The longstanding friendship between the U.S. and Canada has undoubtedly taken a hit in recent months amid heightened political and economic tensions.
Maybe a soccer match can help.
Gov. Janet Mills and the Portland Hearts of Pine have announced a first-of-its-kind international friendly home match for the Maine club.
Hearts of Pine will host the Halifax Wanderers on Aug. 6 at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland, according Mills’ office.
“Soccer has this incredible ability to unite communities, which is at the heart of everything our club does,” Hearts of Pine founder and Chief Community Officer Gabe Hoffman-Johnson said. “Maine and Nova Scotia are neighbors with generations of shared history, which is why we felt they were a perfect fit for our first-ever international friendly.”
Despite that shared history, cross-border resentment has been on the rise and Canadian visits to Maine have been down in recent months, with simmering tensions surrounding the policies and comments from U.S. President Donald Trump — who has repeatedly mused about making Canada the 51st U.S. state.
That resentment has spilled into the sports world as well, with Canadian hockey fans notably booing the U.S. national anthem at sporting events earlier in the year.
Here in Maine, Mills has promoted a “Welcome Canadians” campaign trying to encourage visitors from the neighboring country to continue coming to the state. Mills’ office said the upcoming friendly match is the “direct result” of her official trip to Atlantic Canada last month, which included a conversation about the potential match with Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston.
“I am thrilled to welcome the Halifax Wanderers to Maine for this historic match with the Hearts of Pine, which shows the strength of the historic friendship between the people of Maine and Atlantic Canada,” Mills said in a statement.
Mills was in attendance for the Hearts of Pine franchise home opener in Portland earlier this season. She also thanked the club’s leadership on Tuesday “for their extraordinary efforts to bring this match to Maine in support of stronger international ties.”
The Hearts of Pine squad plays in the United Soccer League’s League One division and is currently ranked eighth out of 14 teams
The Wanderers play in the Canadian Premier League and are currently ranked fourth out of eight teams.
The Aug. 6 match replaces a previously scheduled Hearts of Pine game against Inter New Hampshire, a scheduling swap that all teams agreed to, according to an Instagram post from the Portland club. Tickets and season passes already purchased for that Aug. 6 game will be honored for the newly announced international friendly, according to the team.
“We can’t wait to welcome the Halifax Wanderers and their supporters, create an electric atmosphere at Fitzpatrick Stadium, and hopefully start a tradition that brings our clubs together for years to come,” Hoffman-Johnson added.
