Boston. 

Playing Sweden (No. 5) and Brazil (No. 4) will provide a much-needed measuring stick for the seventh-ranked Canadians ahead of London.

'[Our residency] has been born out of the troubles with the WPS. We were hoping to get our players in some of the top leagues in the world. But the reality is there are only two or three top leagues in the world.' — Canadian women's soccer coach John Herdman

Women's game dealt a blow

The lights had barely gone out at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver after the Canadians had finished their successful quest to qualify for this summer’s Olympics when their plans, and the women’s game in North America itself, was dealt a massive blow when Women’s Professional Soccer — the second attempt at professional women’s soccer in the United States — was forced to suspend operations for the 2012 season.

"[Our residency] has been born out of the troubles with the WPS," admitted Herdman. "We were hoping to get our players in some of the top leagues in the world. But the reality is there are only two or three top leagues in the world. In an Olympic year, if you want to end up on the podium you’ve really got to make some changes."

Canadian stars like Christine Sinclair, Karina LeBlanc and Sophie Schmidt were suddenly in limbo just days after beating Mexico 3-1 to punch their ticket to London and literally hours after losing 4-0 to the United States in the final.

"It was gutting," admitted LeBlanc, who had signed with the New Jersey-based Sky Blue FC. Her contract was terminated, along with every other player in the league, when the season was suspended.

"What’s even worse at the end of the day — whatever the reason is — it’s sad that the league isn’t here this year."

An ongoing legal dispute between the league and Dan Borislow, the owner of the former magicJack franchise that played in Boca Raton, Fla., forced the hand of the league organizers who cancelled the season on Jan. 30.

Left with few options, LeBlanc said she and a few teammates who were suddenly without a league or a club went to Herdman for advice.

What unfolded was the laying of the groundwork to bring the Canadian women’s soccer team back to Vancouver. Calls were made to assess the feasibility, and from there, the idea of a residency was floated.

New regime, different plan

While this plan may sound similar to what happened before Canada crashed out of last summer’s World Cup after having a residency in Rome, the home of then-coach Carolina Morace, this time around the camp would take place in Canada.

"We were in Rome, which no one can complain about, but you’re not speaking your language, you don’t have that escape of friends and family. You may have two or three days off but hopefully we’re not going to be in a hotel. That was huge," admitted LeBlanc.

"You need a mental break, a physical break — all those things — and I think we’ll get that being at home in Canada."

The women also had a residency camp prior to the 2007 World Cup. In that tournament, Canada finished third in their group behind Australia and Norway and failed to advance.

Only a handful of players have signed contracts with clubs (many in Sweden), so the bulk of the Canadian team is opting to stay together for the residency camp. This includes star striker Sinclair, one of the best women’s players on the planet.

Sinclair, who is a leading candidate to be Canada’s flag-bearer at the London opening ceremonies this summer, was a notable exception from the Rome residency prior to the World Cup. With no WPS to think of, Sinclair says she’s leaning towards staying in Canada instead of signing with a European club.

"While the [previous residency] was going on in Italy, I was under contract so I couldn’t go. It wasn’t really an option, first and foremost. But I am one that believes in playing professionally our coaching staff at the time didn’t see it the same way," said Sinclair.

"[Herdman] is completely different. He wants people to play professionally, but with such short notice there aren’t too many options available. As a team, our focus has sort of shifted solely to the Olympics and playing professionally afterwards."

Sharpen game vs. men’s youth teams

Herdman has previous experience running residency programs. As coach of the New Zealand women’s team, he designed a similar program based on the sorts of opponents his side was to come up against.

"In my time in New Zealand, we worked a residency program in Auckland," he explained. "We had class A, B and C teams that gave you different things — different ages of boys and different skill levels. You can get a game similar to the U.S. by playing against bigger, stronger under-17 boys and a game like playing Japan by playing technically-gifted under-16 or under-15 boys."

There are 22 players currently in the Canadian camp in Cyprus. Herdman expects to have around that number in the residency, though not the exact Cyprus Cup roster as some players are under pro contracts.

The choice will be up to the player as to whether they take part in the residency, but if another opportunity comes along, Herdman acknowledges the decision is up to the player.