Sinclair wants Canada to invest more in game
Some long overdue recognition came Christine Sinclair’s way on Monday, when The Best FIFA Football Awards paid tribute to the world’s all-time leader in international goal scoring with a special honour, nearly two years after she set the record mark.
Such a commendation might have seemed inevitable. Sinclair, 38, is, after all, now undoubtedly the most prolific scorer in the international game, and that is deserving of a nod. She’s ahead of American Abby Wambach, who Sinclair surpassed after a lengthy chase in January 2020, with her milestone 185th goal against St. Kitts and Nevis at the CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Championship. She’s ahead of Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, who too many people still believe leads the pack among international goal scorers when, in fact, four women have tallies higher than his mark of 115 goals.
Yet for all Sinclair has done as one of the best in the game since debuting for Canada’s senior national team in 2000, such recognition wasn’t assured. She has largely been ignored when it comes to global individual awards. No FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year, from its inception in 2001 until its name change in 2016, and no The Best FIFA Women’s Player since. No Ballon d’Or Féminin since it was introduced in 2018. No inclusion in the FIFA FIFPRO Women’s World 11 over the past six years.
“The respect isn’t there and that’s fine, in the sense that that’s what we’ve experienced our entire careers playing for Canada,” Sinclair said on Monday, when asked if Canada’s women’s team gets enough recognition as a whole. “It’s always been an uphill battle, it’s always been a struggle but it leaves us hungry … We just need to win more tournaments, I guess.”
So any type of honour for Sinclair deserves celebration. She more than earned her reception from teammates, opponents and fans across the sport on Monday.
But let’s not conflate overdue recognition with giving Sinclair her due.
Giving Sinclair, the most influential person in Canadian soccer over the past two-plus decades, her due means ensuring there never has to be another Sinclair, one person shouldering the bulk of the responsibility when it comes to winning and, by extension, growing the game, on the women’s side in particular, in this country.
Progress has been made already. After Canada won gold at Tokyo 2020 this past summer, Sinclair said she felt, with the current “loaded” group of national team players, that she didn’t need to play out of her skin to win.
“It’s great to be a part of that,” she said at the time.
But there needs to be more. Like clear pathways from recreational soccer all the way to professional leagues, so girls — and boys — never have to question their next step, or give up on their dreams when it’s not apparent.
Like bringing those professional teams, a women’s league, to Canadian soil to ensure the dedication Sinclair put in to pushing Canada to new heights doesn’t go to waste. To ensure Canada doesn’t fall behind in the ever-growing women’s game.
In the wake of two of the biggest moments of her career over the past year, after winning Canada’s first Olympic gold and being honoured by FIFA on Monday, Sinclair used her platform to advocate for such outlay in Canada.
“I hope we’ll see some investment in the women’s game,” Sinclair after winning gold in Japan. “I think it’s time Canada gets a professional league or some professional teams, and if a gold medal doesn’t do that, nothing will. It’s time for Canada to step up.”
She echoed her own sentiment in a post-award press conference on Monday.
“I worry that with the lack of investment that, sooner or later, we might be passed by other countries that are investing tons and tons of money to support their women’s programs,” Sinclair said.
Sinclair never played soccer for the goals, or for the individual awards. She said she actually never played for the team awards, either. She just loves it. The concept, figuring out with her teammates how to exploit opponents’ weaknesses, how to use the team’s strengths — it fascinates her.
Awards and the medals are special, to be sure, and Sinclair expects to reflect more on them once her career is over. For now, an overdue award like Monday’s is proof to Sinclair of the growth of the women’s game and the progress the Canadian national team has made since she’s been involved.
Continuing to build on that is the only way to reward Sinclair, to give her her proper due, for leading Canada there.