Friday December 1, 2023 | LANGFORD, BC [Updated 9:41 pm]
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
Click here for December 1 game coverage (final score 5:0 for Canada’s win).
As published pre-match:
At tonight’s Canada-Australia match at Starlight Stadium in Langford, December 12 will be declared Christine Sinclair Day.
Tonight’s high-profile event — followed by a match in Vancouver on December 5 — marks the final international matches of Christine Sinclair’s 24-year legendary career with the Canadian women’s national team will earn widespread coverage across Canada.
Sinclair announced in October that she’d be retiring from the CanWNT by the end of the calendar year. She is the all-time leading international goalscorer in Canadian soccer (women and men).
Broadcast on TSN and OneSoccer:
- Dec 1 – The match — being played in front of a sold-out crowd tonight in Langford — will be broadcast on OneSoccer.
- Dec 5 – With the help of Canadian Soccer Business (CSB), the deal to broadcast Canada’s match against Australia on December 5 on TSN and OneSoccer was completed and made possible with the support of corporate partners CIBC and Visa. That international friendly match will kick off at 7 pm PT/10 pm ET at Vancouver’s BC Place — at which time the stadium will be renamed “Christine Sinclair Place” for the evening.
“We would like to thank MEDIAPRO Canada and TSN, and most importantly our corporate partners at CIBC and VISA for ensuring this match gets the distribution fans of Canadian soccer deserve.”
“OneSoccer’s commitment to provide Canadian soccer fans with the most compelling stories in the Canadian game continues with this historical match recognizing Christine Sinclair as the most iconic soccer star in Canadian history,” said Martijn Bakx, CEO, MEDIAPRO Canada.
“The broad distribution of this game is a celebration of Christine’s tremendous career and a testament to her enormous impact on soccer in the country. I can only hope her legacy continues to inspire fans and stakeholders of the game to believe in the power of soccer in Canada,” said Bakx in a news release Nov 30 from the Canadian Premier League (CPL).
Three women soccer greats:
Canada Soccer will be recognizing Sinclair, the greatest international goalscorer of all-time for either the men’s or women’s game, as she officially hangs up her boots with the national team after her 330th cap.
The night will also feature a retirement celebration for two other longtime icons of the women’s national team, Sophie Schmidt and Erin McLeod, both of whom had years of success representing their country and were, like Sinclair, Olympic champions at the Tokyo 2020 Games.
“We are thrilled that this agreement will allow Canadian soccer fans nationwide to join in the celebration of the careers of legends Christine Sinclair, Sophie Schmidt and Erin McLeod,” said Glen Johnson, Executive Vice President, Canadian Soccer Business.
RELATED:
Langford’s Starlight Stadium crowd honours soccer-great Christine Sinclair (December 1, 2023)
Goldstream Food Bank to benefit from Starlight Stadium city-suite auction (November 28, 2023)
CanWNT names squad for Christine Sinclair’s final two matches, against Australia in December (November 23, 2023)
Soccer business: CPL Commissioner & CSB CEO rolled into one (February 9, 2022)
Sinclair’s profile:
Sinclair has led six FIFA Women’s World Cup tournaments, four matches in the Olympics and four Olympic medals. She has the most international goals scored in women’s history.
This two-match series for Canada against Australia will be their first meeting with the Matildas since last summer’s FIFA Women’s World Cup, where the Australians went all the way to the semifinals as tournament hosts, beating Canada in the final match of the group stage.
As it stands, Canada sit 10th in the FIFA Women’s World Rankings, while Australia are one spot behind in 11th.
Comment from CIBC:
“Christine’s career has inspired countless athletes, women, and girls around the world, and we are so proud to call her an ambassador for our bank, and we are looking forward to continuing working with her in the future to reach our shared ambition of creating a more inclusive, diverse and equitable game,” said Andrew Greenlaw, Vice-President, Sponsorship, Community and Brand, CIBC.
Comment from Visa:
“We are proud of our long-standing relationship with Christine Sinclair, and are thrilled to play a part in honouring her legacy by helping to bring the broadcast of her final match with the national team to Canadians, nationwide,” said Heather Nobes, Head of Marketing, Visa Canada.
“The inspiring leadership Christine has brought to the sport will leave a lasting impact and we look forward to continuing to collaborate with her to support the growth of the women’s game. Team Visa thanks and congratulates Christine on this significant milestone.”
===== ABOUT ISLAND SOCIAL TRENDS:
We cover news that matters. Since 2008 on south Vancouver Island. Founder and editor Mary P Brooke.
