Christine Sinclair's visit to Vancouver with Portland Thorns a glimpse of what's to come for NSL: "The future is bright"
Usually, when Christine Sinclair plays in Vancouver, she represents the home team.
Be it in the 2000s with the Vancouver Breakers and then the Whitecaps, or throughout the years with the Canadian Women’s National Team - when she takes the field in her hometown, she’s usually representing the hosts.
In likely her last appearance in the city, however, she made a rare appearance for a visiting side.
Fittingly, though, it was the team in the city she calls her second home - the Portland Thorns- who travelled to Vancouver to take on the Vancouver Whitecaps Girls Elite side in Concacaf Champions Cup action this past week.
The finale of the group stage portion of the inaugural 2024-2025 CCC tournament, it was a game with big stakes for Portland, too - with a win over the Whitecaps, they’d book their spot in the knockout stages.
Because of that, while Sinclair was looking to soak up the experience of playing at BC Place one last time, she was also focused on ensuring her team left with a win.
And in typical Sinclair fashion, she played her part in a Thorns victory, as she scored and helped create another in a 6-0 Portland win.
As a result, she earned a fitting ovation after her marker, which came shortly before she was substituted in the 87th minute, allowing her to ensure her return to Vancouver wouldn’t be dampened by a loss.
“It's very special to play here,” Sinclair admitted. “It's cool to be able to bring the Thorns up to my hometown and in front of this crowd.”
The GOAT scores the fifth! 🐐🇨🇦#WChampionsCup pic.twitter.com/tlpKA2Cxzv
— Concacaf W (@ConcacafW) October 16, 2024
Yet, that’s what’s been fascinating about Sinclair’s play this season. She might be 41 now, but she still wants to win just as much as when she was 16, and shows that with her play on the field.
Because of that, she’s not just fading quietly into the night as she nears the end of her storied career, but is doing so while still making an impact for the Thorns, having scored seven goals in 2024, including three in NWSL action and three in CCC play.
Just look at what she was able to do in the Thorns' most recent game ahead of this Whitecaps match. In a crucial home match against the NWSL’s league leaders, the Orlando Pride, who were yet to lose all season and had already clinched the NWSL Shield as regular season winners, the Thorns needed to beat the Pride to keep a firm hold on a playoff spot.
Knowing that, up stepped Sinclair, who scored the insurance marker in a 2-0 win, helping her team secure a massive result, one that also snapped a seven-game winless run for the Thorns in NWSL play.
Christine Sinclair is going out with a BANG, as she's still scoring huge goals in her final pro games🐐
— Alexandre Gangué-Ruzic (@AlexGangueRuzic) October 12, 2024
Yesterday, she scored a big one in a key Portland Thorns win over Orlando to boost their playoff hopes
She has 5G/1A in 2024 now#CanWNT/#CanXNTpic.twitter.com/W870Xmv5n8
Yet, that’s what Sinclair has done all her career. When her team needs her, she finds a way to score goals, and the all-time top international scorer is still finding a way to make an impact in that regard deep into her career.
Luckily for all of the fans who came to see her in action at BC Place, they were able to witness that excellence in front of goal one last time.
A crowd filled with many Thorns fans, including several who support the club thanks to the presence of Sinclair and some other Canadian connections including current Canadian captain Jessie Fleming, coaches Rob Gale and Stephen Hart and front office executive Karina LeBlanc, they’ll also feel like this was a rare opportunity to see their favourite team up close in the flesh.
Given that many of them likely had to throw their support behind the Thorns over the years with an absence of professional women’s soccer in Canada, it was special for Canadians to see Sinclair represent the club in her home city with that in mind.
Especially with the launch of the Northern Super League next year, which will finally bring professional soccer across Canada, including in Vancouver with the Whitecaps-owned “Vancouver Rise”, that’s key, as opportunities like this one will hopefully become more commonplace in the future.
“It's terrific. We’ve always had great support, we have a fantastic fan base,” Thorns head coach, Rob Gale, said after the match. “You saw how many fans were out there tonight, we get a crowd from Portland every single game, and you get a lot of Canadian support. It's fantastic. For myself, Karina (LeBlanc), Stephen Hart, Jessie Fleming, and Christine (Sinclair), previously we also had Janine (Beckie), we do have that Canadian connection.”
“We're very proud to be Canadian, and I'm very proud to be at the Portland Thorns, we love that the fans follow us and support us, I get so many messages. I think we have a Portland fan club in Winnipeg now, and people all over the world message me and enjoy the style of football and the team, that’s great to see, and I thought it was a great crowd tonight.”
“They got behind their team in key moments and supported the Whitecaps youngsters, which is important, so I hope they keep coming out, not just because Sinclair was here tonight, but come out and support the Vancouver Rise, support the NSL, as we need everybody to get behind it so that this league can continue to grow and provide opportunities for young Canadians.”
