Christine Sinclair reveals future plans: Growing the game while inspiring the next generation
The 41-year-old trailblazer will hang up her boots at the end of the season, but her legacy off the pitch is just getting started.
Football
In the last two years, women’s football has bid farewell to a number of stars that have taken the sport to new heights in the last decade or so.
From Megan Rapinoe to Alex Morgan, Marta’s international goodbye and now Christine Sinclair, who becomes the latest trailblazer to hang up her boots.
Like those already mentioned, Sinclair has shouldered the growth of the women’s game in her 25-year-long stint at the top, especially when it came to representing Canada on the world stage.
At the end of the National Women’s Soccer League season, though, she will pass the baton to her peers who will continue to pave the way for the next generation.
But this doesn’t mean stepping away from all she has known since she was four – in fact, Sinclair made a vow to continue driving the standards on and off the pitch in whatever comes next for her.
“Soccer has been my passion since I was 4 years old and it has taken me on a journey I could never have imagined,” she wrote on Instagram.
“For the last 11 years it has been an honour to be a part of the Portland Thorns organisation… the club that showed the world what is possible when women’s sports are invested in.
“I still have the same passion as that young 4-year-old growing up in Burnaby, but as I hang up my playing boots, I vow to channel it in a new way – to continue growing the game I love, while inspiring the next generation.”
Christine Sinclair: An all-time great on and off the pitch
No footballer, male or female, has scored more goals for their national team than Christine Sinclair has for Canada – that is a fact.
190 strikes in 331 appearances for her homeland, she leads the way ahead of Abby Wambach (184) and Mia Hamm (158).
Cristiano Ronaldo (132) and Lionel Messi (109) lead the way for the men’s side of the game but are way off Sinclair’s impressive feat.
There’ll be no more chances to add to her tally, calling time on her international career at the end of 2023.
A true stalwart in the famous red shirt, her career can be encompassed in the year she helped her side win their first major honour title, at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics against the odds.
Not only did she play more than her part on the field as much as off it, but it was also Canada’s ‘next-gen’ stars – like Jessie Fleming and Julia Grosso – who followed in her footsteps to play a crucial role in securing gold, such is her impact on the existing squad.
In a semi-final clash with the United States, Sinclair - their usual spot-kick taker - would hand the ball to Fleming, who converted, in a move that many interpreted as a passing of the torch.
These are the kind of players who grew up inspired by the 41-year-old, ones she has continually fought for even when they did not realise it.
She has led boycotts over disputes over pay equality and has pushed for the sport to be nourished at a grassroots level.
“In Canada we assume that we will be fine,” she wrote in her 2022 memoir titled Playing the Long Game.
“We assume that because we’ve been good at this, we will carry on being good.
“My fear is that we will soon be surpassed by countries that support their youth programs, support their national women’s teams and also support professional women’s leagues.”
Progress has been made on that front, with the aim of launching a professional women’s soccer league in Canada next year, but that fight is far from over. And that is no doubt the vow Sinclair referred to in her retirement post – with more time to dedicate towards the goal of making sure her homeland is up to speed and competing on all fronts, this legend of the game is just getting started.
Former Canada head coach Kenneth Heiner-Moller, who took over in 2018, believes it is off the field that Sinclair had her biggest impact on her teammates, telling CBC: “[It comes when] the cameras shut off and the doors are closed and she can just be herself.
“She doesn’t speak a lot but when she speaks, people listen. The way she just embraces everyone and takes good care of them – she’s got a very high social knowledge and interest in people, so she can feel or see when people or teammates or staff are not comfortable.”
With Sinclair sticking around, Canadian football is in good hands going forward.
Sinclair’s farewell schedule
Since their inception in 2013, Christine Sinclair has remained a Portland Thorns player and that is exactly how she intends to retire.
Over 200 games for the NWSL outfit, and now just four (at least) remaining.
Here is how Canada’s ‘GOAT’ will bow out…
- 6 October: Portland Thorns vs. Utah Royals (04:00 CET)
- 12 October: Portland Thorns vs. Orlando Pride (04:00 CET)
- 20 October: Racing Louisville vs. Portland Thorns (01:30 CET)
- 02 November: Portland Thorns vs. Angel City (03:00 CET)
The Thorns are currently sitting seventh in the table in a play-off spot, but will need to maintain their good form to ward off those below them vying for a spot. Here are the key dates for Sinclair’s farewell, should they progress:
- 9 November: Play-off quarter-finals
- 16 November: Play-off semi-finals
- 24 November: Final