Christine Sinclair
Encyclopedia
Christine Margaret Sinclair (born 12 June 1983 in Burnaby, British Columbia
) is a Canadian
soccer forward who plays professional soccer for the Western New York Flash and is the captain of the Canadian national team
. Sinclair has spent ten years with the Canadian national team
participating in two World Cups in 2007 and 2003 and the 2008 Summer Olympics
. She is Canada's all-time leading caps and goal scorer (117). She is the reigning, six-time(2006-2010) Canadian Soccer Association Player of the Year. She was also honored by FIFA as a nominee for World Player of the Year five times (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010).
player Bruce Gant
and niece of former Canadian international and NASL
er Brian Gant
. She proved to be a potential star at a very young age, as she was first selected to British Columbia
's under-14 girls' all-star team at age 11. She went on to lead her club teams Burnaby Girls Soccer Club to six league titles, five provincial titles, and two top-five national finishes, as well as leading her high school team at Burnaby South Secondary School
to three league championships. She played for Canada's under-18 national team before making her debut at senior level in the 2000 Algarve Cup
, leading Canada in goal scoring at that event (3 goals).
where she made an immediate impact on an already formidable program. She recorded 23 goals and 8 assists in her first season, leading all freshmen in NCAA
Division I total scoring. She was named Freshman of the Year by Soccer America magazine, and was a consensus All-America selection.
In the 2002 college season for Portland, she led Division I in goals with 26. Her last two goals were in that season's national championship game against conference rival Santa Clara
, the second of which was a golden goal
that gave the Pilots the national championship. Sinclair earned three different national Player of the Year honors, and was a finalist for the Hermann Trophy
, the most prestigious Player of the Year award in college soccer. She was also West Coast Conference
Player of the Year, and was again a consensus All-American. In the wake of her success for Canadian national teams and in U.S. college soccer, she was also named by The Globe and Mail
(Toronto
) as one of the 25 most influential people in Canadian sports in 2002.
Sinclair chose to redshirt
in 2003 in order to play for Canada at the Women's World Cup
. She returned to Portland in 2004, scoring 22 goals that season, and was again named WCC Player of the Year and a consensus All-American. She also won the Hermann Trophy that season.
During Sinclair's senior year at Portland, she set an all-time Division I goal-scoring record with 39. She capped off her collegiate career with two goals in a 4-0 rout of UCLA
in the national title game. This performance also gave her a career total of 25 goals in NCAA tournament play, also a record. She was again named WCC Player of the Year, becoming only the second player in conference history to be so honored three times. Sinclair was also named Academic All-American of the Year by ESPN The Magazine
(she graduated with a 3.75 grade point average in life sciences). She also won the M.A.C. Hermann Trophy, becoming only the fourth player and third woman to win it in back-to-back years. As a result of her record-setting season, Sinclair went on to win the Honda-Broderick Cup
as the college woman athlete of the year. She became the third soccer player to win the award, joining Mia Hamm
and Cindy Daws.
She immediately became one of the top two available forwards along with teammate Marta as they went on to when the regular season championship.The club ceased operations on November 16, 2010.
On August 27, 2011 in Rochester, she was named MVP of the final as her Western New York Flash won the Women's Professional Soccer championship. Sinclair's goal in the 64th minute gave the Flash a 1-0 lead over the Philadelphia Independence, and when the game was forced to penalty kicks, Sinclair stepped up and made the second one as the Flash players converted all five of their attempts.
and USA's
Tiffeny Milbrett, a fellow Portland alumni. She played for Canada in the inaugural FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship
. Sinclair's 10 goals in the tournament, still a record, helped lead Canada to a surprising second-place finish, and earned her both the Golden Boot as leading scorer and Golden Ball as tournament MVP.
Sinclair chose to redshirt
in 2003 in order to play for Canada at the Women's World Cup
. She scored three goals in that tournament as Canada finished a better-than-expected fourth. She returned to Portland in 2004, scoring 22 goals that season, and was again named WCC Player of the Year and a consensus All-American. She also won the Hermann Trophy that season.
She earned her 100th cap
on August 30, 2007 in a pre-World Cup friendly match against Japan
. In December 2009, she was named female selection for the Canadian Players of the Year
award for a fifth-straight season.
At the age of 27, she is already the all-time leader in goals scored for the Canadian national team
with 117. On November 8, 2010 Sinclair scored the winning goal from the penalty spot in the final of the CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup, also acting as a Women's World Cup Qualification Tournament http://tsn.ca/soccer/story/?id=310889
http://www.burnabygirlssoccerclub.com/
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
) is a Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
soccer forward who plays professional soccer for the Western New York Flash and is the captain of the Canadian national team
Canada women's national soccer team
The Canada women's national soccer team is overseen by the Canadian Soccer Association. The team reached its all-time high of 6th in the March 2011 rankings. The team reached international prominence finishing in 4th place at the FIFA Women's World Cup 2003, losing to their archrival American team...
