Soccer icon Christine Sinclair joins Vancouver Rise ownership group

Canada's national women's soccer team captain Christine Sinclair in Vancouver on Tuesday, December 5, 2023. (Darryl Dyck / The Canadian Press)

Christine Sinclair has always wanted to leave soccer in a better place for future players.

The Canadian legend believes her latest role as part owner of Vancouver's new professional women's soccer team will do just that.

Vancouver Rise FC announced Monday that Sinclair is joining Greg Kerfoot in the club's ownership group as the National Super League prepares to launch in April.

“The future of soccer in Canada depends on the Northern Super League, depends on clubs like Vancouver Rise," Sinclair said on a video call. "And I’m honoured and privileged to be a part of it."

Kids need to see women's professional sports to know that they, too, can play for a living, the soccer star said.

“I think of myself as like a 10-year-old, if I had the opportunity to go watch women’s professional soccer every second weekend, how that would have impacted my life, how that would have changed my life," Sinclair said.

"Because I was convinced I was going to be a major-league baseball player because that’s all I could see on TV. These young girls growing up will have a completely different reality.”

Hailing from Burnaby, B.C., Sinclair is one of Canada's most revered athletes and ended her international career last year as the world's top goal scorer with 190 goals.

She helped the women's national team win gold at the Tokyo Olympics, and bronze at both the 2016 Games in Rio and the 2012 Games in London.

Last month, the 41-year-old Sinclair announced that she will retire from professional soccer later this year after playing her 11th season with the Portland Thorns of the National Women's Soccer League.

The Thorns are set to play the Vancouver Whitecaps FC Girls Elite team in a CONCACAF W Champions Cup match at B.C. Place in Vancouver on Oct. 15 before closing the regular season campaign on Nov. 1.

Being unable to play professional soccer for a Vancouver team is one regret that Sinclair said will linger as her playing days come to a close.

"That would have been a dream," "That would have been a dream," said Sinclair, who previously played semi-pro soccer with the Vancouver Whitecaps in the USL W-League. "But when you know you’re done, you’re done. And I’m gladly hanging up the boots at the end of this season."

Rise sporting director Stephanie Labbe admitted she hoped she would see her former national team teammate don a Vancouver jersey, but understood Sinclair's decision.

“I know all too well that feeling of when you’re ready to retire, you’re ready to retire and move on to what’s next," Labbe said. "So it was a quick change of direction from, ‘Well, if you’re not coming as a player, what else can you do? How else can we get you involved?’

"It’s a no-brainer for me to have Sinc involved in the club in some capacity.”

Launching a new league is nothing new for Sinclair. She was involved when the now-defunct Women's Professional Soccer made its debut in 2009, and when the NWSL began in 2013.

Those experiences have shown what's important for a new league, she said, from how much players are paid to how many teams are included.

“I think previous leagues started way too big and then weren’t able to sustain themselves," Sinclair said. "I think what the Northern Super League is doing is starting at a realistic base."

With six founding teams in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax, the NSL is set to kick off its inaugural season in April. Each team is set to play a 25-game schedule next year.

Labbe said she expects Rise will announce the club's first player signings and head coach in the next several weeks.

Sinclair declined to say what her ownership percentage will be, calling it instead "a small chunk" and saying her role will be to bring awareness to the club and help it grow.

“Whatever they need from me, I’ll be there to help support," she said.

The appetite and support for women's sports is growing, Sinclair said, so joining the NSL "makes perfect sense."

“The time is now for women’s sports," she said.

"If you go across Canada — obviously we did with the national team — people are begging to be able to watch professional sports here in Canada, women’s professional sports.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 7, 2024.