We also have an attendance summary for the NSL, the ten players called into national teams during the FIFA summer window and news on an upcoming documentary on the league’s founding and launch. Canada currently holds the record for a women’s football transfer after Olivia Smith’s recent move from Liverpool to Arsenal. We also have a brief review of former Canadian international Christine Sinclair’s autobiography Playing the Long Game.
Jackie Sawicki moves home to Canada to play in the new NSL while still leading Philippines in its quest for a second consecutive WWC Finals.
We talked to Jaclyn Sawicki last year when she still was with Western United in Australia’s Ninja A-League. Since then, she returned to her native Canada to join the first year Northern Super League and the Calgary Wild (see: The Week in Women's Football: A-League top 6 review; chat with Jaclyn Sawicki on that Philippines NZ WC shock - Tribal Football). She also still captains the Philippines Women’s National Team in their quest for a second consecutive WWC Finals berth in 2027 in Brazil, having qualified earlier this summer for the twelve team 2026 Women’s Asian Cup Finals in Australia.
TribalFootball.com caught up with Sawicki just a few days after she scored the only goal in a crucial 1-0 road win against third place Ottawa Rapid, to help her fifth place side keep their playoff hopes strong, currently sitting just outside the top four (see more below). Calgary has been out of the top four playoff positions for the past four rounds, and to date, have been in the playoff frame (top four) following seven rounds and in fifth or sixth in the other seven rounds.
In the win over Ottawa, Sawicki scored her first goal of the year for Calgary in the 76th minute, when she made a brilliant run from outside the box on the right side to follow-up on a cross/shot from the left side of goal, leaving her in perfect position to jump high and kick the ball into the net from close range.
Sawicki explained to this author that she doesn’t usually find herself in that position so close to goal but there had been some changes in positions with substitutions and she found herself higher up the field; she was very pleased with the win: “We just had three losses in a row so we really needed to break that spell and hopefully continue with that momentum this weekend (at home against Halifax).”
Ottawa’s Norwegian head coach Katrine Pedersen told the media after the match: “We faced a very hungry and determined opponent today who came out stronger at the start. We struggled to set pressure early and felt a bit disconnected, but we improved as the first half went on. In the second half, it got tough, yet we created enough chances late on to at least equalize. The positive takeaway is that we never gave up—no matter the score or momentum, we kept believing we could turn the game around. We know what this team is capable of, and now we need to bring even more intensity and grit for our next match against Toronto.”
Sawicki talked about her takeaways from the first year in a brand new league—the first ever professional women’s soccer league in the country—and she said: “In starting the league, there was a lot of uncertainly around the competition level and how it all was going to go, given it’s an inaugural season for the entire league and all the teams are going through the same thing. I think the league has done a good job in terms of broadcasting and done their best for scheduling around the (FIFA international) windows.
"Obviously the travel across Canada is really tough, especially for the two teams on the west and then you have four out east, so I think it is a little easier for the east coast teams. Given the first season, it’s decent and I was pleasantly surprised by the level of competition. Every game has been a hard match and that is what you want. I’d like to see the league expand as soon as possible because playing the same team five teams is not as fun, but at least every round is a competitive one and that’s been enjoyable.”
There have been no announcements of expansion teams for 2026 or 2027 but she felt that we would see more franchises in the future: “Definitely. The goal is to even it out so that there are a couple more west coast teams so that travel is balanced. Right now, in terms of scheduling, it is not exactly even for the amount of home and away games for each team—we go to Montreal three times and they only come to us twice. With more teams, that will balance that out as well, to make it more fair.” She does feel that the strong start of the league, with a very competitive table (see our NSL team-by-team review below), is a strong advertisement to the league in bringing more talent to the NSL: “I think it would be great to see even more Canadians come back home to play. I’m sure a lot of players in the first season were a bit hesitant and wanted to see how it goes. I think, maybe in year two, you will see some more Canadians come back (to play) in the league (from clubs abroad).”
Turning the discussion to her national team duties, Philippines has now qualified for its third consecutive Women’s Asian Cup Finals since 2018—they had qualified for eight other tournaments dating back to 1981 out of 18 tournaments—including the 2025 final in Australia, but only won three games with one tie in those eight finals out of 28 games. In the last two tournaments, they have the same record of three wins and one tie but in only nine games.
