Canadian women unified for CSA talks
Team is standing united in contract negotiations via a newly formed players’ association
TORONTO — The Canadian women’s soccer team will enter into its next round of contract negotiations with the Canadian Soccer Association with an impressive hand: The first Canadian summer sports team to win back-to-back Olympic medals in more than 100 years after defeating three top-five teams at the Rio Games; ranked fourth in the world; Algarve Cup champion; and the most wins by any Canadian women’s soccer team in a calendar year (15).
And the team is standing united via a newly formed player association. While not a formal union, the players hope it will help their cause and that of the women who will follow.
The Canadian Women’s National Soccer Team Players’ Association was created by a player vote last Thursday with captain Christine Sinclair, Diana Matheson, Erin McLeod and Ashley Lawrence chosen as player representatives for the next two years.
The four have 602 caps between them with veterans Sinclair, Matheson and McLeod accounting for all but 46.
The four player reps are authorized to speak for the membership.
“Personally for me and for the older players, it’s a big milestone,” said the 32-year-old Matheson who made her senior debut for Canada in March 2003.
“I think it was kind of a natural progression for us to get to this point but it took a lot of work ... So this is just the next step to allow us to be more organized, to have a united front, to be able to represent all the players in the program whether they’re in NCAA or they’re in the NWSL or in Europe.”
For Matheson, the most important round of negotiations is not the next one but the ones that follow.
“A really important part for us too is that this structure will be in place for the next generation …” she said.
The Canadian women say they have a good relationship with the Canadian Soccer Association.
The women are due to enter negotiations with the CSA in the coming weeks.