Love for Olympic soccer star Desiree Scott on full display at Winnipeg meet with fans

Jonathan Claassen ran to his neighbour's house, piled his kids into his family's van and bolted to the Beer Can Tuesday night.

The Winnipeg father said he heard just 15 minutes before she was set to arrive that hometown soccer star and Olympic gold medal winner Desiree Scott was going to be at the pop-up outdoor beer garden, atthe Granite Curling Club off Osborne Street,to rub shoulders with fans.

It was a thrill for his daughters, both of whom are on soccer teams of their own, he said.

"I feel like both girls'teams are just lifted a little bit from this or a lot from this. It's just so exciting."

Claassen's sonLuke, 6, was also ecstatic about meeting Scott.

"It's really cool meeting a soccer player," he said, echoing his sister's Sylvie's excitement which was visible as she jumped up and down.

"Seeing Desiree I get jitters," she said with a huge smile.

The outdoor venue invited fans via its Instagram pageto come meet Scott and get an autograph.

Scott, who was part of the team that won Canada's first Olympic gold medal in women's soccer at the recent 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, said she was relishing the love from fans.

"It's incredible," she said of the meet-and-greet. "InTokyo, we had no fans there but we definitely felt the support. And now coming back to my hometown to be surrounded by family and friends just celebrating this moment, it's incredible."

Scott, 34, is a three-time Olympian and was part of Canada's bronze-medal winning squads at both the 2012 Olympics in London and the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro.

She said she will be heading to Kansas on Sunday to continue playing as a midfielder for Kansas City in the National Women's Soccer League.

She doesn't know what her future holds,but said she will be back in Winnipeg in the fall to help coach young players.

"I know I was mentioning retirement, perhaps, but then after a moment like this, I don't know. So I gotta figure some things out.

"I'm riding the wave for sure enjoying these memories, this moment, and then figuring it out."