FIFA Women's World Cup Bloggers

Dick Howard joins CBC's broadcast team as a studio analyst for the FIFA Women’s World Cup. A former Canadian national team member and coach, a former professional soccer player, and a member of the FIFA Technical and Development Committee, Howard brings exceptional knowledge to the team.

Howard is also revered as a seasoned World Cup soccer journalist and broadcaster.  An in-depth knowledge of the global game led to his involvement as an on-site colour commentator on CBC Radio for the 1978 World Cup in Argentina, and his broadcast career has continued to the present day.  At the conclusion of the 2006 World Cup, he had covered more than 300 games in five World Cups as a studio analyst for The Sports Network (TSN) and was an on-site reporter for EURO 1996 and 2000 as well as a studio analyst for EURO 2004.  Additionally, Howard hosted a popular series on classic FA Cup Finals on ESPN Classic Canada and continues to work as a colour commentator on the Fox Soccer Channel.

Howard's professional playing career started with Chester FC in England in 1965 and concluded in 1976 with the Boston Minutemen of the North American Soccer League.  In his 11 years as a goalkeeper, he played for the Hamilton Primos, Detroit Cougars, Rochester Lancers and Toronto Metros.  He was selected for the All-Star teams of all the leagues in which he played in North America and represented Canada in the qualifying rounds of the 1974 World Cup.

Howard has had an extensive coaching career at all levels of the game, including being a member of the coaching staff of the CanadianU-16 andU-20 national teams as well as the World Cup Team in 1981 when Canada came within one goal of qualifying for the World Cup Finals in Spain. He was also Canada's first-ever national goalkeeping coach.

In his role as CSA Technical Director from 1986-92, Howard was instrumental in developing the mini-soccer manual and for the implementation of the unique Soccer 2000 concept across Canada. He has since written several coaching manuals, co-authored a book on soccer with the late Ben Wicks, and was a soccer columnist for the Toronto Sun during the 1990's.

Howard is the most experienced FIFA Coaching instructor in North America and has conducted more than 50 FIFA projects in 30 countries around the world since 1988.  He has also been a member of the prestigious FIFA Technical Study Group at three U-20 World Championships in Portugal, Nigeria and Argentina, as well as at the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games.  In addition he was a member of the FIFA planning group for the unique FUTURO world wide education program.

Howard was appointed to the FIFA Technical and Development Committee in 1998 and is also currently Chairman of the CONCACAF Coaching Committee.  He was inducted into the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame in 2002.  

Erin Paul will be reporting on-site from China, bringing the latest news and features from the fifth FIFA Women's World Cup. Erin was a Gemini Award-winning associate producer and researcher with the Fifth Estate before becoming a reporter and host with CBC's Sportsweekend. She has also been a feature reporter with Rogers Sportsnet during her career.  Erin's father Bill was the host of CBC's Marketplace, among other roles, during his notable 31-year career with the corporation.

Helen Stoumbos joins CBC’s broadcast team for the FIFA Women’s World Cup as an analyst.  Helen played with the Canadian national team from 1992-2000 and represented the country at the 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup in Sweden where she became Canada’s first player, male or female, to ever score a World Cup goal.  Since hanging up her cleats, she has hosted, written and produced the series Direct Kicks: The Soccer Show as well as provided colour commentary and analysis for Rogers Sportsnet and CBC's women's soccer coverage.  Helen has also co-authored a book, Women's Soccer: The Passionate Game (Greystone 2003).

Signa Butler is the senior editor of our 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup site. She joined CBCSports.ca in 2000 as a senior writer and since then has covered multiple Stanley Cups, Olympic Games and Grey Cups. Over the past two years, she has captained our Grey Cup and Hockey Day in Canada websites. A graduate of Ryerson's broadcast journalism program, Signa also holds a bachelor of arts in English and political science from Saint Mary's University in Halifax, where she was an all-Canadian with the Huskies soccer team.