Ciara McCormack on the story that needed to be heard

IN A small pub in Limerick city, Treaty United defender and former Republic of Ireland international player, Ciara McCormack touches on being a whistleblower, advocating for women in sports and the worst piece of advice she's ever been given.

Originally from Vancouver, Canada, Ciara moved to Limerick a couple of months ago to join Treaty United for the 2023 Women’s Premier Division season. Over the last ten years, she has worked tirelessly to make sport a safer environment for women.

“In Canada, we’re having a major crisis right now with women's soccer, but it’s bringing to the public all the issues that have been going on behind the scenes,” Ciara McCormack began.

In February 2019, she posted a blog titled ‘A Horrific Canadian Soccer Story – The Story Nobody wants to Listen to, but Everyone Needs to Hear’ to raise the alarm.

Through a detailed account, Ciara explained how former Whitecaps and Soccer Canada coach, Bob Birarda, subjected young players to abuse. Last November the coach was sentenced for violating the “sexual integrity” of four players.

“It’s funny because every headline is like, ‘Here’s the whistleblower’. When the whole situation happened I didn’t know what the term whistleblower meant, and now it seems it’s attached to my name,” she says.

At the time, Ciara felt like the only option was to come forward. “I was at rock bottom. I could not move on from the situation, I just felt like there was no other option. Every single day, I feel so lucky that the truth came out, the guy went to jail. For a lot of people that come forward, it's not necessarily as positive of an experience.”

Ciara knew she could be easily discredited, something she kept in mind while writing her blog. “People will say she’s emotional, she has a vendetta.

“So I was just factual and included every single email that I had from over the years, almost as a warning to the other side that if they were going to try to discredit me, that they better have the same level of proof,” she says.

In December, she was among the women testifying for a hearing on the safety of women and girls in sport.

“It’s such an issue in sport that has been covered up for so long and the amount of harm and damage it's done to people,” she pauses. “I've met so many athletes that have been in such a bad place. There were times when I wasn't sure I was going to get through it. I'm on the other side of it now, so I just feel like it's my responsibility to be a voice for people that haven't had one.”

She regrets the experience turned soccer into such a dark space for so long, a sport she fell in love with as a child.
“Anyone that's playing amateur sport or pro sport, you're doing it because you love it. Part of what makes you vulnerable is the fact that you love it so much,” she notes.

Now, Ciara is ready for another chapter. And here in Limerick, she feels quite at home.

“I grew up with Irish parents who had tons of Irish friends, so I feel like I grew up very culturally Irish. It definitely feels like a place I'm really comfortable in. It sounds cliché, but it’s like a second home,” she smiles.

To help raise the standards of Treaty United, Ciara is one of six Canadian players to have joined the team. She is hoping to “provide the local community with high level soccer.”

Speaking of the team, she says: “We’ve got a really great team culture and our coaching staff is probably one of the best coaching staffs I've ever had in my whole career. So there's just like a really positive vibe on the team.”

As the conversation comes to an end, this reporter wonders what is the worst piece of advice she has ever received.
Recalling a time where her dad was “trying to teach a bunch of 10-year-olds how to play soccer," she laughs.

“He told us to pretend we were ballerinas. It was like the most ridiculous way to try to teach us how to kick a ball. So, don't try and kick a ball like a ballerina,” recalled McCormack.