. Sinclair has spent ten years with the Canadian national team
Canada women's national soccer team
The Canada women's national soccer team is overseen by the Canadian Soccer Association. The team reached its all-time high of 6th in the March 2011 rankings. The team reached international prominence finishing in 4th place at the FIFA Women's World Cup 2003, losing to their archrival American team...
participating in two World Cups in 2007 and 2003 and the 2008 Summer Olympics
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...
. She is Canada's all-time leading caps and goal scorer (117). She is the reigning, six-time(2006-2010) Canadian Soccer Association Player of the Year. She was also honored by FIFA as a nominee for World Player of the Year five times (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010).
Youth career
Sinclair is the niece of former North American Soccer LeagueNorth American Soccer League
North American Soccer League was a professional soccer league with teams in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984.-History:...
player Bruce Gant
Bruce Gant
Bruce Gant is a retired Canadian soccer player who spent five seasons in the North American Soccer League.Gant attended Simon Fraser University, playing on the men's soccer team. He was a 1976 First Team NAIA All American with the Clan...
and niece of former Canadian international and NASL
North American Soccer League
North American Soccer League was a professional soccer league with teams in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984.-History:...
er Brian Gant
Brian Gant
Brian Reginald Gant is a retired Canadian soccer player who spent nine seasons in the North American Soccer League and played fifteen games with the Canadian national team.-Professional:...
. She proved to be a potential star at a very young age, as she was first selected to British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
's under-14 girls' all-star team at age 11. She went on to lead her club teams Burnaby Girls Soccer Club to six league titles, five provincial titles, and two top-five national finishes, as well as leading her high school team at Burnaby South Secondary School
Burnaby South Secondary School
Burnaby South Secondary is a public high school in Burnaby, British Columbia. It is one of the eight high schools within School District 41 Burnaby...
to three league championships. She played for Canada's under-18 national team before making her debut at senior level in the 2000 Algarve Cup
Algarve Cup
The Algarve Cup is a global invitational tournament for national teams in women's football . Held annually in the Algarve region of Portugal since 1994, it is one of the most prestigious women's football events, alongside the Women's World Cup and Women's Olympic Football...
, leading Canada in goal scoring at that event (3 goals).
Collegiate career
In 2001, Sinclair arrived at the University of PortlandUniversity of Portland
The University of Portland is a private Roman Catholic university located in Portland, Oregon. It is affiliated with the Congregation of Holy Cross and is the sister school of the University of Notre Dame. Founded in 1901, UP has a student body of about 3,600 students...
where she made an immediate impact on an already formidable program. She recorded 23 goals and 8 assists in her first season, leading all freshmen in NCAA
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
Division I total scoring. She was named Freshman of the Year by Soccer America magazine, and was a consensus All-America selection.
In the 2002 college season for Portland, she led Division I in goals with 26. Her last two goals were in that season's national championship game against conference rival Santa Clara
Santa Clara University
Santa Clara University is a private, not-for-profit, Jesuit-affiliated university located in Santa Clara, California, United States. Chartered by the state of California and accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, it operates in collaboration with the Society of Jesus , whose...
, the second of which was a golden goal
Golden goal
The golden goal is a method used in association football, field hockey, ice hockey and korfball to decide the winner of games in elimination matches which end in a draw after the end of regulation time. It is a type of sudden death. Golden goal rules allow the team that scores the first goal during...
that gave the Pilots the national championship. Sinclair earned three different national Player of the Year honors, and was a finalist for the Hermann Trophy
Hermann Trophy
The Hermann Trophy is awarded annually by the Missouri Athletic Club to the United States's top male and female college soccer players.-History:...
, the most prestigious Player of the Year award in college soccer. She was also West Coast Conference
West Coast Conference
The West Coast Conference is an NCAA collegiate athletics conference consisting of nine member schools across the states of California, Oregon, Utah and Washington....
Player of the Year, and was again a consensus All-American. In the wake of her success for Canadian national teams and in U.S. college soccer, she was also named by The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...
(Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
) as one of the 25 most influential people in Canadian sports in 2002.
Sinclair chose to redshirt
Redshirt (college sports)
Redshirt is a term used in American college athletics that refers to a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen his or her period of eligibility...
in 2003 in order to play for Canada at the Women's World Cup
FIFA Women's World Cup 2003
The FIFA Women's World Cup 2003 was held in the United States and won by Germany. The tournament was originally scheduled for China. On May 3, 2003 the tournament was abruptly moved to the United States, as a result of the 2003 SARS outbreak in China...
. She returned to Portland in 2004, scoring 22 goals that season, and was again named WCC Player of the Year and a consensus All-American. She also won the Hermann Trophy that season.
During Sinclair's senior year at Portland, she set an all-time Division I goal-scoring record with 39. She capped off her collegiate career with two goals in a 4-0 rout of UCLA
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
in the national title game. This performance also gave her a career total of 25 goals in NCAA tournament play, also a record. She was again named WCC Player of the Year, becoming only the second player in conference history to be so honored three times. Sinclair was also named Academic All-American of the Year by ESPN The Magazine
ESPN The Magazine
ESPN The Magazine is a bi-weekly sports magazine published by the ESPN sports network in Bristol, Connecticut in the United States. The first issue was published on March 11, 1998....