Sawicki emphasized: “We’ve only qualified for the World Cup once so we are hoping for back-to-back appearances there. But we do know that the Asian Cup is a really, really tough tournament and now that North (DPR) Korea is back in the mix, it makes it even more difficult to qualify, so the top six will go through and hopefully we make one of those spots.” We do think Philippines should qualify directly as one of the top six AFC teams; see our column last month with our initial picks for the six teams to make the 2027 WWC and two to go on to the Intercontinental Playoffs, which will involve two phases and nine teams for three final places in Brazil: The Week in Women's Football: Asian Cup qualifiers; reviewing OFC Champions League - TribalFootball.com).
During the qualifiers this summer, Philippines utilized ten players tied with local clubs, when typically, they only have a few from the domestic league. Sawicki explained: “After the World Cup and throughout the last couple of years, a big goal in the Philippines is to grow the game domestically. A bunch of players who have been consistent with the national team have decided to join clubs there, which I think really boosted the league. I still think that there is still such a long ways to go for that league; there was a club that folded (De La Salle University) so it took a step backwards, but then there a new club came in so that was exciting as well (Capital1 Solar Strikers and Makati joined for 2025 but there were still four fewer teams in the top tier than in 2024). I think there is still a lot of ironing out from that side, but it is great to see our national team boosting the standard, but I think there is still a long ways to go.”
Philippines will host the first FIFA Futsal Women’s World Cup later this year (see: The Week in Women's Football: A-League & WSL review; examining 2027 Brazil hosting cities - TribalFootball.com). Jackie talked about the importance of this tournament to the nation: “There’s a couple (of Philippine WNT members) who play 11-a-side who might be part of that squad as well. It’s quite exciting for the country to be able to host; it’s the first futsal Women’s World Cup ever so that’s quite a historic moment for the country. They are definitely trying to promote it and get the team as ready as possible.”
This is a vitally important tournament—the first for women while the men have hosted ten world finals since 1989—and we have been waiting for this tournament from FIFA for close to two decades. Philippines, Iran, reigning champions Japan and Thailand are the AFC representatives for the futsal finals and the first three are good bets for the final four, as well as Spain—which Jackie pointed out is an important side from UEFA to not ignore.
With a Women’s Asian Cup finals spot sewed up, we asked about the Philippines Women’s National Team calendar ahead of the AFC Finals and she said that: “The Southeast Asian Games is the only thing set in stone in Thailand; the Group Stages have not been announced yet. That’s definitely a major tournament that is something we can look forward to and help prep for the Asian Cup, especially because we will be playing Asian teams. They won’t be top tier teams like the ones we will face in the Asian Cup but hopefully, the smaller windows around that tournament will get us ready for those top ranked nations."
It's always good to talk with Jackie Sawicki as she has such a keen eye on the development of the game globally, particularly in Philippines, Canada and Australia, where she played for three seasons. The Philippines should be in the top six at next year’s Asian Cup Finals and book a spot in Brazil 2027, plus a number of their team will feel comfortable playing in Australia, with A-League veterans such as Jaclyn Sawicki, defender Angie Beard (who grew up in Australia), American-born midfielder Camille Sahirul (with Eastern Suburbs of the Queensland State League), Quinley Quezada (ex-Perth Glory) and forward Sarina Bolden (ex-Western Sydney Wanderers and Newcastle Jets).
Canada’s Northern Super League Season to Date
AFC Toronto (10-1-5—31 points; First)
AFC Toronto (31 points) is battling Montreal Roses (25 points) at the top of the table—running off eight wins with only three losses since Round 5—with Ottawa Rapid and Vancouver Rise 10 and 11 points behind the leaders and, if the season ended now, these four teams would be in the playoffs. Toronto opened up a six point gap over Montreal with a 2-1 away win on August 9 with goals by Nikayla Small and Kaylee Hunter.
Canadian youth international and teenager Kaylee Hunter (17) leads the team in scoring with nine goals, second in the league’s Golden Boot Race to American Delaney Pridham (27) of Ottawa Rapid, who has scored 12 goals. Hunter has been named the Rookie of the Week four times this season. Forward Ijeoma Esther Okoronkwo of Toronto—who won the 2024 Women’s African Cup of Nations this summer with Nigeria—has four goals as does Canadian Nikayla Small (23), who played at Wake Forest University in North Carolina and is a Canadian youth international. Toronto leads the league in scoring with 25 goals and is third in goals allowed with 19.
A new signing in June during the summer transfer window was Canadian international midfielder Sarah Stratigakis (25). She joined from AS Saint-Etienne in France’s top tier Arkema Première Ligue and has played in Sweden’s Damallsvenskan with Vittsjo, in England with Bristol City, League1 Ontario with Aurora FC and Oakville Blue Devils FC, after four years at the University of Michigan Wolverines.