But while Portland’s Canadians were looking to make the most of this opportunity, it’s also important to remember how important this could be for the Whitecaps, too.
As they now get set to launch the Rise, the opportunity to go up against sides like the Thorns in this tournament was huge, allowing them to play some of the best teams in the region while getting a taste of what it’s like to operate as a professional club.
And heading into the NSL’s launch, that’s going to be a perfect springboard for them, as they’ll have gained valuable intel on and off the field that would’ve been hard otherwise to replicate.
Especially on the field, with the Whitecaps side being quite young, it’s hard to ignore how valuable it will have been for these youngsters to go up against a side like the Thorns and hold their own, putting in a good performance despite the heavier scoreline.
Having grown immensely throughout this CCC journey, which has included one qualifying match and four group-stage matches, they’ll be able to look back fondly on what they’ve learned while knowing that they won’t have to wait long to put their learnings into practice with the launch of the NSL.
“The timing couldn't be more perfect,” Whitecaps head coach, Katie Collar, said after the Thorns match. “If this tournament happened a couple of years ago, it might have been difficult to keep the players motivated going into January and February of next year because they didn’t have a pathway.”
“So I think the way that the stars have aligned for this tournament to happen in this part of the world, for all of those professional players to have the opportunity to compete against different teams and our young team to also have this opportunity, it couldn't be better timing, ahead of 2025 (with the NSL). Then, to also have a chance to have Christine Sinclair play one last game here at BC Place, I think the stars aligned for a pretty special night.”
Even though the NSL won’t kick a ball until 2025, there’s a buzz surrounding the league in Vancouver thanks to this CCC opportunity, and it’s hard to ignore how valuable that will be for them.
“Watching some of these players have the success that they did tonight against top pro players, it’s exciting,” Collar added. “I think everybody in the stands tonight, walking around, listening to the buzz, listening to people come over and talk to me about the game, everybody's excited about what we put forward from a Canadian perspective.”
“This is primarily a Canadian-based team, so if people tonight aren't excited and already buying tickets for 2025, they might already be (after tonight).”
But while the Rise continue to prepare for their launch, which will include hiring staff, designing kits, picking a stadium and announcing a roster filled with (what one can hope) are some key faces from this Whitecaps run, Sinclair will continue to push as she finishes what will be her last campaign with the Thorns, as she confirmed last month.
No doubt, Sinclair’s going to be involved with the Rise - she’s already been announced as one of the co-owners, and will likely have to fend off joking (and probably some serious) offers to play in the NSL for the Rise from their general manager, Sinclair’s ex-CanWNT teammate, Stephanie Labbe.
But until then, she’s focused on what the Thorns are building and will hope to cap off her time in Portland with another trophy.
At the same time, it isn’t lost on her how important this Thorns matchup against the Whitecaps could be in the grand scheme of things and is excited to see what kind of impact it will have in the future.
“It’s always special,” Sinclair said. “When I played my last game here for Canada, I thought that was it, so to be able to come back with my club team and show what we're building in Portland here, and combined with Vancouver getting a team next year, it's exciting to show what's possible.”
Speaking of the future, however, it’s worth noting the NSL will have a special place in Sinclair’s heart, which is why she didn’t hesitate to put her support behind it. Always outspoken about Canada’s need for a better sporting infrastructure for women’s soccer, including a lack of a professional league, Sinclair’s been calling for something like the NSL for a while now, so it’s only fitting she’ll be involved in the league’s first season with the Rise.
#BAONPDX’s Christine Sinclair postgame in Vancouver.
— Har Journalist (@HarJournalist) October 16, 2024
🎥 @EqualizerSoccer #WChampionsCup pic.twitter.com/bzfBybvyT3
Having witnessed too many talented Canadian players fall through the cracks due to a lack of infrastructure, she’s excited to now know that the next generation of players won’t be as limited in terms of opportunities.
As Canada tries to keep up globally in the wake of the departure of an icon like Sinclair, it’ll make a huge difference, one that will have a massive impact on the future of the women’s game in the country.
And for Sinclair, she can’t wait to see how it all comes together, having witnessed a glimpse of what things can look like in this match.
After years of speculating about the future of women’s soccer and what it could look like in Canada, it’s all finally coming together, and a night like this one at BC Place sets a good blueprint for people to build off of.
“It's huge for the country,” Sinclair said. “It's huge for the youngsters in Canada. Players shouldn't have to retire just because they might not have made a national team or didn't have the opportunity to go overseas. And the future is very bright.”
“I mean, look at (American forward), Izzy (D’Aquila, who scored a hat trick against the Whitecaps), standing right beside me, if she was a Canadian, she probably would have had to retire, which shouldn't be the case. It's a special time, and the future is exciting for these youngsters, then there’s the next generation of young ones, they'll be able to come to watch their heroes play week in and week out, and that's what it's all about.”
