Halifax soccer community reacts to Christine Sinclair’s retirement

Mention the name Christine Sinclair to any player on the Halifax Armbrae Academy soccer team and the players’ eyes light up with wonder and pride.

“I love Christine Sinclair,” said Morgan Clarke, a Grade 8 student at Armbrae Academy in Halifax and a defender for the school’s soccer team. “She (Sinclair) is a great player and what I find really amazing is she was still playing and she is still playing so well.”

Sinclair is regarded as the best soccer player to ever represent Canada internationally and arguably the best female player to ever play the game.

Her resume speaks for itself.

Sinclair has more international goals than any male or female player and she has captained Canada to its first and only Olympic Gold medal in soccer at the Tokyo Olympics in August 2021.

Word of the 40-year-old’s retirement reverberated among the soccer crowd at the Under-13 Canadian Accredited Independent School soccer championships being held in Halifax.

Where talking with the student-athletes, it became clear that on top of Sinclair’s impressive list of accomplishments, perhaps her greatest accomplishment is her influence on generations of Canadian kids.

“My mom loved to watch her and she talks about her constantly and she loves that she is still playing,” said Clarke. “And my grandparents even, they loved watching her play as well.”

Sinclair and Team Canada will be in Halifax on October 31st when they face Brazil in an International friendly match at the Halifax Wanderers Grounds.

The game has already sold out and did so in a matter of minutes.

Grade 7 Armbrae student and soccer player Lilly Meeds has tickets and even if the game falls on Halloween, it’s a sacrifice he doesn’t mind making to see her favourite player compete in one of her final matches.

“When I heard she was going to retire I was kind of sad because it’s Christine Sinclair and she’s been playing with Canada forever it seems,” said Meeds. “Even though it’s on Halloween, I would much rather prefer to see this game because it is (one of) her last game.”

Halifax Wanderers founder and president Derek Martin and his club were instrumental in bringing the international game here to Halifax.

The Wanderers’ success and the incredible fan support they get was a big reason Soccer Canada selected Halifax as site for this matchup, now that Sinclair announced it will be one of her last games makes it that much more significant.

“It just makes it that much sweeter, that we have this storyline, that will truly make it memorable,” said Martin.

It will be a special goodbye and send-off for Sinclair, as Team Canada revealed the women’s national team will play two other games in British Columbia following the game in Halifax.

But as for what comes next in Sinclair’s soccer career, Meeds has an idea.

“I think she would be a great coach,” said Meeds.

Sinclair seems at peace with her decision, she told the Canadian Press “It’s just time.”

“I’ve started to catch myself thinking about going on vacation, spending time with my family, going to my cabin — that five years ago would never have crossed my mind,” said Sinclair.

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