At BC Place on January 19th, 2012, the CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying gets under way at the renovated stadium.

Anybody who watched the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup in Germany will know that the women’s games can be dazzlingly skillful with an open style of play that usually avoids the less than savory aspects of its male counterpart. And, while the Canadian team may have disappointed in Germany, they have a good chance of progressing to the 2012 London Olympics after being drawn in a group with Costa Rica, Cuba and Haiti.

In the pool and semi finals games tickets include access to the double-header and it’s not only a chance to show that Vancouver can support major international soccer events. It is more importantly, a chance to support a group of players who play soccer in a genuinely fun way. For example, can you imagine the apoplectic outrage if a men’s tournament required teams to play every two days?.

Fun or not though, these matches will matter immensely to everybody on the field. They should be fiercely competitive, and we all hope that when it is over, the Canadians can book their passage to London.

The Olympic ideal may not be what it once was, but compared to some of the current sleazy soap opera style news stories in men’s professional soccer, the Olympic torch once again resembles a faint beacon that emphasizes the better natures of the sporting world and, perhaps ironically, it is the women’s soccer tournament that makes that contrast even sharper.

You can find out about the tournament here.

I