When Kory Crawford, Redeemer鈥檚 Sports Complex Manager, answered his phone late in the evening on Monday, July 13, he didn鈥檛 realize the service he would end up providing his country.
Steve Sevor, Manager of Sport Development for the City of Hamilton called Kory seeking an indoor facility for Canada鈥檚 Pan Am Women鈥檚 Soccer team. The weather in Hamilton the next day was not looking good, and the team wanted a place to practice ahead of its game against Costa Rica on Wednesday.
Kory was only too happy to help. 鈥淲e have a very good relationship with the City of Hamilton,鈥 he says, 鈥渁nd they make use of our fields every spring. We worked closely with Sport Hamilton and Tourism Hamilton in the lead up to the Pan Am games with the hopes of having some of the teams practice here.
So even with the short notice, Redeemer was able to host the women鈥檚 team for their workout. Eighteen players, led by Coach Jon Herdman and backed up by a support staff of eight, took to the full-size soccer pitch for a two-hour practice.
Team Leader Kim Blake, from Vancouver, BC, has been coordinating logistics for Canada鈥檚 women soccer teams for several years. 鈥淚 have been in stadiums across the world,鈥 she says, 鈥渁nd this (Redeemer鈥檚) is truly a great facility. Even better than the facility itself was the service we received. I wish we could be here every day!鈥
鈥淲e鈥檙e glad that we could, even in some small way, support Canada鈥檚 Pan Am team,鈥 notes Crawford. 鈥淭his has also been a great opportunity for Redeemer to show off its world class soccer facilities to some of Canada’s top players and coaches. With two FIFA-regulated sized artificial turf playing fields鈥攐ne of which can be used year round鈥攖here are few facilities like it in Ontario, much less in Hamilton.鈥
The women鈥檚 tournament is being played at the new . For scores and schedules, visit the website.