Canada’s Men’s and Women’s soccer teams tend to fly under the radar. The lack of success of the Men’s team and the popularity of soccer in relation to other sports in Canada means that these teams that represent us spend little time in the limelight. Even the Women’s National Team, which has had recent high profile success, only has a couple of household names. But despite this there is a group that is dedicated to supporting our national soccer teams and that group is The Voyageurs.



The Voyageurs are one of the oddest and most unlikely groups of fans in Canadian sports. Soccer is a less popular sport in Canada but even soccer fans are more likely to cheer for a European team or domestic professional team. The National Teams play an irregular schedule that can see them go many months and sometimes years without playing a home game in a Canadian stadium. Access to games can be very difficult as many of them are not broadcast or the broadcast is on a channel to which few subscribe. The geography of Canada provides another barrier as massive distances separate people with similar interests.



Regardless, The Voyageurs manage to overcome most of these barriers and feed their passion. The internet helps overcome much of the distance barrier as people correspond online either through The Voyageurs online forum or on other social media platforms. Personal blogs, podcasts, and amateur news sites carry detailed news about the National Teams that the mainstream media often ignores. Word of mouth brings in more fans and widens the circle. Sometimes that results in a massive showing of 5000 Voyageurs filling the south end zone in Toronto and sometimes it results in six (exact count) Voyageurs arrayed against a railing in Winnipeg. For many, it is necessary to travel. Games in Canada often draw Voyageurs from across the country and games outside Canada can also see surprise travelling contingents.



All of these circumstances combine to create a group that despite distances is close knit, despite the lack of media coverage is well informed, and despite the lack of success is as passionate about the Canadian National Soccer Teams as any fan of any other sport. Here are a few stories from members of The Voyageurs. In the coming weeks and months, as the Women's World Cup continues and Russia 2018 qualifiers begin, it is a guarantee that more will be added.



Redemption in Montreal



It was early September and the Canadian Men’s National Team was playing their second World Cup Qualifier in an attempt to qualify for the 2010 World Cup. The first game, a home draw against Jamaica in Toronto was being followed up by a home game against Honduras in Montreal. As so often is the case with Canada supporters, there was a fair amount of angst. An early draw in a home game in your qualifying group is not a great way to start. Another poor result in Montreal would end Canada’s hopes very early on.



And, of course, everything went sideways. Canada not only lost 2-1 to Honduras but the crowd in Montreal was decidedly pro-Honduran leaving the gathering of Voyageurs out-attended, out-voiced, and with a game that felt more like a hostile away match. The Voyageurs in attendance came away feeling disenchanted.



But two years later Canada was playing in the same venue against the same opponent in a friendly. Admittedly this game was far less important and therefore less tense, but for Canadian fans, they were looking for a measure of revenge. The crowd of around 7000 was much more behind the home side and Canada went into the halftime break up 2-0. Later in the second half a thunderstorm rolled in, the game was delayed, and all of the fans were asked to leave the stands. Rather than call it a night, Voyageurs in attendance took refuge under the metal stands, joined together, and sung their lungs out until the game resumed. Despite the fact that they were in the same place where Honduras had all but ended Canada’s World Cup hopes two years prior, the mood was joyous. When the game resumed the usual nervousness about Honduras somehow pulling out a result set in, but the Canadian men hung on for a 2-1 victory.



Cuba



With the size of Canada there are many National Team supporters who realize that to support Canada you are going to need to travel. Travelling all the way to Cuba for a World Cup qualifier is an especially large commitment. But that’s exactly what a number of Voyageurs did during Canada’s 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign, making the trip to Havana to see Canada play their away fixture against Cuba.



For many of the crew, they only knew each other online and either hadn’t met or had spent little time together. A few resort days spent prior to the match gave people time to get to know one another and by the time game day came around, some fast friendships had been established.



Game day found The Voyageurs in familiar territory: outnumbered, out-voiced, and in hostile territory. Being that this is the norm rather than the exception, few were fazed. The full crowd of home fans seemed reasonably friendly but they still went to the washroom in pairs. The weather was extreme Carribean heat and humidity, so much so that the track around the field was melting.



