Tina Blaskovic story from Inferno web site
Slice of Hamm
By Norman Kwong
Toronto
Inferno
(June 27, 2002)
Tina Blaskovic cannot see
it.
The Inferno striker admits to have been told by many that she looks
like the face of US soccer Mia Hamm.
At Toronto Inferno soccer games,
Blaskovic competes with her dark locks tied back into a ponytail. Her mouth is
slightly ajar, adding to an already intense demeanour. There have been more than
a couple women known to look like that on the soccer field.
Both of
these women have been forwards on their respective country’s national teams.
Their heights differ by no more than an inch. One outweighs the other by only a
couple pounds. The clincher in the debate on whether the two look alike lies in
their birthdates.
Of Croatian decent, Blaskovic was born in Toronto on
April 11, 1972, making her 25 days younger than Hamm, who was born on March 17
of the same year. Ignoring their last names, how can these two not be sisters
separated at birth? They were born less than a month apart.
Even after a
few cocktails, which Tina enjoys on occasion, she still cannot see the
comparison.
Maybe their innate goal scoring abilities are what link the
two together. Blaskovic has led the Toronto franchise in goals scored each year
since the Inferno’s W-League inception back in 1999.
Today, Blaskovic is
one of three original members from the Inferno’s first season still with the
team. Jane Lea who shares the Inferno captaincy with Tina is one. The other is
Gigi Cignini, whom Tina considers an extension of herself, as each always knows
where the other is on field at all times.
With the abundance of new
players on the Inferno, it can get difficult for players to anticipate one
another. Arguably more difficult is starting out in a sport at a later age and
excelling at it, which is what Tina Blaskovic did.
Blaskovic had not
played organized soccer until age 21 and wound up making the Canadian national
team two years later, remaining in the player pool until 2000. When she made the
national team, Tina’s parents gave her a necklace that never leaves her neck,
unlike her shin guards that go on hiatus during warm-ups.
Shin guards
are not a requirement at her day job as a head tennis professional and assistant
manager of a tennis club in Woodbridge, Ontario. The tennis club is one of the
places where Blaskovic acknowledges that she has been recognized as an Inferno
player or former national team member. No doubt that is also one of the places
where she hears comparisons to that other soccer player.
No, that player
is not her father, but the two do share the number seven on their jerseys. Tina
wears the number that her father wore with the Toronto Metros-Croatia soccer
team in the seventies. Those Toronto Metros-Croatia teams were highly
successful, at one point claiming three straight championships in
Canada.
Speaking of accolades, as the 2001 W-League top point getter,
goal scorer, and MVP, Tina Blaskovic certainly has the skills to join Mia Hamm
in the WUSA. Blaskovic reasons that she has not done so since she takes pride in
being a part of her hometown Toronto Inferno, while still playing a similar
calibre of soccer.
The only glaring difference between Tina Blaskovic
and Mia Hamm is that Mia’s name is friendlier to headline writers. Even the best
pun creators would have trouble using Tina’s name in a play on words. Lucky for
the Toronto Inferno, soccer skills have no correlation with how many ways one’s
name can be used in a pun.
Players no matter how alike will have their
differences. What those differences are when comparing someone to an upper
echelon player like Mia Hamm is what makes that other player.
Often
comparisons are based on appearance or potential and lack substance. This is not
the case with Tina Blaskovic.
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Norman can be reached by email
at normkwong@hotmail.com
.
.