Orlando Pride midfielder Kaylyn Kyle wasn't nervous when she picked up the phone to discuss her unusual decision.
It's rare for soccer players to turn down opportunities to represent their countries in the Olympics, but Kyle felt she had to push back when she learned she was being called up as an alternate for the Canadian national team's Rio Olympics squad.
Alternates train alongside their teammates, but their only chance to compete is in the event a player on the main roster suffers an injury. Many alternates can spend six weeks traveling with their national teams without ever seeing any game action.