SAO PAULO -- The Canadian women who won Olympic bronze in rugby sevens have sacrificed more than their bodies for their country.
They left family and loved ones behind to live and train in Victoria. Quebec City's Karen Paquin, for example, put aside a career as a chemical engineer in search of sporting success. And while other top countries are able to make life comfortable for their rugby players, the Canadians have to scrimp to make ends meet.
Training six days a week, they are professional athletes in every way except pay. Coach John Tait, a former Canadian international who played professionally in Wales and France, hopes that changes soon.
"They're competing with big rugby powerhouse nations," he said. "The Australians, New Zealanders are full-time well-paid athletes. They have some government funding but they're getting well paid ... Those girls are not planning on leaving (the sport) because they're in their career right now. They're making a good living at what they're doing and it's paying their mortgages and so on.
"It's something we as an NSO (national sports organization), Rugby Canada, are working towards -- supporting these ladies more and more to keep them involved in the sport and to keep us competitive."
Australia won Olympic gold while New Zealand took silver.
Tait spoke at a post-competition news conference where five of his senior players, asked whether they would be back at the next Olympics, could not commit.
Like the other women, Kelly Russell receives basic funding of about $1,500 monthly from Sport Canada.
"It's not enough," said the 29-year-old from Bolton, Ont., whose sister Laura captains the national 15-woman team.
While acknowledging there have been improvements over the years, Russell says more is needed to draw young athletes "and keep them in the sport knowing that there is a future with it and they maybe can make a career out of it."
Many of the Canadian women live together to cut costs "but it's month by month," Russell said of their existence.
Some athletes also get help from their provinces. Ontario's Quest for Gold program, for example, funds athletes and their coaching and training to the tune of $10 million a year thanks to lottery funds. B.C. and Manitoba are among those that don't, said Russell.
Own The Podium and B2Ten, a private sector endeavour, also help, as do several sponsors. Russell also pointed to the city of Langford, a Victoria suburb that is home to Rugby Canada's Centre of Excellence.
Still Russell estimates that a member of her team would, on average, live on $22,000 to $25,000 a year.
CEO Allen Vansen says Rugby Canada has a program starting this fall to help the sevens players recoup some of their costs. Specifics, he said, are still being worked out.
And he believes the publicity generated by the Olympic medal will help accelerate such efforts.
"We would, of course, love to be able support our athletes at a much higher level but we'll get there one day," he said. "And this is one of the marquee moments that will allows to do that, in terms of leveraging the sport, creating greater corporate sponsorship opportunities, to grow the game, grow revenue ... I think every sport in Canada feels the same way. Our athletes work so hard that we want to support them more."
"It's a journey," he added. "And these girls are unbelievable ambassadors to help enable that to happen for the next generation and hopefully for some of them that stay involved with our program."
The $10,000 bonus that each member of the women's sevens team gets from the Canadian Olympic Committee for winning Olympic bronze will come in very handy. But divide that over five years or more and the payback is pretty slim,
Still, for trailblazers like Russell, Paquin, Ashley Steacy, Ghislaine Landry and captain Jen Kish, there are no regrets.
"It has been absolutely worth it ... no matter what the cost," said Steacy, who will forgo the centralized program in Victoria to rejoin her husband in Lethbridge after the Games.
"I would do it again and again and again," added Paquin. "Even if we didn't have the medal around our neck. Just for the bonds that we created and all the good things that came out of the training. And what I discovered about myself. There are a lot of challenges but it's all worth it."
