Christine Sinclair
​
"When I was growing up, you didn't know there was a women's national team. Now girls grow up dreaming of playing for Canada." -Christine Sinclair
Introduction
Christine Sinclair has had quite a successful career so far, playing with Team Canada when she was only 15, winning countless player of the year awards and leading most of her teams to jaw-dropping victories. Despite all this the Canadian legend fails to get the recognition she so fully deserves, so with this article I hope to honor her and her amazing skills. She is a relentless player, never giving up, leaving the other teams with bruises and scars they will not soon forget. Always making the beautiful game an even better one every time she puts her foot on the ball.
In this article I will provide you with 5 separate paragraphs about the life and plays of Sinclair: Early Life, A Young Star, Olympics, Team Canada and Sinclair facts. Sinclair also plays for Portland Thorns FC in the Women's Professional Soccer League in North America, but I am focusing on her Canadian career.
Early Life
Even as a very young girl Sinclair showed promise, strength and determination. At age 4 she was playing on her under 7 team with her club in her hometown of Burnaby B.C. Despite not loving soccer at first she grew to be one of the biggest players in national soccer. With encouragement from her mom; Sandra (who also doubled as her coach) and being around the game, with family having played for team Canada, she fell in love with soccer. But, originally with Sinclair it wasn't just soccer. She participated in a multitude of sports, including: baseball, basketball, volleyball, golf and of course soccer. She also spent a lot of her time arguing with Mike, her older brother.
Usually Sinclair ended up being the only girl and the youngest out of the bunch of kids from her neighbourhood, which made it hard from her to prove that she belonged. But, still she held her own. She even played on a boys baseball team. She played as number 12, to represent her favorite player: Roberto Alomar, the Toronto Blue Jays second baseman.
A Young Star
When she turned 11, soccer started to overtake baseball in her schedule. She had made B.C.'s Under-14 provincial team. Knowing that she was good and with encouragement from her coaches she continued to play. She lead her B.C. team to six league titles, five provincial titles and two top five national titles.
At age 15 she was dicovered. Team Canada's new coach, Even Pellerud spotted Sinclair when she was playing in Coquitlam B.C. He immediately afterward asked for her, but, was told she was too young.
In 2000, when Sinclair was 16, she went to a senior training camp for team Canada, she was doubting herself. She was very nervous among all of Canada's best women. But, she proved that she belonged. In her second game she scored on Bente Nordby, Norway's goalie, then Norby was considered the best. Sinclair was blossoming under the bright lights of the soccer world.
Team Canada
Sinclair is the face of women's soccer in Canada. She inspires young girls to believe in their soccer dreams. So in 2000 when Sinclair made her debut, Even Pellerud must've seen the potential within the 16 year-old.
In 2002 she attended the CONCACAF cup (The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football) where she scored a total of seven goals, which rivaled the total of teammate Charmaine Hooper and USA player Tiffeny Mibrett. Then, later that year she played in the FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship, scoring an amazing ten goals and bringing her team to second place. She recieved the golden ball as MVP and golden boot as leading scorer.
At the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup she turned heads once again. She took her team to a fourth-place finish, a surprising placing for the Canadians. Sinclair ended up with three goals at the end of it all, after beating Argentina, Japan and China in impressive matches. But, in the semifinal Canada was defeated by Sweden 2-1. In the third-place match against USA they were beat 3-1, the lone goal being Sinclair's.
Her next FIFA cup was not as exciting. Despite their efforts, the Canadians didn't make it past the group stage in the 2007 FIFA cup in China. In their first match against Norway, they lost 2-1 but, inthe next match Sinclair helped Canada beat Ghana 4-0, finally they tied the Australians 2-2. They placed third in their group and did not advance to the next stage.
On November 8th, 2010, Canada defeated the Mexicans with Sinclair scoring the golden goal, giving Canada 1st place in the CONCACAF cup.
