Soccer veteran Scott hangs up cleats in Winnipeg where historic career all started
One hundred and eighty-eight.
There are a lot of numbers that have helped write the storied career of Desiree Scott, but that one will perhaps mean the most to the Winnipeg-born midfielder when it's all said and done.
It's the number of international caps that the 37-year-old will have logged when time is called on the Canadian Women's National Team's friendly against Haiti at Princess Auto Stadium on Saturday (1 p.m.).
BROOK JONES / FREE PRESS
Desiree Scott practices at Princess Auto Stadium ahead of Saturday's international friendly against Haiti.
No. 188 will be at home, and it will be her last.
'There's been a lot of games,' Scott said Friday after Team Canada's training session. 'I look back at my career, and you don't see the things we have gone through… with the team until you can take a step back. For me, it's all about a celebration. It's about another opportunity to wear the Red and White and just enjoy the moment out there with my team.'
Scott's international career, which began in 2010, will end with the fourth-most caps by a Canadian and tied with Hege Riise (Denmark) and Laura Georges (France) for the 40th most all time.
'I think it's bittersweet. This team has been my life for the last 14 years. It's obviously changed a lot over the last 14 years, as well, with a lot of the veteran players retiring, but there's still a solid core group that I've devoted the last 10 years with,' she said.
'So I'm really just soaking up those moments in my hotel — the meals, sharing some laughs, and just reminiscing on the past, and looking forward to this game tomorrow.'
Affectionately known as 'The Destroyer' due to her defensive prowess, Scott announced in April she would retire from international play, with Saturday's game in her hometown marking her send-off. No. 7-ranked Canada and No. 51 Haiti will play again on June 3 at Montreal's Stade Saputo.
Scott will ride off as one of Canada's most decorated women's soccer players ever, having represented the country at four Olympic Games while earning bronze at London 2012 and Rio 2016, respectively, and gold at Tokyo 2020.
She is one of three players to win three consecutive Olympic medals.
'I think there's no greater honour than representing your country. I think we don't realize how special that is until you're no longer putting on that jersey and walking around with the Maple Leaf on your chest,' Scott said.
'One of my best memories is beating the Americans in Tokyo in that semifinal to then go on to win gold. I mean, that's what dreams are made of, and to see the rise of this team and its success and to be on that journey, playing and having a hand in it, has been my greatest joy.'
Scott estimates there will be 200 close family and friends in attendance for the match. She's had a few moments to catch up with loved ones since the team has been in town, but much of her time has been spent preparing for the last hurrah.
BROOK JONES / FREE PRESS
Desiree Scott's final international game on Saturday will be her 188th cap.
That Scott has remained one of the hardest workers on the team comes as no surprise to her teammates. Captain Jessie Fleming credited the 14-year veteran's consistency on and off the pitch, noting she's as reliable as they come.
'Just happy that we get the opportunity to properly celebrate Desi,' said Fleming, who joined the team in 2013. 'I mean, she loves her city, she loves where she comes from, she's constantly talking about Winnipeg, so I think it's special that we're here in her hometown and get to send her off properly. She deserves a proper send-off.'
Scott grew up playing for the Maples Cougars and FC Northwest, and was later a star for the University of Manitoba Bisons, where she was named Canada West Rookie of the Year in 2005, twice a conference All-Star and an All-Canadian in 2009.
Scott still holds the Bisons' program records for the most career points (56) and assists (31). In 2019, she was inducted into the Canada West Hall of Fame.
Since joining the CWNT, Scott's influence has been more than a few timely interceptions. Players have looked to her as a coach, mentor and big sister when they are together.
'I think Des has influenced a lot of players that you see on the team now,' said Fleming. 'Right from the minute that a new player comes on the team, myself included, she's just like an older sister. She makes you feel welcome, makes you feel valued on the pitch, she hypes up the little moments on the pitch. And so I think she's really one of the people who have created that culture on our team, and that culture still exists today, and that's because of people like Desi.'
There has been a looming sense of sadness in the days leading up to Saturday's contest, with the finality of a sensational career as real as ever. But there is also a sense of celebration, as Scott and her teammates reminisce on some of their best moments together, such as the dance parties they would have in hotel rooms to pass the time.
