Three cheers for city’s Chinese

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/05/2015 (4097 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When FIFA came knocking with a cheering proposition, the Winnipeg Chinese Cultural and Community Centre was interested: Sure, they said, they’d reserve 200 tickets.

It wasn’t until after they’d started setting plans to welcome Team China to Investors Group Field that the Zhongguo nvzu wennibo zhuwei fangzhen — the Team China Winnipeg Cheering Group — realized how conservative that first estimate had been.

“After we formed the committee, we said, ‘200 is not enough,’ ” said Debbie Guo, WCCCC secretary and co-chair of the cheering group. “‘We need at least 1,000.'”

Now, just over a week before the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup kicks off, and a little over two weeks before Team China takes the pitch against New Zealand in Winnipeg on June 15, local fans organized by the WCCCC and other local Chinese cultural groups are set to fill three sections of IGF.

That’s a stunning turnout, a massive group effort from a community that numbered just over a modest 17,000 in the last census. It’s a diverse community, and the cheer group ranges from young new immigrants to established professionals, international students and folks whose families have lived in Canada for several generations.

Together, they will be seen. They have some cheers planned, and will be decked out in matching red shirts emblazoned with Chinese characters — an effort made possible thanks to support from local architect Raymond S.C. Wan.

For them, the match marks a chance to celebrate Team China, yes, and the women’s squad they call the Iron Rose. It’s a chance to just have some fun together — but also, it is about celebrating what it means to be part of their Manitoba home.

“We always feel proud of our culture,” Guo said. “The other side is… it’s a rare opportunity for Chinese people that we can be together to do one thing. To not only show the Chinese community, but also show to the world that Winnipeg has diverse people, and support for these international kind of events.”

Down the list of visiting nations we go. The Japanese Cultural Association of Manitoba is co-ordinating a delegation of about 200 fans to cheer reigning champion Team Japan, and they’ll have matching T-shirts and miniature rising sun flags. The Nigerian community, hailing from a nation that is overflowing with soccer passion, is buzzing with exitement for Nigeria’s two matches in Winnipeg.

As for Manitoba’s Swedish-Canadian contingent, they’ve planned a whole week of events, including a fish fry for visiting dignitaries and a walking tour that will highlight the history of Swedes in Manitoba. They’re even set to host Sweden’s ambassador to Canada, the Swedish minister of labour, and the president of the Swedish Soccer Federation at a special luncheon on June 12, the day Sweden faces the United States.

“We have some great fun ahead of us,” Swedish Cultural Association of Winnipeg president Elaine Hammerback Friesen said in an email.

Oh, and speaking of the Americans, well, suffice to say Canada’s natural rivals will make themselves heard — there’s a gaggle of ’em headed north to do that work.

“As soon as it was announced the U.S. was going to be in Winnipeg, it was pretty much a done deal,” said Clint Krahn, chatting over the phone about his group’s road trip from Sioux Falls, S.D. “Now, it’s two weeks out… We’re working on some big chants.”

This group, they mean business. Krahn is co-founder and president of the American Outlaws’ Sioux Falls chapter, part of a surging network of Team USA soccer fans popping up across that nation. The American Outlaw “movement,” as they call it, was launchd by three die-hard fans in Nebraska in 2007; eight years later, the Outlaws have swelled to more than 170 chapters — Fargo, the latest addition, is No. 171 — and boasts a roster of about 30,000 paid members.

“It’s grown in leaps and bounds the past couple of years,” said Krahn, whose chapter gained official American Outlaws status in 2010. “You’re kind of a lone wolf out there looking and doing this (soccer fandom) by yourself. Once you find the Outlaws, it shows there are so many people who are as passionate as you are.”

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Krahn’s chapter, which makes its home base in Sioux Falls’ Gateway Lounge, is set to invade for a three-day whirlwind with about 60 die-hard fans. And when the Outlaws travel, they travel with some spirit, led by the motto “Unite and Strengthen.” The Sioux Falls chapter made its own cheer scarves for the trip, knit with an image of Mount Rushmore’s presidents wearing stars-and-stripes bandannas.

The American invaders plan to livestream some of their festivities online, and are planning a patio party at Barley Brothers before the match. And they won’t be alone — not only will they be joined by a plethora of delegations from other American Outlaws chapters, but there are many U.S. fans set to come up on their own.

Above all else — well, besides a Team USA win, of course — the Outlaws hope Winnipeggers will say hello, and maybe share a cold beverage (or a few).

“We’re excited,” said Krahn, who is making his first trip to Canada. “We’re excited to see some stuff, eat some good food, and meet some fans from all over the world.”

melissa.martin@freepress.mb.ca

Melissa Martin
Reporter-at-large

Melissa Martin reports and opines for the Winnipeg Free Press.

Every piece of reporting Melissa produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.