Toronto also added Canadian youth and senior international defender Zoe Burns (23) during the summer window. She was born in the U.S. of Canadian parents and grew up in Western Washington State. She played with the expansion side Utah Royals of the NWSL in 2024, playing in 21 matches as a rookie. She previously captained American college powerhouse University of Southern California in Los Angeles, playing in 68 games. She joined Fleury in France’s D1 Arkema in February of this year before her move to AFC. On the international stage, Burns played for Canada at the 2022 U-20 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica and made her full WNT debut for the Maple Leafs in 2022.
Midfielder Lauren Rowe (21) is from Newfoundland, played collegiately at Cape Breton University, where she earned AUS Player of the Year and then played three years in League1 Ontario—first for two seasons with FC London, where she scored seven goals in 35 games and helped the team win the League1 Cup in 2024. She played this season in the same league with North Toronto Nitros, scoring 7 goals with 12 assists in 10 games. She made her NSL debut on July 15 as a substitute and scored the only goal of the game in a 1-0 win over Halifax. She has been in Canada’s U-20 WNT pool.
Montreal Roses (7-4-4—25 points; Second)
Montreal has the best defense in the league, allowing only 12 goals in 15 matches, with Ottawa second with 17 goals allowed. The Roses offense has lagged, scoring only 17 goals, fourth best in the league. Latifah Abdu (23) has had a fine season with six goals (third best in the league) after coming home since going to France in 2020 to play ultimately with six different clubs. She was capped once by Canada in 2023. On April 27, she scored her first goal for the Roses in a 3-1 victory over Vancouver away, and the next week scored the club’s first ever goal at home in their 2-1 win over Ottawa on May 3, in front of 8,049 fans.
Ottawa Rapid FC (6-3-5-21 points—Third)
Ottawa has exceeded pre-season expectations, as their recruiting was done late and seemed a little too focused on Norway, where their coach hails from, but they have done well thus far, including a signature win on June 7 against Ontario rival Toronto 4-0 on the road. Their American forward, Delaney Pridham (27), has been a revelation, having played at Santa Clara University and in Iceland (scoring 7 goals in 10 games with IBV in 2021) and Sweden with Kristianstads and Linkoping. She leads the league in scoring with 12 goals and, in the 4-0 win in Toronto in early June, she recorded the Northern Super League’s first ever hat-trick.
American Melanie Forbes is tied for the league lead in assists (5), along with Nikayla Small of AFC Toronto. Forbes was born in the U.S. but largely raised in Canada and has played for amateur clubs in both countries and professionally in Iceland and Portugal, after her time at Indiana University. She has not been capped yet but qualifies through FIFA to play with Canada, the U.S. and Portugal.
Vancouver Rise FC (5-5-5—20 points; Fourth)
Vancouver won the league’s historic opening game with a 1-0 win over Calgary Wild on April 16 at B.C. Place—which hosted the 2015 WWC Final match—in front of 14,018 fans (which was surpassed three days later when 14,518 came to BMO Field in Toronto to see AFC’s 1-0 loss to Montreal). Vancouver’s offense has been solid with 21 goals, only four goals behind league leader Toronto (with 25). Their defense is fourth best in the league with 20 goals allowed.
Canadian international veteran Quinn (29) leads the side with five goals for fourth best in the league. Quinn has over 100 caps for Canada and won an Olympic Gold Medal in Tokyo in 2021. American Mariah Lee is tied for fifth in the league with four goals, along with Canadian Tonya Boychuk of Montreal, Nikayla Small and Nigeria’s Ijeoma Esther Okoronkwo, both of Toronto. Lee grew up in Washington State, played at Stanford and Wake Forest in college and with Lugano in Switzerland, Celtic in Scotland, FC Nordsjaelland in Denmark, Sporting de Huelva in Spain, Adelaide United in Australia and last fall with D.C. Power in the USL Super League. She spent a short time with the Seattle Reign (then OL Reign) in 2020—with Quinn.
Calgary Wild FC (5-2-8—17 points; Fifth)
The Wild built an experienced roster (see our column from earlier this year: The Week in Women's Football: Examining Canada's Northern Super League - TribalFootball.com) but have more losses (8) than another other club in the league, except for bottom side Halifax. They have been unable to put a string of wins or ties together this season. On offense they are led by Australian international Kahli Johnson and New Zealand international Mikayla Moore, who each have scored three goals. Their 1-0 win over Ottawa away on August 9 on a Jaclyn Sawicki goal late in the match (see above) was crucial and could be viewed later in the season as a key point in the season in their quest for the playoffs.