The 2011 FIFA world cup resulted similarly to that of 2007. They lost all of their group stage matches, against Germany, France and Nigeria, so that meant they would not advance further. The only goal of the tournament, scored against Germany, was done by Sinclair. That game versus Germany was also the game that Sinclair's nose was popped out of its joint, elbowed and broken by a German defender. Even though she had the injury, she marched back onto the field -ignoring protests from the medics- and scored the goal.
After that Sinclair's nose was realigned and she was fitted for a mask. It was black and padded and would eventually put her nose back . Everyone on the team thought it was the coolest thing. Exept Sinclair. She despised the thing; she said she couldn't see and just hated it. Sinclair went through a little slump during that tournament and took a short break.
At the 2015 womens world cup in Canada, they didn't get past the quarter-finals. They defeated China in a 1-0 game, Sinclair scoring on a awarded penalty. But, in the quarte-finals they lost to England 2-1, Sinclair making an effort with Canada's only goal.
Olympics
Sinclair has attended three summer Olympics, Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio 2016, and of course made a positive impact for Team Canada.
In the 2008 olympics, Canada made it once again to the quarter-finals. Beating Argentina 2-1, tying China 1-1 and losing to Sweden 2-1, let them advance to the quarters. That left Argentina with 0 wins and 3 losses. But come to the next stage (the knockout stage) Canada had to face their rivals, USA. They ended up losing 2-1, Sinclair their lone scorer.
On August 9th, 2012 they came to the end of the England Olympics with a much better standing, despite their opening loss against Japan 2-1. After that it was South Africa, which was a morale booster, 3-0 for Canada, two goals for Sinclair. Then, it was a tie, 2-2 against Sweden. They were on to the knockout stage. The quarter-finals they beat Great-Britain 2-0, a goal by Sinclair. The semi-final against USA was a heart breaker. It seemed Canada had the upper hand leading 1-0 for most of the first half, but USA kept coming back. The end score was 3-4, Sinclair scoring all three for Canada. Canada still had a chance at a medal though. They played a strenuous match versus France in the bronze medal game, but came out on top with a goal in the added minutes, so it was 1-0. Sinclair got the Top Scorer with a total of 6 goals.
Rio 2016, was just as exciting as London for the Canadians. For the group stage Canada was at the top. They won against Australia 2-0, a goal in the first minute and Sinclair scored in the 80th minute. After that they played Zimbabwe winning 3-1, Sinclair scored on a penalty in the 19th minute. Then Canada 2-1. Now they went to the knockout stage. They were first up versus France and they won 1-0. But, sadly Canada lost 0-2 to the Germans, whom they had beaten in the group stage. That meant Canada had another chance at a bronze medal. They were to play the Brazilians at their game, on their turf, in a stadium of their own screaming fans. Even so, Canada played an amazing match and their hard work payed off. They won 2-1, Sinclair and newbie Deanne Rose scoring the goals.
Sinclair Facts
Full Name: Christine Margaret Sinclair
Birth Date: June 12 1983
Hometown: Burnaby, British-Colombia, Canada
Parents: Bill and Sandra Sinclair
Player Information: #12, Captain
Position: Forward/Attacking Midfielder
Nickname: Sinc
Teams played for:
-Team Canada (2000-Present)
-Vancouver Breakers (2001-2002)
-Vancouver Whitecaps (2006-2008)
-FC Gold Pride (2009-2010)
-Portland Thorns FC (2013-Present)
College: Graduated from University of Portland 2005, played college soccer from 2001-2005
Olympic Medals: 2 bronze
A few of her many accomplishments:
-Featured as one of the first women on a FIFA game cover alongside Lionel Messi
-Won the Lou Marsh trophy as Canadian Player of the Year in 2012
-Won the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award as Canada's female athlete of the year in 2012
-Been nominated as FIFA's Player of the Year in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2016
-Twelve time winner of the Canadian Soccer player of the Year award
-Canada's leading scorer and second world wide only to Abby Wambach with 167 goals and counting
Conclusion
Sinclair was destined to be a great name of soccer ever since she she was young, and always will be. Even though she is too humble to admit it, she has made a great impact on Canadian soccer and women's soccer in general. And I have no doubt she will continue to make the soccer world even better.