The North Shore Girls Soccer Club has barred all of its youth teams from any cross-border tournaments, lest any of their players be detained at the border or turned away.
The club’s board reached the decision earlier this month after studying the matter since January when the Trump administration in the U.S. issued a 90-day ban on all travellers who hold citizenship from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. After that ban was suspended by the courts, a second similar one followed in March. That ban was also temporarily suspended by judges and is being fought in U.S. courts.
“(The girls soccer club) has players and families who hold a wide variety of citizenships, some of whom may be directly affected by both of these orders,” stated a message from the board to club members. The soccer club “takes the safety and security of its young players, both physical and mental, very seriously,” the message stated, and the club “has an obligation to not knowingly put its young players into harm’s way.”
The club’s withdrawal from U.S. play will apply to at least 10 teams planning cross-border trips out of roughly 250 teams in the club, but it was necessary to protect those players, said club president Tony Bacchus.
“There are travel bans in existence that could potentially create problems for some of the players and, again, we see evidence already of people who are being turned away at the border, obviously much more so than they were before. We just don’t want to put young girls in those situations,” he said. “You can imagine how embarrassing it might be for that person or how difficult it might be for that individual to handle, especially at a young age.”
The Girl Guides of Canada made a similar decision on March 13.
The decision shouldn’t be interpreted as an act of political protest, Bacchus added.
“It’s all about protecting our players in those situations and not placing them in any compromising situation. That’s what it’s about for us. There is absolutely no political basis behind the decision whatsoever,” he said.
The club’s adult teams will still be free to schedule games in the U.S. and the club will review the ban after four months, Bacchus said.
The response from parents and coaches has been almost universally supportive, with only a few instances of blowback, according to club technical director Jesse Symons.
“I think always, you’re going to get a little bit of that but then I think real life plays into it a bit and they see we can go to tournaments in Kamloops or Surrey or somewhere else and not worry about a trip (to the U.S.) until travel bans may be lifted,” he said. “It’s more about focusing on the whole of the club, not just parts. I think the club has really stood up well in this situation for any members that may be unable to go to the U.S. right now just because of their citizenship.”
Vancouver immigration lawyer Zool Suleman said there is merit to the club’s concerns, especially with so much uncertainty and inconsistency at border crossings.
“What kind of message does it send when a young girl who is involved in soccer or the Girl Guides is pulled aside and questioned, or her parents are questioned or chaperone is questioned, while other people can go through? The message being sent is that this person is being targeted. This person is the cause of suspicion. This person is being stigmatized,” he said. “And even if they’re let in, when they come back to Canada, the stigmatization lasts and the kind of targeting doesn’t go away and that kind of discrimination can last for a very long time. I think it’s actually wise on behalf of organizations that represent young people to be extremely cautious when they travel or are thinking of travelling to the United States because the long-term implications will outlive that trip if somebody is targeted.”
Suleman said he believes U.S. officials are starting to take note of the steep drop-off in visitors the country is getting.
“People are essentially voting with their feet by essentially saying, ‘We will not go to America until we know we will be treated fairly,’” he said.
