Few people are as familiar with Women's soccer in Canada than Amy Walsh. In the last 11 years, the Quebec native has been called into the National Team 102 times. She has worked from grassroots to the summit of the Game.

In an interview with CBC Sports on Tuesday, 8th February, Walsh expressed solidarity with her former teammates who are threatening to boycott matches leading up to the next World Cup in Germany. The National Team players fully support their coach, Carolina Morace. 

Although Amy spent only limited time playing under the leadership of Morace, she believes that the Italian has brought Canadian soccer to another level. 

"At the camp I attended, her coaching changed everything in terms of tactics," said Walsh. "She even changed the players' nutrition. It was a professional approach in every respect. One can now see, by the way they play, the players are confident and effective." 

At the heart of the grievance of the players is how the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA) has treated the Senior Women's Team. 

When Amy was asked if the coach had showed a lack of respect for the CSA, Walsh replied "No, not really. But this is tit for tat." 

"I spent many years trying to solve problems with the CSA. We tried to meet and sent letters. We never tried to have the same pay as the men. We did not want equality, but equity. We were never treated fairly. We wanted reasonable financial compensation and we have been trying to establish a collective bargaining agreement to last a few years." 
 

"For years, we have sought to create a contract that would pay us in a cycle," said Walsh. We wanted to establish a reasonable budget with the CSA. We know that there is a limited amount of money, but when our team qualifies for the Olympics or World Cup the COC and OTP and FIFA all give money to the Association to help with preparation." 

There should be equity for Men and Women's teams. Sport Canada Funding guidelines even mention this. "We want to be paid for every game like the men, says Walsh. We said that we would discuss amounts and compensation at Association meetings, but the CSA has consistently rejected the principle. It's downright disrespectful of the CSA. It's frustrating, patronizing, even disgusting." 

And this reality has bred resentment, and the feeling of being "second class players. Behind closed doors, we feel that the Board has not treated us the same as the Men's team. " 

 When asked if Canada was the only women's team in the world which has an overall budget bigger than the Men's team, Walsh replied," The budget may show this, although we have never received accurate figures, but the women, because of their success on the field, receive additional funding through the Olympic "Own the Podium" program, through COC and through Sport Canada.'

On February 5th, the CSA announced major changes to its governance system. The news was greeted with enthusiasm by many different observers. However, for Walsh, this is good news, but it will take more than a structural change to shake the culture of CSA members. 

"In light of my experiences in recent years, nothing tells me, as a former player, that they (the directors of the CSA) will do better this time," she says. And, the changes are to be made over four years.

In this context, we can look at the 1998 dispute surrounding the Beijing Olympic Games, when the Canadian National Women's team were paid nothing. 

"We never received any financial recognition for that achievement Walsh reiterated. We were forced to negotiate our playing fee for each event, whether it was qualifications for the World Cup or for the Olympics. The process is exhausting and distracting. And as a senior player, I negotiated for the team. 

"If we qualified for the 2008 Olympic Games, the CSA agreed to give the team $5,000. Then in July, when we wanted to negotiate an amount for the Olympics themselves, which was the process we had been following before, we were rebuffed. We asked for an agreement which would have allowed each player to receive an amount based on the results.

"The negotiations did not go very far! The CSA argued that the bonus of $5,000 from July would also cover the Beijing Olympics. "Lawyers' letters and numerous personal phone calls to Board members and executives of the Association changed nothing." 

"The CSA had the upper hand, and they knew we would not boycott the Olympics. We continued to fight, but we are now talking about the day before our first game. We have always had to fight tooth and nail for every cent we receive from the Association. " 

Are the women of the WNT acting like spoiled children? Certainly, the CSA says that our budgets are sufficient in the current context. They tell us that our budgets compare favorably with those of other nations. They tell us that we are blessed to be able to travel the world for games.

" It's sad when you think about it though, Walsh replies It would be wonderful if Canada could play WNT games at home in Canada before the World Cup in Germany? But they do not have the budget to put on such a match. They go to cheaper facilities in Europe to prepare. The players  must spend almost six months away from home for their preparation. The reason why the WNT has played so many games away in recent years is that countries that receive us, defray hosting costs. They pay to have us as adversaries." 

"Traveling the world and spending time away from family, friends, jobs is not wonderful. That's not it at all! "