Eat & Yap: Alex Scott meets Olivia Smith to talk about Canada, Jamaica and more

Alex Scott: So I was told I have to bring maple syrup.

Olivia Smith: Yeah, you’re a gem. Maple syrup. Lovely. First of all, I always have, for example, pancakes before a match. I just like pancakes and I always need to have maple syrup. Honestly, I eat this with everything.

Alex: When was the last time you were actually at home in Canada?

Olivia: Oh – probably in the summer, as I spent my Christmas here.

Alex: What do you think of home? Can you build a picture for me of what life was like for you growing up back home?

Olivia: I have a younger sister, so we grew up together. My family were all kind of goofballs I would say. So just playing games a lot, we’re always outside, we have dogs as well. So I’ve grown up with dogs and just go to the park, play football, play with the dogs. That’s kind of like what a typical day would look like.

Alex: So your sister plays football?

Olivia: Yeah.

Alex: What position does she play?

Olivia: Midfielder, winger, striker.

Alex: So does she look up to you and want to follow in your footsteps?

Olivia: I hope so, but she claims she’s better than me!

Alex: Does she literally watch your games and say “You should have been doing this” or “You should have scored that goal”?

Olivia: Yes – she sends me snapchats of my game and says “Why did you do that?” I’m like, well, “What would you have done?”

Alex: What did she think when you made your move to Arsenal?

Olivia: She was so excited. I mean she also looks up to a team like Arsenal, she loves watching me play so then for me to get the opportunity and really be a role model for her playing with girls like Alessia [Russo] and Leah [Williamson], it’s amazing. She’s really excited for me.

Alex: Who do you look up to back in Canada?

Olivia: Christine Sinclair. She’s a huge legend in the game of course, and also Marta. Then I love watching the men’s game as well, so I was always looking up to Neymar, Ronaldinho, Messi, players like that.