Olympian barred from city team for being female
Canadian soccer goaltender Stephanie Labbe has been barred from playing for Calgary Foothills FC in the Premier Development League because she is a woman.
Labbe said in a March blog post on her website that she was taking her career to the league dominated by male soccer players.
The Calgary team welcomed her with open arms, but in a May 1 post on her website she wrote that the league wouldn’t allow her to play: “The PDL is a men’s league” and “given that the PDL is a genderbased league, women are ineligible to play.”
She said while she understands the league’s stance, the news is unsettling.
“There are moments that stick with us for life, and I believe this is one of them for me,” she wrote.
Labbe has gotten support from the club, with head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr. looking for ways to keep her involved.
“We are looking at ways to support her because we want to give her an opportunity to stay at the sharpest level possible so she can perform for the national team,” said Wheeldon Jr., who told her that if she could keep the ball out of the net she could play.
“She was starting to show she could play, then we inquired with the league who said, ‘This is a men’s league and there is no mechanism to challenge it at this point.’”
Wheeldon Jr. said Labbe had started to jell with the team.
“We treated her as a player, and as she played and performed well, you could tell she had broken down the barriers with the guys — she was seen as one of the players,” he said.
“She’s all business. She’s a challenger, she’s a fighter, she’s a professional and we are going to support her as best as we can.”
Labbe has options moving forward, with exhibition games on the schedule and the potential to join a European league.
Reached late Wednesday, Labbe said the decision was “disheartening, because this is something that I can’t control. I can’t control my gender, all I can control is what I bring to the field and what I bring to the team and my abilities as a player.
“I was able to prove that I can compete with these guys and compete at this level. To be turned down for something I can’t control is a tough pill to swallow.”
Labbe said she is not giving up on challenging the league, but doesn’t want to distract from Calgary F.C.’s season, which opens Saturday.
“There is an option to challenge it and there is an ability to put in an argument against it,” she said.
“At the moment … I want the coaching staff to focus on the team and get results.”
Officials with the Premier Development League could not be reached for comment.
But Labbe said while she doesn’t feel a sense of urgency to fight the league ruling, “it’s a battle that needs to be fought . . . I’m a big believer in gender equality.
“This is a fight that I want to fight because there are young girls out there that are dreaming like I am and maybe following this journey one day, and I want to fight now because I don’t want them to be told they can’t do it.”
The Stony Plain native has played 49 games for the women’s national team, and won bronze with Canada in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.