'We're super excited. What Desi's done for the game and what she embodies as a Canadian player is something we're really proud of. So, to give her some recognition tomorrow and to send her off in the best way is something we want to make sure we do right,' said assistant coach Natalie Henderson, who will fill in as head coach for Casey Stoney as she tends to a family matter at home.
'I think myself, I haven't coached Desi for a long time, (but) even just the way she's been in the environment over the last few days tells you everything you need to know. She's a great soccer player, which we know she's had an incredible career… but more important, just the type of person she is and how she's been with the young players in camp. She's an inspiration to us all.'
Scott announced her retirement from the club and national level last October after 10 seasons in the National Women's Soccer League. It appeared to be the right time for her after missing the entire 2023 season with a knee injury and then being used sparingly with the Kansas City Current upon returning to action.
BROOK JONES / FREE PRESS
Desiree Scott's international career will end with the fourth-most caps by a Canadian and include three Olympic medals: two bronzes in London 2012 and Rio 2016, and gold at Tokyo 2020.
In January, however, she was whisked out of retirement and signed with the Ottawa Rapid FC of the upstart Northern Super League.
Scott, who will continue to play in the NSL for the remainder of its inaugural season, has logged 397 minutes and notched one goal and one assist in five contests with the Rapid — including the game-winning goal in the team's regular-season opener in April.
Thursdays
Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter.
Most importantly, she's loving every second of it.
'It's been a treat to help bring something from the ground up and have a hand and continue to have an impact. I think that's one of the main reasons why I chose Ottawa is where I can have the most impact and continue to have impact in Canada, in a league that's long been talked about and needed in this country,' Scott said.
'So, the fact that I can still help play in it and inspire that next generation, help my teammates with all the knowledge I've gained over the years, it's a special way to continue on.'
joshua.frey-sam@freepress.mb.ca
X: @jfreysam
Joshua Frey-SamReporter
Josh Frey-Sam reports on sports and business at the Free Press. Josh got his start at the paper in 2022, just weeks after graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College. He reports primarily on amateur teams and athletes in sports. Read more about Josh.
Every piece of reporting Josh produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Global News
an hour ago
- Global News
Canadian stars ready to take NBA final by storm. It wasn't always like this
For the second straight year, there will be four Canadians taking the court when the NBA Finals tip off Thursday night, but the Canadian content in this year's showdown between the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder is very different from that of 2024. In last year's finals, Canada was represented on the victorious Boston Celtics by Torontonian Oshae Brissett, while A.J. Lawson and Dwight Powell, also from Toronto, suited up for the Dallas Mavericks alongside Montreal native Olivier-Maxence Prosper. Those four players are not exactly household names and were, for the most part, depth at the end of the bench. Fast forward to Thursday night and you will see the Thunder being led by recently crowned NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Hamilton alongside Montreal native Luguentz Dort, one of the best defenders in the game. At the other end of the floor, Aurora, Ont.'s Andrew Nembhard starts for the Pacers, while Bennedict Mathurin of Montreal plays a key role off the bench for the Pacers. Story continues below advertisement At least two of these players will win a title this year, joining Brissett and nine other Canadians who can boast that fact on their resume. And going forward, they all could play a key role for the Canadian men's national squad, a team that seems to be growing deeper yearly. The man who runs Canada's senior men's teams, Rowan Barrett, was once considered the best high school player in Toronto, before going on to star at NCAA basketball power St. John's in the early '90s. His move south of the border for college came at a time when, outside of former Chicago Bulls centre Bill Wennington, there were very few Canadians playing at the highest level of college, let alone in the NBA. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy But things began to change after Barrett's time at St. John's. While he was professionally around the globe with stints in France, Spain and Brazil in a decade-long professional career, he began to first notice a change in the Canadian landscape when he was coming home after each season abroad. 'Where there was always just hockey nets on the driveways as you're flying in, you could see the basketball hoops,' he said. 