Injury forces veteran goalkeeper Erin McLeod to retire from NSL's Halifax Tides

When I think about the London 2012 Olympics, one specific memory comes to mind: the foul called on Canadian goalkeeper Erin McLeod for holding the ball for more than six seconds during the women's soccer semifinal against the U.S.

It was a call I had never seen before in my almost 30 years of playing, watching, and writing about soccer. My children and I sat shocked at what happened. We watched McLeod, in her signature headband, continue to play with strength and a dedication that endeared her to the country, and the world of women's football.

Canada went on to win a bronze medal, and it's a moment that felt like the nation galvanized their support for the women's national team.

For years I thought about how McLeod handled that situation with tenacity and dedication. McLeod, who hails from St. Albert, Alta., continued on a lengthy career path that included playing in Germany, the U.S., Sweden, Iceland and finally with the Halifax Tides for the inaugural season of the Northern Super League. The two-time Olympic medallist has 119 caps and 47 clean sheets for Canada. She is a leader on and off the field.

But McLeod is putting away her gloves and hanging up her soccer cleats. Although she retired from international competition in 2023, a season-ending foot injury has forced the 42-year old into permanent retirement from play. She made the announcement Tuesday morning.

In a statement provided by the club, McLeod admitted this was not her choice.

"This is not the way I imagined my final season ending but I am incredibly grateful for every moment I've had in this game," she said.

During her career she battled multiple knee injuries, but her role as a leader and visionary has never wavered.

She has been a player representative for years and sits on the NSL advisory group. In 2014, she and then-fellow Olympian Adam van Koeverden, now Canada's Secretary of State for Sport, successfully campaigned to add sexual orientation to the Canadian Olympic Charter of Rights; an event that prompted McLeod to come out publicly.

WATCH | McLeod makes point-blank save:

"If I don't accomplish anything else in my life, I would be happy with this," she said in 2019 of the successful campaign. She has been at the forefront of women's soccer at a global level, advocating and educating.

To say that McLeod is marinated in gratitude would be accurate. She is acutely aware and incredibly humble about being the person who many young girls looked up to. In a recent car ride home from practice, McLeod's Tide teammates, Anika Tóth and Sophie Guilmette, told her that she was the player they admired and looked up to.

"I have had so many people I see in the streets, people younger than me or even people my age saying, 'I started playing goal because of you'," Mcleod said.

McLeod speaks a lot about being a role model with wife and Tides teammate, Gunnhildur Yrsa Jónsdóttir. McLeod is a proud new mom to son, Baldwin, who the couple welcomed almost a year ago in October last year.

Her many identities make her an incredibly impactful person in the history of Canadian sport, and one that has been working for change, bettering the sports ecosystem and being an activist all while playing at the highest levels in the world.

Playing goalkeeper at high levels can be challenging because you have to constantly fight for the starting position, but her relationship with former goalkeeper teammate Karina LeBlanc is one that she cherishes so deeply.

"She's like my soul sister," McLeod said through tears.

Both LeBlanc and McLeod were competing in 2012 and they made a commitment that changed her perspective.

"We were going to push each other and make each other the best possible," Mcleod said. "We were going to be direct and honest, and if there were things that we needed to address, we would just say it to each other. I think we both felt more responsible for one another's success."

LeBlanc was someone McLeod could confide in, and quickly became her mentor.

"I'm very grateful for the role she's played in my life," she says of LeBLanc.

McLeod has played with some of the top players in the game, but the squad from the London Olympics remains exceptional.

"That 2012 team, we decided, as a group, like, we may not have been the most talented, but we were going to ride or die," she said with a laugh. "We were going to do anything that we could for one another. I'll always have a special place in my heart for those people."

Since then, McLeod has helped grow the sport, but vividly remembers when the women's game didn't get the respect she feels it deserves.

"I remember when Diana Matheson was wearing a men's jersey, and it was just touching the grass every time she ran … she's three-foot-two," she joked. "And to be here now, where one of the most celebrated athletes in our country is a woman — Christine Sinclair."

McLeod reminds people that this change did not occur overnight.

"Part of me is like, we have been fighting for this since the people before me who wore the Canadian jersey. I know it was a battle, and no one would even listen to them. They wouldn't give the time of day," McLeod said. "And you know, the question was like, 'What's happened now?

"You when you've got a product that is so good, but you actually invest in giving people an opportunity to see it, experience it, be in those environments, and let's just let the product speak for itself."

McLeod has accepted a position with Inter Halifax Soccer Club as technical consultant and head of player development, and she continues in her role as an equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility (EDIA) consultant with Halifax City Soccer Club. McLeod has been pivotal in the development of the NSL, and is featured in the upcoming documentary The Pitch.

"So I'm in the deep end right now and just trying to tread water," she said. "And I think it's a good distraction."

McLeod might be emotional about her retirement, but she is measured and confident about the future.

"I'm not surprised by any of it. I'm grateful for it. I'm grateful that people are changing their lens and the way they look at sport, especially men and young men and young boys."

It's easy to say that McLeod's tenure in goal has been meaningful for the country and the sport. Her willingness to speak up and act on important societal issues, is a legacy that she proudly owns. And like one of the medals she proudly has, her heart is golden.