This is a question that comes up a lot. How do you feel when you have clients compete on opposite sides of the field of play?
For me this is not simple, but I try not over think it at the same time.
The simple answer to this is you root for your clients success. You know before every game that their will be a winner and a loser, but if all play their position very well, you work with that when you speak with them and take it from there.
In the case of the 2010 Winter Olympics as well as the 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2013 IIHF Women's World Championship, I have had this exact issue occur where I have had clients on both Hockey Canada and USA Hockey competing versus one another. At times, it is more important to support the family members and show that your their for their daughter above all else.
From the Fall of 2010 until the Spring of 2013, I had another situation occur which was a female in bobsled for Canada and a male in bobsled for the US. In that situation, on race days when she was competing for Canada you are squarely on her side and going for Canada over the United States and when the male is racing, you flip sides. That one is more of a challenge because one day your in red, the next in blue. Sometimes it happens hours apart. At the same time though you are their for your clients plain and simple. The optical nature of it might not groove right, but at the end of the day, you are hired to support your athletes.
I am American. Born in Washington, DC. At the same time, when it comes down to it, you are hired by a foreign athlete or an American, you have their back.
The Olympics are every 4 years (2 for alternate seasons) and you have 1 chance to shine. This can be a touchy situation if you make it that way, I try not to. At the same time, every year in the Super Bowl, World Series, Stanley Cup Final, NBA Championship series, Daytona 500, Wimbledon, Kentucky Derby, Premiership, Champions League and special events like FIFA World Cup, Rugby Worlds, F1 this sort of thing goes on all the time.
Be respectful, support your clients and let the best individual win.
