Another year, another award for Christine Sinclair.
Sinclair, a 28-year-old forward from Burnaby, B.C., was officially feted as Canada’s female soccer player of the year on Thursday, marking the seventh consecutive time she has won the honour.
Other finalists for the award handed out by the Canadian Soccer Association included goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc, and midfielder Sophie Schmidt.
If it wasn’t before, Sinclair’s reputation as the best female player this country has ever produced is now firmly cast in stone. She has won the award seven out of 12 times — the last player other than Sinclair to claim it was Charmaine Hooper, way back in 2002.
How dominant of a player is she? So dominant that Canadian teammate Kaylyn Kyle acknowledged Sinclair was a lock to win the award 24 hours before it became official.
“Lets be honest (Sinclair) is in a league of her own (I’m) in the process of making her a custom trophy case,” Kyle tweeted on Wednesday.
2011 was a year of highs and lows for the captain of Canada’s national team. Sinclair won a league title with her pro club and led Canada to gold at the Pan Am Games. But Canada also failed to deliver at the FIFA Women’s World Cup when it crashed out in the first round after entering the tournament to great fanfare.
“Every year has been unique and special. This one, this was obviously a difficult year for the national team in that heading into the World Cup with such high expectations and then having (it) end the way it did, it made for a very difficult year,” Sinclair admitted during a Thursday conference call with reporters.
So, how about letting one of her Canadian teammates have a crack at winning this award?
“It never gets old; to be honoured like this by your country, it could never get old,” Sinclair quipped.
Indeed, it was another banner year for Sinclair in 2011, the Canadian national team’s all-time leader in goals (120) and appearances (168).
In August, she was named MVP of the Women’s Professional Soccer championship final, helping the Western New York Flash beat the Philadelphia Independence in a penalty shootout.
She followed that up in late October by serving as Canada’s flag bearer at the Pan Am Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, where she guided the women’s soccer team to victory over Brazil in the gold medal game.
“The Pan Ams were a little bit of redemption for us (after the World Cup),” Sinclair said.
But she’ll probably best be remembered for her stoic and gutsy performance at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in the summer. In the opening game before a sellout crowd in Berlin, Sinclair broke her nose in the second half when she took a hard elbow to the face from a German defender.
Sinclair was on the ground for several minutes and was eventually helped to the sidelines. She openly argued with the team’s medical staff, repeatedly saying “I’m fine” before re-entering the game.
Undaunted, Sinclair played through the pain and went on to score a highlight-reel goal on a gorgeous free kick a few minutes after stepping back on the field. Although Canada lost 2-1 to Germany, Sinclair was heralded for her physical and mental toughness — even more so when she played the rest of the tournament while wearing a special mask to protect her broken nose.
Canada disappointingly bowed out in the first round on the back of three consecutive losses, but Sinclair’s reputation as a Canadian sports icon was cemented.
“Christine Sinclair once again displayed a level of talent far and above anyone else in the country. It’s that simple. Hands down she’s the best,” Sportsnet soccer commentator Kara Lang said.
“And it’s not just because of her unmatched skill that she stands out above the rest in Canada. The heroics we saw throughout the Women’s World Cup — playing with the broken nose — that was only a small glimpse of the competitive nature she brings to the field day in and day out.”
Impressed with her “unequivocal commitment to Canada on the world stage,” sportsnet.ca columnist Michael Grange made an impassioned case for Sinclair to be named Sportsnet’s Athlete of the Year.
“The broken nose and the subsequent mask became the Canadian story at the World Cup. And it was one any sports fan craves: a talented leader willing — demanding — to put aside her own well-being for a greater cause,” Grange wrote.
“It lacked the kind of arc that makes folk heroes — Canada’s dispiriting loss to France nipped that in the bud. But it had the kind of substance that earns widespread, and lasting, respect.”
Sinclair also made headlines off the field, too.
The Canadian captain and the other 24 members of Canada’s national team in February voted unanimously to go on strike in a show of support of former coach Carolina Morace. Morace dropped a bombshell in mid-January when she announced she would step down after the World Cup, citing differences with the CSA.
Sinclair and her teammates launched their boycott in hopes of forcing the CSA to reach out to Morace and convince her to stay on beyond the World Cup. The CSA quickly held talks with Morace and the Italian changed her mind, leading the players to end their strike.
The CSA and Morace parted ways in the aftermath of the World Cup, and Englishman John Herdman was hired as her replacement in September.
The Canadian players also retained legal counsel in a battle with the CSA in a much-publicized pay dispute that was settled just prior to the World Cup.
Looking back, Sinclair said she had no regrets about how the players’ grievances with the CSA played out in the public forum.
“Us as players, our relationship with our head coach and our relationship with the CSA has never been better,” Sinclair stated.
The CSA announced Dwayne De Rosario as Canada’s male player of the year on Wednesday.
Earlier this week, Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder Bryce Alderson and Ashley Lawrence were named under-17 players of the year, while Toronto FC defender Ashtone Morgan and Amelia Pietrangelo took home the under-20 player honours.