Before adulthood, goaltender Gabrielle Lambert never played at the AAA level. She has never been chosen for the provincial, or even regional, selection. Her story is that of an “average” player. Of those who have always had to work hard to stand out from the crowd.
Published at 7:00 a.m.
“I have never been the most talented,” she admits bluntly, in an interview with The Press. Let’s say that my background is quite atypical. »
We don’t make him say it. Lambert started playing soccer at the age of 4. She also practiced trampoline competitively, until college. She therefore spends most of her most important developmental years at the AA level. At CEGEP, she is even in division 2.
While other girls her age only ate soccer, she wanted to taste everything. “I wanted to continue to have free time, to go skiing on the weekends,” she summarizes. The soccer sports-study program didn’t interest me,” she says.
Lambert will soon be 31 years old. When she was younger, when she was an amateur, in the Saint-Hyacinthe region, becoming a professional seemed impossible to her.
“I realized that if you really want to make it happen, there’s always a way. Failures, ultimately, will help you. I have experienced refusals. They just made me stronger. »
If you eat your first slap at 20 and don’t know how to react to it, the rest will go badly.
Gabrielle Lambert
When she finished her CEGEP, Lambert saw her application refused by Laval University for lack of sufficient academic results. Friends convinced her to try out for the Patriotes at the University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières (UQTR).
She begins the year as second goalkeeper, but takes over the starting position. His performances attracted the attention of Dynamo de Québec, a semi-professional team, which offered him a position during the summer. “I couldn’t believe that people were thinking about me,” she says. Me and my years in AA, we weren’t sure we had the caliber,” she jokes.
Exactly, the step is high. His first season in the semi-pro did not go as planned. Lambert gets few starts, and has a poor relationship with his coach.
Against all expectations, the team still asked him to come back for a second season. And this time, the result is completely different: Lambert becomes a starter, and excels.
“I wanted to go back to prove something to myself. That’s when I understood that if you give up everything at the slightest difficulty, you will lose everything, she philosophizes. Often, the best option is the one that scares you the most. »
Beyond the pitfalls
Despite this good season, Lambert experiences less pleasure while practicing his sport. She is also not very motivated by her studies in kinesiology. So much so that she decides to give up everything. She leaves alone, with her backpack, for a trip to South America for a winter.
This solo reflection led him to enroll at HEC. His plan is to start a baccalaureate in administration and make a return to the Carabins. Until a phone call thwarts his plans.
It was his former Dynamo coach. He had found him a professional trial, in France, with the Albi Marssac team.
“I wasn’t known and I didn’t have the profile of a player that would attract professional teams: so I knew it was my only opportunity. I had no choice but to say yes,” she shares.
So Lambert left, at the last minute, with a suitcase containing just enough clothes for a week, certain that her European adventure would be short-lived.
She eventually found herself with the position of second goalkeeper. “The coach there didn’t think I was good enough, but the team president convinced him. »
The work experience there turned out to be less romantic than expected. Lambert received 500 euros per month, barely enough to cover the rent for her apartment in Montreal, for which she had been unable to break her lease. In France, she lived in a small accommodation with several players. Some of them even had to sleep in the living room due to lack of space.
Despite everything, Lambert won the starting job. But after three seasons, she seriously injured her ankle. Without a contract, she returned to Quebec to have surgery and learn again with the UQTR Patriotes.
I still believed in my chances of returning to the pros, but I knew it was going to be super difficult.
Gabrielle Lambert
Lambert finally managed to obtain another contract in division 2, in France. Her journey took her from Montpellier to Germany, with the SC Freiburg club. From contract to contract, she has always managed to find her niche.
Throughout the discussion, we wonder what the turning point was for her. This special moment, this trigger which allowed her to remove her neglected label.
We finally realize that this moment never really happened. Even after many seasons in the pros, Gabrielle Lambert represents the ultimate underdog.
“That’s how I see myself, 100%. My role has always been to be the girl who works hard, in the shadows. And I live well with that,” she assures.
Since putting her name at the bottom of a two-year contract with the Montreal Roses, however, she has come out of the shadows.
The team features him in its promotional material, making him one of its headliners. And precisely, by returning to Quebec, Gabrielle Lambert wants to seize the chance to become a model for young players. To become the inspiration she couldn’t count on, herself.
“I want them to know that it’s possible to reach the pros. You can be ordinary at 13, that doesn’t mean you won’t become the best at 18. People will often tell you that you are not big enough, not good enough. For one team, you will not be correct, but for another, you will be perfect,” she concludes.