And the game suffered a bit because of the weather, slowing down the play as the players coped with the heat. The Voyageurs’ attitude was win or lose, they were going to enjoy themselves. And the Canadian Men gave them lots to cheer about. Early on Dwayne DeRosario hit the post. And when Olivier Occean headed in David Edgar’s inch-perfect cross the Canadian fans went crazy, some even climbing the chain link fence in front of the stands in celebration. The Cubans had difficulty putting anything together going forward, and the Canadian contingent started to cheer ‘olé’ during a string of Canadian completed passes, but when the Cuban crowd started to grumble and shout at them, they stopped. In the end it was a rare away win for Canada, and a great start to their qualifying campaign (we won’t talk about how it ended). The icing on the cake was when several players came on The Voyageurs bus to thank them for making the trip.



The ‘Peg



Anytime Canada plays the United States in any sport there is going to be rivalry. When the Canadian Women’s National Team plays the US though it is intense, especially given their controversial meeting in the 2012 Olympics. With a brand new stadium in Winnipeg being the venue, decked out for soccer and looking fantastic, it was still a bit difficult knowing what to expect. It was a long time since Winnipeg had had a National Team soccer game. The number of Voyageurs and other fans had grown substantially in other cities that had seen more games but it soon became clear that this was going to be a big event in Winnipeg as over 28,000 tickets were sold.



The crowd was substantial but the supporter’s section looked pretty thin. There were five Voyageurs who made the trek from Saskatchewan and one who flew in from Edmonton. They were determined to do their best to get the crowd going anyway. The first job was to do some public relations with other fans in the same section but may not have realized what the plan was. It is always delicate when people want to sit back and enjoy the game and are not expecting a bunch of people jumping up and down and chanting right in front of or beside them.



As it turned out, there was nothing to worry about. At the start of the game, the six were making noise, but the rest of the crowd was quiet not really knowing when to cheer. Kadeisha Buchanan’s headed goal changed all of that and the crowd came to life. By halftime the small number in the supporter’s section had grown considerably. There was a crowd of people inquiring about how they could get in on the fun. A box of scarves that had been sent from Toronto quickly sold and several of the Voyageurs sold the scarves around their necks to others in the gathering crowd.



At the start of the second half, there were a lot more supporters in the section and they were loud, proud, and active. On several occasions, chants or songs that started in the section grew to the adjoining sections, then the bottom ring, and eventually the entire stadium. Unfortunately the US clawed back a goal but that hardly dinted the good time had by the few travellers and the much larger group of newly minted Winnipeg Voyageurs.



Bouncing Back



The Under 20 Women’s World Cup was held across Canada as a test event for the 2015 Women’s World Cup. Not only are these events an opportunity to see the next generation of soccer talent, for many Voyageurs the youth teams need support as much as the senior teams do, so this is a chance to get out and make your voice heard. In Canada’s first group stage match against Ghana in Toronto The Voyageurs presence was critical as there was a large gathering of Ghanaian fans threatening to turn the home match into an away match for the Canadians, an all too familiar event. And it was all too familiar as well when, despite dominating the play, Canada lost the opening game 1-0 on Ghana’s only real chance.



If the crowd was feeling dismal then, it only got worse in the second game as Canada’s opponents Finland notched two first half goals. Despite the pervasive feeling that Canada’s tournament was over The Voyageurs raised their voices.



Three-two! We’re going to win three-two!

Three-two! We’re going to win three-two!



Perhaps no one believed it except the Canadian women. Within the first few minutes of the second half Canada had tied the game and would eventually go on to win. During a raucous second half in the supporters section, voices were loud, in unison, and everyone joined in to cheer Canada to victory including the large contingent of Ghana fans in the neighbouring section and several youth girls teams who could be heard singing along and were seen high-fiving various Voyageurs after the game. Perhaps they will be joining the ranks in the not-too-distant-future.



Unfortunately successes like the one outlined above are a rare treat for the members of The Voyageurs. More often they are left lamenting difficult losses. If success for the National Teams was a critical part of supporting the National Teams, combined with all of the other barriers like lack of access, lack of coverage, and geography, the group likely would not exist.



But The Voyageurs seems to exist in part because of these difficulties. Passion finds a way. When you have no one nearby to discuss the National Teams you move online. If you are lucky enough to have a Canadian home game in your city, you bring three friends. When you are outnumbered at home or abroad, you embrace the underdog role. You commiserate a lot. And when a rare on-field success does happen you get to share it with a small group of people who have been through all of this just as you have. And the sharing of these experiences is what The Voyageurs are all about.



