New documentary shows the story of immigrant families and Canada’s soccer team 

As the FIFA World Cup starts this week in Qatar, a new documentary by a journalism alum reveals a side of the Canadian soccer team which she says hasn’t been shown anywhere else.

Heart of Goal: The Rise of Canadian Soccer is a new TLN documentary (external link) , produced by Camila Gonzalez ‘19. She  profiles Canadian midfielder Jonathan Osario who immigrated from Columbia to eventually make the Canadian national team.

Gonzalez says she focused on Osario to show his soccer talents and present the sacrifices families have made to get their kids to that level of success.

“There is no other film right now. There's no other story being told about this team, and going in depth about why they qualified and how they got there,” says Gonzalez.

Canada’s soccer team is qualifying for the FIFA World Cup after 36 years, Gonzalzs says this documentary is for every Canadian whether or not they are fans of soccer. 

“I think it's important, because if anyone is a fan of Canadian soccer, they will love it. And if they're not fans, and they watch it, they're gonna want to support the team,” says Gonzalez.

Gonzalez says the documentary was a challenge as it relied on the outcome of the World Cup qualifiers round.

“It was one of those things where you just start a story. And you don't know how it's going to end, which is I think what happens with a lot of a lot of documentaries, you start one story, and it ends up being a complete other one, we were very lucky that they qualified,” says Gonzalez.

Gonzalez wanted to highlight the sacrifices immigrant families in particular have made to help the soccer team get to the World Cup.  

“I think that soccer is a very unique sport, because most of the players on the team are either immigrants themselves or come from immigrant families. So it was just honoring them and, and making sure that every Canadian kid who you know comes from anywhere in the world see themselves in these players and wants to achieve great things,” says Gonzales.

Working as a sports producer and television host since graduating, this is the first documentary Gonzale has directed. One thing she learned is never be afraid to ask for help.

“You know, don't be afraid to call people up and ask for favors and ask for help. And you'd be surprised how many people are willing to help out because they're passionate about a story,” says Gonzales.

Gonzalez says the skills she learned in journalism school helped her in producing the documentary, notably asking strangers for quick interviews.

“This entire career is just streeters. Even if it's not necessarily going up to people on the street. I think that's a really important aspect of it,” says Gonzalez.

The documentary premieres Nov. 20,  just as the World Cup kicks off.