(she graduated with a 3.75 grade point average in life sciences). She also won the M.A.C. Hermann Trophy, becoming only the fourth player and third woman to win it in back-to-back years. As a result of her record-setting season, Sinclair went on to win the Honda-Broderick Cup
Honda-Broderick Cup
The Honda-Broderick Cup is a sports award for college-level female athletes. The awards are voted on by a national panel of more than 1000 collegiate athletic directors. It was first presented by the late Thomas Broderick, owner of a sports apparel company, in 1977, with the first award going to...
as the college woman athlete of the year. She became the third soccer player to win the award, joining Mia Hamm
Mia Hamm
Mariel Margaret "Mia" Hamm is a retired American soccer player. Hamm played many years as a forward for the United States women's national soccer team and was a founding member of the Washington Freedom. Hamm has scored more international goals in her career than any other player, male or female,...
and Cindy Daws.
FC Gold Pride
Sinclair was selected by FC Gold Pride with the first pick in the second round (eighth overall) of the WPS Initial International Draft.She immediately became one of the top two available forwards along with teammate Marta as they went on to when the regular season championship.The club ceased operations on November 16, 2010.
Western New York Flash
On December 10, 2010, The Western New York Flash of Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) announced that they had agreed to terms with the Canadian striker. Once again Sinclar helped lead her team to the regular season championship leading the league in goals(10) and assists(8).On August 27, 2011 in Rochester, she was named MVP of the final as her Western New York Flash won the Women's Professional Soccer championship. Sinclair's goal in the 64th minute gave the Flash a 1-0 lead over the Philadelphia Independence, and when the game was forced to penalty kicks, Sinclair stepped up and made the second one as the Flash players converted all five of their attempts.
International career
In 2002, she scored seven goals for Canada in the Women's Gold Cup, tying her for the tournament lead with teammate Charmaine HooperCharmaine Hooper
Charmaine Hooper is a former striker for the Canadian women's national soccer team.-Career:A former star at North Carolina State University, she currently plays for the * of the Women's Premier Soccer League. In 2006 she played for the New Jersey Wildcats in the American W-League...
and USA's
United States women's national soccer team
The United States women's national soccer team represents the United States in international soccer competition and is controlled by U.S. Soccer. The U.S. team won the first ever Women's World Cup in 1991, and has since been a superpower in women's soccer. It is currently ranked first in the world...
Tiffeny Milbrett, a fellow Portland alumni. She played for Canada in the inaugural FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship
FIFA U-20 Women's World Championship
The FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup is an international association football tournament, organized by FIFA , for national teams of women under age 20. The tournament is held in even-numbered years. It was first conducted in 2002 as the FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship with an upper age limit of 19...
. Sinclair's 10 goals in the tournament, still a record, helped lead Canada to a surprising second-place finish, and earned her both the Golden Boot as leading scorer and Golden Ball as tournament MVP.
Sinclair chose to redshirt
Redshirt (college sports)
Redshirt is a term used in American college athletics that refers to a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen his or her period of eligibility...
in 2003 in order to play for Canada at the Women's World Cup
FIFA Women's World Cup 2003
The FIFA Women's World Cup 2003 was held in the United States and won by Germany. The tournament was originally scheduled for China. On May 3, 2003 the tournament was abruptly moved to the United States, as a result of the 2003 SARS outbreak in China...
. She scored three goals in that tournament as Canada finished a better-than-expected fourth. She returned to Portland in 2004, scoring 22 goals that season, and was again named WCC Player of the Year and a consensus All-American. She also won the Hermann Trophy that season.
She earned her 100th cap
Cap (sport)
In sports, a cap is a metaphorical term for a player's appearance on a select team, such as a national team. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of association football...
on August 30, 2007 in a pre-World Cup friendly match against Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. In December 2009, she was named female selection for the Canadian Players of the Year
Canadian International Player of the Year
The Canadian Players of the Year award celebrates Canada's top-two soccer players in recognition of their achievements with both the national teams and their respective club teams. Voting by Canadian media and Canadian coaches.-Other Canadian player awards:...
award for a fifth-straight season.
At the age of 27, she is already the all-time leader in goals scored for the Canadian national team
Canada women's national soccer team
The Canada women's national soccer team is overseen by the Canadian Soccer Association. The team reached its all-time high of 6th in the March 2011 rankings. The team reached international prominence finishing in 4th place at the FIFA Women's World Cup 2003, losing to their archrival American team...
with 117. On November 8, 2010 Sinclair scored the winning goal from the penalty spot in the final of the CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup, also acting as a Women's World Cup Qualification Tournament http://tsn.ca/soccer/story/?id=310889
Individual
- Canadian Players of the Year:
- Winner: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010
- FIFA Women's World CupFIFA Women's World CupThe FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body. The championship has been awarded every four years since the...
Bronze Boot:- Winner: 2003
External links
http://www.burnabygirlssoccerclub.com/