March 17, 2009 Sports

Pondering her future

Stingers forward Karen Stewart looks back on another disappointing soccer season and her break from the sport

by Johnny North

Concordia women's soccer forward Karen Stewart.
PHOTO Brooks Yardley

“I can’t really give you an explanation as to why it turned out that way [...] There’s nobody that stands out and takes charge of the team. Everyone is just at the same level, show up do the work, there’s no progress.” —Karen Stewart

The first time I met Karen Stewart she was too drunk to remember it. Three years later she’s still smiling from ear to ear, but for a different reason.

“The first two seasons were cool and new,” she said. “I used to be a bartender, it was a part of the lifestyle. Now I just stick back home, I go to class, I go to work as a receptionist, then [I go] home with my dog.”

Following three disappointing seasons with the Concordia Stingers women’s soccer team, Stewart, a 5’4” forward and third-year Human Relations student, has taken a break from playing soccer. She isn’t playing with the team during their current indoor season for a number of reasons, including nagging injuries.

“I’m taking care of injuries, throughout the years I’ve been neglecting injuries. My right hip and my groin are really bad,” she said. “I got sciatic nerve pain that’s all linked in my joints. I’ve had doctors look at it, had x-rays and had therapy. I’m taking it easy right now, just playing ringette. Which is good, I found a new love in playing a new sport.

“For three years I was just soccer, soccer, soccer. Not that I wasn’t enjoying myself, but it felt like soccer was something I had to [do] instead of enjoying doing it. Concentrating on one thing alone is very tiring, you need new things to spice up your life. Ringette did that, it’s not really running, just gliding.”

Stewart played soccer competitively at Lindsay Place High School in the West Island and in CEGEP with John Abbott before coming to Con U in 2006. It was her lifelong dream to play soccer at the university level.

“She is very focused,” said Jorge Sanchez, head coach of the Stingers women’s soccer team. “Her work ethic is something everyone could follow.”

“She’s always been sports-oriented, playing on elite teams and excelling with them,” said Donald Stewart, Karen’s father. He cites her three brothers, two of them older than her, as influencing her athletic ability, pushing her to work hard on her game and improve her abilities.

“She is probably the best athlete in the whole family.”

“I love team sports,” she said. “I love all the aspects of it. I love the girls, I love the competitiveness, the team unity.”

The Stingers’ 2008 outdoor season was filled with high expectations for Stewart, but considering the Stingers ended the season (1-11-2) with one win they definitely fell short of reaching them.

“I can’t really give you an explanation as to why it turned out that way,” she says. “There’s so many reasons, so many factors. There’s so many different personalities, there were some that weren’t as committed […] There’s nobody that stands out and takes charge of the team. Everyone is just at the same level, show up do the work, there’s no progress.”

For Stewart, the Con U sports athletics department have done an excellent job providing the team with field and gym time.

“[The current sports complex] portrays Concordia’s view on athletics, because if you go to any university that’s high-standing, it’s very devoted to athletics. [L’université de] Sherbrooke is nuts. It blows our complex out of the water. You just wonder how much money goes into it. What kind of a stadium doesn’t have real stands? I understand that Concordia has come a long way from what they used to be with the athletics and I guess it’s baby steps.

“We are going in the right direction, I just hope the dome happens, because it will save Concordia money. We won’t have to rent out training facilities. If we had a dome we could host tournaments, we could have half the teams that practice [off campus] come here.”

During her time away from soccer Stewart has focused on her academic career, taking Education classes in order to build up a possible minor in the program. While the classes haven’t been exciting for her she hopes to be involved with kids after graduation, teaching them to stay active.

“I would love to be a gym teacher—I’ve done sports my whole life. Considering the epidemic with obesity, I would love to introduce physical activity. I’ve worked with kids my whole life, maybe I’ll do it… you never know. I don’t even know what I want to do in my life. Right now I’m just concentrating on graduating.

“I find kids need role models because there’s a lot that kids deal with these days. I always said I wanted to be a high school teacher. Dealing with high school kids now, they’re punks. They are not nice people, they don’t respect authority, it’s just a different life these days. Kids at 12 years old know a little more than I [did] when I was 16-17, everything is accessible [on the Internet] to them.”

Stewart will be returning to Concordia university next year to complete her academic career, but is not sure yet if she will be playing for the Stingers. Setbacks over the years are making her think twice about her decision.

“I’d love to come back, but after so many disappointing seasons it’s hard to come back. There are several factors, what girls come back, how the recruiting goes. I haven’t really thought about it because I was so aggravated after this season that I just needed a break.

“I don’t care who’s on the team, I don’t want to go there as a leisure thing, I want to be competitive. If we’re not going to be competitive, I’m not going to give them the time. I’d love to come back, I just want it to be competitive.”