The Wait Is Over

Spreading The News

Not long after Christie passed away, Yael called Steph in Vancouver. The goalie stepped out into the hallway to take the call so as not to awaken Shelina.

Steph: Hi, dear. What has you calling me at 1 in the morning?

Yael: Christie died about a half hour ago. I needed to hear your voice and have your comforting ear on the other end.

Steph: I'm so sorry. I wish I were there to hold you and Deb. Who was there when the time came?

Yael: Me, Hayo, Carli and Jill, Tobin and Meghan, Reece, Rylie, and Chris, Becky, Kate.

Steph: Sounds like a good crew, all the big people in her life from the Nats and the pros.

Yael: Will you be able to come to the funeral on Monday?

Steph: I can try. We have a 26-person camp, but only three keepers and if Kailen and I both go to Jersey, that creates a problem.

Yael: Right. Sophie will probably want to go as well, and Shelina might as official representative of your national team, like when the President or Prime Minister attends the funerals of fellow world leaders. Numbers-wise, you should be able to manage. Can KK possibly serve as emergency backup behind Sabrina so both of you can come?

Steph: I'll talk to Rhian before I announce it to the team and see what her opinion is.

Yael: You should get some sleep, as should we here. I love you, Steph, and I want you by my side for this.

Steph: I love you so much, Yael, and I'll do my best to get released after the Saturday game. In the meantime, rely on Heather. I know the two of you are tight and she's probably the best substitute to having me there right now.

Yael: Thanks, love. Go and sleep, and we'll talk later today when you have more info about possibly coming and we find out who from the US National Team will be coming.

***

At breakfast, assistant coach Joy Fawcett asked for quiet to make an announcement. She began as tears flooded down her face.

Joy: Cap is gone. Passed away around 2:30 this morning. The funeral is on Monday. Laura and I will discuss later this morning what we plan to do in this situation. Alyssa and Christen, join us after breakfast as I think we should get your opinion since you have recent experience with such a thing.

Alyssa: Sure, Joy.

Christen: OK.

Near the back of the room, Julie was bawling over the news. Christen, who swore that she'd avoid her during this camp, couldn't allow her to grieve this on her own and she went back to ask her if they could step outside for a few minutes. Once outside the room, Julie wrapped her arms around Christen and cried into her shoulder. The forward held her tightly and let her take her time to pour out her pain and sorrow.

After about 15 minutes, Christen and Julie went back in and finished breakfast. When the group broke up, Julie went with Moe and Crystal to prepare for training and to console one another. Alyssa and Christen met with Laura and Joy to discuss options for handling the next several days.

Laura (to Alyssa and Christen): Joy tells me that the two of you dealt with a similar circumstance during the NWSL Cup in March. Fill me in on it and how things were handled.

Alyssa: One of our former assistant coaches, Vanessa DiBernardo's father Angelo, died of a heart attack on the first day of the tournament. The schedule of services made it so that we could play our other two round-robin games before leaving as a group on Thursday morning for Chicago, where we trained upon landing and then attended the visitation afterward and the funeral on Friday morning before flying back to Orlando that afternoon to prepare for Saturday's tournament final against Boston. The league also allowed anyone from the other seven teams who wanted to come up with us to do so.

Christen: Julie, I, and a few others went with the Red Stars to Chicago, and we were appreciative of the league allowing it to happen.

Joy: Laura and I talked about a few options and we want to run them by you to see if you think any of them would be good ideas for handling this. The list, in no particular order are: 1) Cancel the second match against Norway; 2) Do like Chicago did for Angelo's services and fly out as a team the day of, then red-eye up to Minneapolis after the funeral; 3) Deal with it on a player-by-player basis and call up replacements if we get too low in the numbers; 4) The second choice, but stay over and then fly to Minneapolis the day of the match.

Christen: I know that Vanessa and Sofia had to stay behind an extra day for the burial and made it to the stadium for the final maybe 20 minutes before game time, so that option is available, although it probably won't be as tight since the game is a 7pm start as opposed to 3pm Chicago time. Red-eyeing into Minneapolis is also a legitimate choice because players can sleep a bit on the plane, then get a full night's rest of sorts once we're at the hotel, but that would mean rushing out after the funeral.

Alyssa: We talk a lot in national team circles about legacy and how each generation of players owes it to the ones before them to play with honor, integrity, and to carry the banner for women's soccer in this country. I think in this situation, we need to go as a full team, all 24 of us along with whoever's sigs are here in town, such as Ness, Kristie, and Katie Naughton. I think it might make more sense to stay over and then fly out early on Tuesday than be rushed on Monday night following the funeral. In that vein, I think we need to bring our Cap in here and have her weigh in as well as rally the troops if we go with the full team option.

Laura: That makes sense. Joy, can you try to find Julie and bring her back with you?

Joy left and went searching for Julie, finding her in her and Morgan's room with Crystal. The pair returned to the meeting room and Laura informed her about Alyssa's input and asked if she would lead the masses in getting behind the Monday-Tuesday flying option as a tribute to her predecessor. Julie stated that she would be honored to do that and would make the pitch during lunch.

***

After a fitful night of sleep, Steph woke up and told Shelina what had transpired overnight. The two embraced for a while before leaving the room to find Rhian and tell her about Christie's death. Once the coach had taken a couple of moments to accept the news, the three talked about how to break it to the team and what to do if players wanted to attend. It was decided that Steph would make the announcement and that anyone interested in attending Christie's services see Rhian or Carm by Saturday morning so arrangements could be made for additional call-ups and flights out of Vancouver for New Jersey. They also decided that Carm should contact Joy about the US team's plans and that Steph should contact Kyah in the Aussies' camp to pass the word along.

***

The run-down of arrangements for travel to/from New Jersey for Christie's visitation and funeral:

* The US team and staff will stay in Chicago on Sunday and fly out on Monday morning at 9:02am, landing in Newark at 12:13pm.

* The Canadians and Australians who choose to attend will leave Vancouver on Sunday at 11:10am and arrive in Chicago at 5:10pm, then fly with the US squad to Newark on Monday morning.

* The Americans, Canadians, and Australians will fly from Newark to Minneapolis on Tuesday morning, leaving at 8:25am and arriving at 10:32am. The flight from Minneapolis to Edmonton departs at 11:45am and arrives at 1:51pm.