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Canada needs to embrace being the host team at FIFA Women's World Cup

(Left to right) Kaylyn Kyle, Erin McLeod and Britanny Timko from the 2012 Olympic bronze medal soccer team wave the Maple Leaf at the Canadian Olympic Heroes Parade in downtown Toronto, September 21, 2012. COC photo by Jenna Muirhead

By Nolan Thiessen

Christine Sinclair, Melissa Tancredi, Erin McLeod, Kadeisha Buchanan.

Pat Simmons, John Morris, Carter Rycroft, Nolan Thiessen.

Seldom, if ever, do you see members of the Canadian women’s soccer team and the Canadian men’s curling team mentioned in the same breath. On the eve of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, however, Sinclair and her teammates are undoubtedly feeling the same nervousness, excitement and pressure of playing on home soil that we felt before the World Men’s Curling Championships in Halifax this past April.

The bronze-medal performance by the women at the London Olympics three years ago increases the expectations for them in this tournament. Those expectations, and the pressure that comes from them, will be amplified by the pressure of playing in front of Canadian crowds . As an elite level curler who has worn the Maple Leaf both overseas and on home soil, the pressure of playing at home is often greater than the pressure of expectations.

The pressure of expectations is often a media-created storyline. Most athletes that have the drive and talent to compete for a world title have placed great expectations on themselves for way longer than they have ever been in the public eye. My first World Championship in 2010 in Cortina, Italy was not the first time that I put pressure on myself to perform at a high level on a big stage. My team had been ranked in the top four in the world for the four years prior. We felt like we belonged and could compete with any team on any day. Just because the Maple Leaf was finally on our backs didn’t mean we all of a sudden felt like we needed to perform.

The pressure of playing at home was an entirely different experience though. In April I competed my third World Championship, but my first as the home rink.

Canada skip Pat Simmons celebrates with his team John Morris (L), Carter Rycroft (2nd L), and Nolan Thiessen (R) after defeating the U.S. during the second draw of the World Men's Curling Championships in Halifax, Nova Scotia, March 28, 2015. REUTERS/Mark Blinch
Canada skip Pat Simmons celebrates with his team John Morris (L), Carter Rycroft (2nd L), and Nolan Thiessen (R) after defeating the U.S. during the second draw of the World Men's Curling Championships in Halifax, Nova Scotia, March 28, 2015. REUTERS/Mark Blinch

Two things stood out from our bronze-medal performance in Halifax. The first is the rush of adrenaline from the entire experience. Your heart starts going when you are first introduced. Then another spike in your heartbeat happens when you begin your pregame practice, but that excitement hits a boiling point when the PA announcer says “And now … Team CANADA!!!”.

I remember feeling something totally new when our team was introduced in front of all the flag-waving Haligonians. As that noise rolled over top of me a thought popped into my mind: “We need to win here for these people”. The pressure of playing at home hit me right between the eyes. It was something I had never felt.

HAMILTON, CANADA - MAY 29: Christine Sinclair #12 of Canada celebrates their victory against England during their Womenâs International Friendly match on May 29, 2015 at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)
HAMILTON, CANADA - MAY 29: Christine Sinclair #12 of Canada celebrates their victory against England during their Womenâs International Friendly match on May 29, 2015 at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)

Being at home also lent a certain urgency to getting off to a quick start. After the huge ovation to start the game, I could feel that all the fans wanted to do was cheer. Similar to the Canadian women’s first game against China, our first battle of the World Championships took place on a Saturday. I imagine Edmonton fans won’t be much different in that there will have been a few beverages consumed by the adult contingent before the game and that will no doubt make things a little louder inside Commonwealth Stadium when the Canadian and Chinese teams walk onto the pitch at around 4 p.m. MT.

We got off to a slow start in our opening game, and we could feel the fans trying to get us going. The pressure of wanting to satisfy the fans desire to cheer was new to me. We had a choice - succumb to that pressure or use it as fuel to try and get back into the game. We knew that a couple of big shots would energize the crowd and perhaps cause our opponents to tighten up.

We used that energy from the fans and didn’t give up throughout the game, scoring three in the ninth end and another in the extra end for a win over the United States. When Pat’s last rock settled into the four-foot for the victory, the fans showed us their appreciation with an ovation that was darn close to the one we got in Calgary a few weeks earlier when we won the Tim Hortons Brier. Remembering that moment sends shivers down my spine.

Sinclair and Co. will want to use that fuel from the home supporters on Saturday. Embracing that desire to give the fans something to cheer about, finding a way to feed the beast in the stands, and then letting the fans’ energy take you home.

Canadian coach John Herdman said as much this week:

“We have to look at it only as an advantage and see the opportunity,” Herdman told TSN.ca. “People have tried to highlight the curse of playing at home and the pressure. The reality is that it can only be an advantage, we know Canada loves this team, they turn out to watch them through thick and thin.”

Now as long as that Norwegian ref isn’t assigned to the first game . . . .

Nolan Thiessen is the lead for the Pat Simmons rink, the 2015 Tim Hortons Brier champions. Thiessen is a three-time Canadian champion, one-time world champion and curled in the 2003 World University Games for Canada winning a Gold Medal. The Pilot Mound, Man., native competed for his home province as a baseball player at the 2001 Canada Summer Games after returning from Texas where he was a collegiate baseball player.

You can follow him on Twitter @nolancurling34 and Instagram @nolancurling34.