'All of a sudden, there were more and more basketball hoops on the driveways and I just think the participation level grew.' Around the same time, the Toronto Raptors and Vancouver Grizzlies brought the NBA to Canada, and while the latter's time out west was short-lived, it still had an effect on future Canadian ballers. Story continues below advertisement 'You have heard it, I think from a number of our players, saying they went down to the Raptor game, they went out to the Grizzly games, and they realized, 'OK, this is who I am as an athlete,'' Barrett said. Barrett said another factor in the Canadian growth was the explosion in the number of clubs playing basketball. While many were just playing in high school programs in the winter, kids began to also play for clubs in the summer and would travel to the U.S., which has allowed them to get increased exposure and hone their skills. 'I think it's vitally important to have clubs that are there to receive those players that want to play and grow and more and more coaches out there trying to help,' Barrett said. Plus, the internet has brought the world together, including those involved in basketball. 'I think the internet impacts things too, because now you can look and see another player your age and what they're doing in Indiana or in New York. It's not the first time you're seeing them sometimes or hearing about them,' he said. Barrett also credited provincial programs for their efforts, while noting that over the past decade, Canada Basketball has increased its investment in youth programs. Story continues below advertisement 'We've put much more resources into the youth ages than we did previously,' he said. 'To uncover them, to put programming there, to help to guide them and stream them, get to their parents earlier, give them advice, support them. And I think you see less and less kind of falling through the cracks.' Of course, Canadians often tout the fact that basketball was invented by one of our own, but the sport has been dominated by our American neighbours, which plays a role in the growth here as well. 'We're one of the best countries in the world for talent in and of ourselves and additionally, we're right beside the country that is the number one for producing NBA players in the world,' Barrett said. 'I think it's just a rich mix of things, kind of altogether, that is helping our players to get to these levels.'
Vancouver Sun
2 hours ago
- Vancouver Sun
After former Leafs and Blue Jays players, CRA now goes after ex-Raptors star Norman Powell
OTTAWA — On Feb. 4, 2022, former Toronto Raptors star guard Norman Powell received two pieces of news that would have a major impact on his life. The first was from his agent telling him that he was part of a blockbuster trade that sent him from the Portland Trail Blazers to the Los Angeles Clippers. The second was from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) claiming over $1.2 million in additional income tax on 'inducements' paid by the Raptors in 2019 and 2020 to attract the star two-way guard to the surging Toronto team. Powell, who was part of the Raptors' 2019 championship team, is now appealing the CRA's decision in the Tax Court of Canada. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. Powell's faceoff with the tax agency is over the same issue as ex-Toronto Maple Leafs Patrick Marleau and John Tavares , namely that his nearly $7 million in signing inducements should be taxed at only 15 per cent and not at the top income tax bracket (over 50 per cent). A key question for the court to determine is if the inducement offered by the Raptors Powell's contract to entice him to Toronto fits the definition of an 'inducement' under the U.S.-Canada treaty that sets the tax rate at 15 per cent. Powell says yes, but the CRA says no. The case, like Marleau and Tavares', could have a significant impact on how Canadian professional sports teams use signing bonuses or salary inducements as a tax incentive to attract foreign athletes to Canada instead of lower-taxed American organizations. Powell's lawsuit argues that the millions in inducements he signed with the Raptors to attract him to Toronto are covered by provisions of a Canada-U.S. tax treaty which set the tax rate for an 'inducement to sign an agreement' at 15 per cent. 'The Toronto Raptors and the Appellant (Powell) both understood that the Inducement was a key component of the Appellant's decision to sign' with the Canadian team, reads the appeal. But, per Powell, the CRA disagreed. On Feb. 4, 2022, the agency issued notices of assessment to him for 2019 and 2020 that taxed his inducement payments at the ordinary federal and provincial income tax rates (likely over 50 per cent) instead of 15 per cent. 'The Toronto Raptors agreed to pay the Inducement to entice the Appellant 'to sign an agreement relating to the performance of' his services as an 'athlete',' Powell wrote, saying that CRA's arguing otherwise is 'to distort the legal and economic reality' of his contract with the Raptors. Powell objected to the CRA, which he says accepted his objections 'in full' on March 1, 2024. But then to Powell's surprise, six days later the CRA issued a reassessment that once again considered his inducements to be taxable at the full federal and provincial tax rates instead of 15 per cent. Even more confusing is that one year later, the CRA 'admitted and agreed' that the $7 million paid by the Raptors to Powell in 2019 and 2020 were in fact 'an inducement… to choose the Toronto Raptors' under the terms of his NBA contract, his lawsuit states. 