Let’s keep this soccer party going, Winnipeg

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This article was published 17/06/2015 (4065 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It ended quieter than it started, with a single uneventful match and the glare of the American gaze now focused elsewhere, the final game a more laid-back affair.

This does not mean that Tuesday’s FIFA Women’s World Cup match between Japan and Ecuador lacked in spirit. It just left more space to think about it all.

The attendance, at just a hair over 14,500, put the stadium under half full. Still, it seemed a healthy crowd for a tilt that was meaningless for both sides, between nations that lacked a massive nearby fan base. If last week announced the Women’s World Cup’s arrival here with trumpeted fanfare, Tuesday was a graceful coda.

The fans, as was true all week, came from all over. A smattering of American tourists stayed out to catch the final three matches. And, as they had all week, locals brought splashes of colour.

In one corner of the lower bowl, a chipper Team Japan cheering group sung songs in honour of victorious Nippon; men in Japanese yukata robes sipped beer on the concourse. Next to them, a smaller but hearty bunch of Ecuador fans roared their support, looking like a splash of living sunlight in bright yellow jerseys.

Then the final whistle blew, the teams shook hands, and fans began to spill out of the stands. Game over. Time to go home.

It’s hard to say goodbye, sometimes. Several hundred fans lingered after the match, taking the chance to pose for one last photo in front of bright red Women’s World Cup banners; twentysomethings clutching tiny Japanese flags bent their heads together to exchange phone numbers.

Then they too filed out, and the place grew quiet, as digital screens along the upper levels flashed one last message: “Thank you Manitoba. Thank you Canada.”

So that was it, Winnipeg’s international soccer debut is finished. Everything that was erected at Investors Group Field for these last 10 days will be deconstructed. The Bombers move back into their offices today, and FIFA crews will work to get IGF back wearing blue and gold in time for Friday’s pre-season game.

With that, the local FIFA Women’s World Cup detachment will begin to wind down its operations — and as it goes, there is one final question.

What happens now? What next? Did what happened here in these 10 whirlwind days in June make an impact that will last?

“We cannot let it die now,” said Vanessa Martinez Lagunas, the University of Manitoba Bisons women’s soccer coach. “Now that we have seen the stadium dressed in soccer clothes, we need to keep it. And I think that could be a beautiful legacy that the university sees, that the community sees.”

Maybe that part is already starting. For the first time this fall, the Bisons will move one of their matches off the turf fields near IGF, and into the stadium itself; Lagunas hopes that Oct. 9 match can draw on lingering Women’s World Cup fervor, an emotional legacy that could help boost the Bisons’ fan base.

For the coach, who grew playing in Mexico at a time when there were few avenues for girls to compete, keeping that connection going matters all the more.

“It was a dream come true,” Lagunas said, of the last week. “I almost cried when I saw how beautiful it was, and how many people came and paid for a ticket to watch women play soccer. Especially that I come from the old days, when there was not more support, and we had to fight so hard to be where we are at now.”

There is a physical legacy too, both in the short and longer term. Hospitality businesses enjoyed a sudden windfall throughout the city. In terms of sport, the old grass pitches at Shaughnessy Park and Memorial Soccer Field in St. Vital are gone, replaced with top-tier turf; the recreation complex at Waverly got the same upgrade to its surface. That will allow the Manitoba Soccer Association to host more of their competitions there.

Some impacts, though, may not be felt for years. If and when they come, it may be difficult to link them directly to the tournament, but Manitoba Soccer Association executive director Hector Vergara believes they will be there. “There are so many elements to this, from having a successful competition is going to benefit this province in the long term,” said Vergara, formerly a longtime FIFA referee who also sits on its referee development committee.

For instance, while there was some initial skepticism about Winnipeg as a Women’s World Cup venue, the general consensus from visitors (including players, national sport organizers and FIFA officials) is that the stadium and local fans delivered. That, and the existing volunteer base that now has experience with an event of this scale, could pave the way for future competitions, Vergara thinks.

“We’ve proven to Canada that Winnipeg is a great venue for this kind of competition, and that having the national team play in Winnipeg is an option in the future, that may not have existed in the past,” Vergara said. “This has been a great opportunity for us to establish those parameters, and let the world know.”

That was a hope echoed by fans at IGF. Winnipeg’s Karl Rohne attended every match day with his 10-year-old daughter, Sadie, and like many others he thought the city in general could have done more to promote the event. But as he watched the Japan-Ecuador game wind down, he was hopeful he would see something similar again.

“If we got another Women’s World Cup, I’d be very happy to have that,” Rohne said. “I think the number of fans we’ve had here could show Canada Soccer, or FIFA, that we could hold other events, whether that be a U20 men’s, or… a U20 women’s, that would be fantastic. Friendlies.”

Most of all, there is the matter of the next generation. Rohne and his daughter went all-out for the tournament, painting a kangaroo poster to cheer the Australians, and donning a horned helmet to support Team Sweden. It’s fun stuff, that earned them an interview for Australian TV. But the games also left practical lessons.

“It teaches me some stuff, like to not be afraid of the ball, and to come and challenge other people,” said Sadie Rohne, who plays for FC Northwest.

That should be music to local soccer organizers’ ears. Maybe the real legacy of this Women’s World Cup will float up in five or six years, when the pre-teen girls who thronged IGF over the weekend start to push their way onto provincial or elite teams. Will that be measurable? Or will it be an intangible, believed but hard to show?

Stay tuned. “This is what we’re looking for,” Vergara said. “Is there the next Desiree Scott in our venue? Was the next Desiree Scott one of those kids walking out with a FIFA flag, the Fair Play flag, or walking out with the players? Potentially, there probably is. And we need to provide that environment for them to be able to aspire to be the very best they can be.”

 

melissa.martin@freepress.mb.ca