Christine Sinclair

Christine Sinclair

Personal information
Full name	Christine Margaret Sinclair
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Western New York Flash
Number	12
Youth career
1994–2000	Burnaby South Secondary School
2001–2005	University of Portland 94 (110)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2002	Vancouver Breakers	4	(7)
2006–2008	Vancouver Whitecaps Women	21	(10)
2009–2010	FC Gold Pride	40	(16)
2011–	Western New York Flash	15	(10)
International career‡
2001–2002	Canada U-20 (U-19)	19	(27)
2000–	Canada	168	(121)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 07:28, 20 April 2009 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 30 June 2011

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 11 years with the Canadian national team participating in three FIFA Women's World Cups (USA 2003, China 2007, Germany 2011) and one Women's Football Olympic Football Tournament Beijing 2008. She is Canada's all-time leading caps and goal scorer (121). She is the reigning, seven-time (2005–11) Canada Soccer Player of the Year. She was also honoured 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 League player Bruce Gant and niece of former Canadian international and NASLer 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).

Collegiate career

In 2001, Sinclair arrived at the University of Portland 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.

Club career

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 Hooper 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 made her 100th appearance on August 30, 2007 in a Women's International Friendly match against Japan.

At the age of 27, she is already the all-time leader in goals scored for the Canadian national team with 123 (through Jan. 19, 2012). On November 8, 2010 Sinclair scored the winning goal from the penalty spot in the final of the CONCACAF Women's World Cup Qualifiers.

Honours

Individual

• Canadian Players of the Year:
  • Winner: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
• FIFA Women's World Cup Bronze Boot:
  • Winner: 2003

See also

• List of association women football players with 100 or more international goals

External links

• Christine Sinclair – FIFA competition record (archived)
• Canada national team player profile
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