What The Heart Wants

Heart-to-Heart (Part II)

After an intermission where Eric, Kiersten, and others from the Franklin Fountain dished up some of their shop's premium ice creams, those in attendance entered the auditorium for the second half of the evening's festivities.

Lauren Green: Welcome, everyone, to the African American Museum in Philadelphia. My name is Lauren Green and I am the Communications Director for the Hearts. You've all had a chance to get up-close-and-personal with a pair of our players and staff. Now, you have a chance to ask them questions that might make them squirm, might cause them to rip on each other, and might be more than you'd ever want to know about them. You had a chance when you came in tonight to submit questions for this part of the evening, either for a specific player, a specific panel, or in general. With that said, let's bring up the geriatric portion of the roster, as they are already out past their bedtime. Welcome Ali Krieger, Steph Labbe, Diana Matheson, Jen Hoy, assistant coach Carm Moscato, and goalkeeper coach Kristin Luckenbill.

The six women came up to the stage and took their seats. Lauren stood to the side and read off the first question. "This one is for Carm to start. What is the craziest thing either of your fellow Canadians has done?"

Carm: Oh boy! Steph, you are SO gonna get it. We were in Italy at training camp ahead of the 2011 Women's World Cup and Steph makes an impulse decision to get part of her head shaved. Melissa Tancredi and I went with her to a local salon and "encouraged" her in this endeavour. More like egged her on and made fun of her. There's a YouTube video of it if you want visual evidence.

Steph socked Carm in the arm. "Let's not forget on that same trip you needing me to spot you to do a 20 lb. bench press, and you only being able to do ONE!"

Diana: I'm glad my crew on that trip consisted of Sincy, Rhian, and Karina.

Lauren: The next one is sort of personal and since it possibly applies to all of you, I don't have a specific person to whom this is asked. What are the benefits and downfalls of "having feelings" for a current or former teammate?

The players took a few seconds to think over the question, then Jen led off.

Jen: Of the four players up here, I am probably the newest to this situation as my girlfriend and I started seeing each other in mid-December, after each of us had left the Red Stars. We're working through the ups and downs of being a couple who play for different teams that are close enough for us to have a fairly normal dating relationship. The biggest upside of being together with a teammate, either current or former, is the commonality of experience you have. Danny and I can talk about what happened during practice or what's happening behind the scenes and know that the other person gets it. As for downfall, I'm guessing it would be the inability to separate work from home, similar to any couple that works together. Ali, Steph, you want to jump in on this?

Ali: I have been in relationships with three teammates in my club career. The first two came to an end because of strife within the 24/7 universe of being together on and off the field. I was afraid to even acknowledge either Ariane or Ashlyn as someone significant to me because of the blow back I expected from the general soccer community. Things are different with Steph, but I know that there will be times when all won't be seashells and balloons. What caused Ash and I to grow distant could also get in the way of my relationship with her because goalkeepers and their defenders are quick to blame one another when results are less-than-satisfactory, but I'm committed to work it out with her to the best of my ability, because this one has an intense hold on me and I couldn't be happier to call her my partner.

Steph: Ali wrapped up what I would have said. She's the second teammate I've dated, so my experience from the first relationship is helping me be more trusting in this one, and her experience from being with Ashlyn I think gives us a firmer foundation to work through struggles that might come, because she knows how to deal with goalkeepers that are a bit tempermental. We also have two pairs on this team who are looking to us in a way to model how teammates keep their on-field issues from drifting into off-field ones. And of course, there's Carm to whack us BOTH In the head if we're being stupid.