'The CRA has admitted that the Inducement was paid to the Appellant as an inducement for him to choose the Toronto Raptors. This should conclude the analysis,' reads his appeal. In his lawsuit, Powell says the CRA made essentially the exact same arguments as they did in Tavares' and Marleau's cases without considering the differences between an NBA and NHL contract. His appeal suggests that CRA copied its findings in the Tavares and Marleau cases and applied them to Powell, who plays a different sport in a different league with different player contracts. 'The position adopted by the (CRA) has been shaped following an audit conducted on an NHL player who received an inducement as per the terms outlined in his employment agreement. Subsequently, the (CRA) improperly extended the conclusions drawn from this particular NHL case to the Appellant' without considering the specificities of his NBA contract, Powell argued. Both the CRA and Powell's counsel, Marie-France Dompierre, declined to comment as the case is ongoing. The tax agency has not filed a statement of defence in court. National Post has published a series of reports since 2024 detailing tax battles between former star players of Toronto's three largest professional sports teams and the CRA. Other than its fights with Powell, Tavares and Marleau, the CRA also battled ex-Maple Leaf Jake Muzzin over the tax rate imposed on his signing bonus in 2020. The CRA also launched battles in 2023 with ex-Toronto Blue Jays all-stars José Bautista, Josh Donaldson and Russell Martin over multimillion tax bills. Late last year, the Tax Court ruled in favour of Donaldson and Martin, arguing that the CRA's calculation of their income tax owing was 'faulty.' cnardi@ National Post Get more deep-dive National Post political coverage and analysis in your inbox with the Political Hack newsletter, where Ottawa bureau chief Stuart Thomson and political analyst Tasha Kheiriddin get at what's really going on behind the scenes on Parliament Hill every Wednesday and Friday, exclusively for subscribers. Sign up here . Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here .
Calgary Herald
2 hours ago
- Calgary Herald
After former Leafs and Blue Jays players, CRA now goes after ex-Raptors star Norman Powell
OTTAWA — On Feb. 4, 2022, former Toronto Raptors star guard Norman Powell received two pieces of news that would have a major impact on his life. Article content The first was from his agent telling him that he was part of a blockbuster trade that sent him from the Portland Trail Blazers to the Los Angeles Clippers. Article content Article content The second was from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) claiming over $1.2 million in additional income tax on 'inducements' paid by the Raptors in 2019 and 2020 to attract the star two-way guard to the surging Toronto team. Article content Article content Powell, who was part of the Raptors' 2019 championship team, is now appealing the CRA's decision in the Tax Court of Canada. Article content Article content Powell's faceoff with the tax agency is over the same issue as ex-Toronto Maple Leafs Patrick Marleau and John Tavares, namely that his nearly $7 million in signing inducements should be taxed at only 15 per cent and not at the top income tax bracket (over 50 per cent). Article content A key question for the court to determine is if the inducement offered by the Raptors Powell's contract to entice him to Toronto fits the definition of an 'inducement' under the U.S.-Canada treaty that sets the tax rate at 15 per cent. Article content The case, like Marleau and Tavares', could have a significant impact on how Canadian professional sports teams use signing bonuses or salary inducements as a tax incentive to attract foreign athletes to Canada instead of lower-taxed American organizations. Article content Article content Powell's lawsuit argues that the millions in inducements he signed with the Raptors to attract him to Toronto are covered by provisions of a Canada-U.S. tax treaty which set the tax rate for an 'inducement to sign an agreement' at 15 per cent. Article content Article content 'The Toronto Raptors and the Appellant (Powell) both understood that the Inducement was a key component of the Appellant's decision to sign' with the Canadian team, reads the appeal. Article content But, per Powell, the CRA disagreed. On Feb. 4, 2022, the agency issued notices of assessment to him for 2019 and 2020 that taxed his inducement payments at the ordinary federal and provincial income tax rates (likely over 50 per cent) instead of 15 per cent. Article content 'The Toronto Raptors agreed to pay the Inducement to entice the Appellant 'to sign an agreement relating to the performance of' his services as an 'athlete',' Powell wrote, saying that CRA's arguing otherwise is 'to distort the legal and economic reality' of his contract with the Raptors.
