Life is sweet for Latham George Johnson Calgary Herald Saturday, May 03, 2003 Not bad. A goal, an assist and a shoe contract. And she's only played three games as a pro. "Everything -- how can I explain it -- has just fallen together for me,'' says striker Christine Latham, disarmingly flabergasted at the path soccer has carved out for her. "One day, I'm playing in Lake Bonavista. We have a successful program. The next thing you know, I'm playing for Calgary Celtic. Another successful program. Then I'm on the Under-20 team and I'm noticed by John Walker, who just happens to be the coach at Nebraska, one of the top five NCAA programs. I'd never even thought about soccer and college, to be quite honest with you. But I'm offered a scholarship. Then I'm playing for the Canadian National Team. "And a couple of months ago, to top it all off, I get a call telling me I've been chosen first as a 'Discovery Player' in a WUSA (Women's United Soccer Association) draft. I didn't even know there was such a thing. "No planning. No plotting. No long-range goals. "Maybe it'd sound better if I said I'd sent out a hundred applications. But I've always played soccer because I loved to, never really thinking where it might take me, and, well, here I am today, playing professionally.'' It's a brilliant, balmy day in San Diego, far removed from the 60-centimetre dump of snow that hit Calgary last week ("My mom told me about it. Wow! Maybe it's time for you guys to move to Cancun.'' Or San Diego? "Yes, or San Diego"). Latham is clearing up a few details before she and the rest of the San Diego Spirit depart for Boston and Saturday's game at Nickerson Field on the campus of Boston University. Suddenly, between her Canadian national team duties and Spirit commitments, there isn't an abundance of down time in her life. "It does get quite hectic," she concedes. "For instance, I was at a Canada camp in South Carolina and then had to fly back for a league game against New York. Then I flew to Washington for an international exhibition against the U.S. and the next day had to be in San Jose to play for my club team. And there was the Algrave Cup in Portugal. So you do spread yourself a little thin. But you won't hear me complaining. "Moving to this level from college, well, obviously there's less time and space with the ball. "You're forced to react much, much quicker here. You can't settle quite as much.'' Latham, it's hoped, can develop into the same bright beacon for female soccer players in the Calgary area that Owen Hargreaves of Bayern Munich and England renown has become for the fellas. She is irrefutable proof that the game need not necessarily lead to nothingness for women; that there is a high, if not yet particularly lucrative, level to aspire to. The WUSA is the eight-team women's pro league established in the U.S., now in its third season. Coaches on individual teams divvy up a salary cap of roughly $530,000 US based on performance and seniority, with seasonal salaries ranging from "$8,000 to $90,000.'' American national team star, perennial women's FIFA World Player of the Year and WUSA poster girl Mia Hamm of the Washington Freedom, you can rest assured, pulls in the max. Latham, you can rest assured, somewhat less than that. But the shoe endorsement contract she signed a few days ago with Lotto should help ease the shortfall to a degree. And, at 21, there's plenty of time to win her stripes, make her name, improve her lot. This is a striker with predatory, poaching instincts. Latham was a three-time Hermann MAC Trophy finalist as the NCAA's top player, holds Nebraska school records for goals (69), game-winning goals (23), multiple-goal games (17) and career points (167). While her professional year is now set, Latham, like so many other international players, wonders what will emerge from a FIFA meeting today in Zurich, at which the fate of the women's World Cup, thrust into doubt over the outbreak of SARS in China, will be discussed. Over 50 players currently in the WUSA were scheduled to compete. "I've heard so many possibilities. That the tournament will be postponed. Or cancelled. Or moved to Australia, which would have the venues to accommodate the tournament after hosting the Olympic soccer (in 2000). What seems certain is that it won't be held in China. How can anybody expect with 100 per cent certainty that SARS will be under control in four months time? "It'd be a big job to shift the tournament. The women's World Cup is now a major event and it's only four months away. What about volunteers? Ticketing? Local corporate support? There are so many rumours you hear all around our league. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens.'' The game has already given her, besides the joy of playing it, the staus of world traveller, help in receiving an education and now a chance to continue along professionally. "This is a fantastic opportunity,'' says Latham. "I couldn't ask for better. "The San Diego area is a hotbed for soccer. The stadium we play in (the 7,000-seat Torero Stadium) is well suited to the game and to the league. "It's not like being in RFK in Washington where 10,000 people looks like an empty house. "The team is run very professionally, there's a good atmosphere and lots of good players. "I feel blessed. The way it all worked out couldn't be more textbook, actually. I'm not saying I didn't work hard at my game. I did. But I can't help but look back and see how lucky I've been. "Like I said before, for me it just kind of . . . happened.''