Halifax Tides FC (3-3-9—12 points—Sixth)
Halifax is bottom of the league in goals scored (10) and tops in goals allowed (24). Canadian-born Slovakian international goalkeeper Anika Toth (23), who played at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, has been a bright spot with four shutouts—tied with Anna Karpenko (23) of Montreal, and one behind league leader Morgan McAslan (25) of Vancouver, who has five.
The Tides struggled at the start of the season with four losses and one tie in their first five games and moved their head coach Lewis Page—who we interviewed in the Spring (see: The Week in Women's Football: Paige exclusive on Halifax Tides, England tour and NSL - TribalFootball.com)—into a role to launch a club academy and brought in local coach and iconic former Canada and Trinidad and Tobago’s men’s international head coach Stephen Hart as interim manager at the end of June.
Hart had previously coached the Halifax Wanderers of the Canadian Premier League from their inaugural season in 2019 and was dismissed in 2022. He joined the Tides after recently being a consultant to the Portland Thorns of the NWSL. Hart said upon his appointment: “It’s an honour to step into this role. Our team is focused, resilient, and committed to growing, together both on and off the field. I’m excited to lead this next chapter and help guide the players through the remainder of the season with passion, purpose, and pride.”
During the summer transfer window, Halifax boosted their roster with Canadian international forward Amanda Allen (19), signing her from the NWSL Orlando Pride. She has been on U-17 and U-20 Women’s World Cup Finals sides for Canada. She made her senior national team debut at just 17 years old in 2022 for her lone cap to date. Last year she was part of the Pride’s NWSL Shield and League championship side. Prior to her time in the NWSL, she played for League1 Ontario team NDC Ontario, scoring 10 goals in 14 matches.
The Tides also brought in some much needed attacking power in Tiffany Cameron (33), from Real Betis Feminas in Spain’s Liga F, where she played for two seasons. She has also played for clubs in Cyprus, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Norway, Sweden as well as in the U.S. and Canada.
Tiffany Cameron was born in Mississauga (suburban Toronto) and played for Canada at the 2006 U-20 World Cup in Russia but signed up to play for Jamaica’s Reggae Girlz, competing in the 2019 and 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cups, helping the latter squad reach the Round of 16 for the first time. She is a role model off the pitch, after being diagnosed with vitiligo in 2016. She has been very open about her vitiligo and was the first athlete with the condition featured in EA Sports FC, “using her platform to champion authenticity and inclusion.”
League Attendances to Date
The six NSL teams have been quite even in terms of attendance, with a league average to date of 3,983 as of August 10, ranging from Vancouver Rise’s average of 4,296 in first place to sixth place Ottawa Rapid’s 3,460 average. The Rise, AFC Toronto (4,202) and Halifax (4,103) all average over 4,000 fans a game. Calgary has the third highest single game gate at 8,552, behind the two 14,000 gates for Vancouver’s and Toronto’s home openers (above), while Toronto drew a league low of 1,319 on May 1 for their 2-1 win over Calgary in suburban York.
It is extraordinary to see so much parity at the various teams’ gates compared with women’s leagues around the world. I think it is a great sign and provides a good base to grow from, and a standard for future NSL expansion franchises to meet as an absolute minimum.
As a benchmark, the NSL average attendance is much higher than the USL Super League’s average from their inaugural season in 2024-25 (2,487). Only Carolina Ascent (4,032) was above 4,000 and Ottawa’s average was just below second place Dallas (3,546) and ahead of all the other six American teams in the league. As far as attendances go, it is all good news right now for the NSL.
NSL Players Called in for National Teams during the Summer FIFA Window
The Northern Super League has continued to supply players to international teams around the world, which is huge for the first year league as it demonstrates that national teams value the experience and level of play in the NSL. During the summer FIFA window for regional women’s championships in Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania and South America, ten of the NSL players were called into their national teams.
For Canada’s friendlies against Costa Rica on June 27 (a 4-1 win in Toronto) and versus the U.S. on July 2 (a 3-0 loss in Washington D.C.), Emma Regan (AFC Toronto) and Holly Ward (Vancouver Rise FC), were called into the team. Regan and Ward both scored against Costa Rica. Also for CONCACAF, Jade Mitchell (Vancouver Rise FC) joined Jamaica for their June 29 friendly against England in Leicester (a 7-0 defeat). In Asia, Jessica Cowart (Vancouver Rise) and Jackie Sawicki (Calgary Wild—see more above) went to the Philippines for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Qualifiers (see column link above).
Choo Hyo-Joo (Ottawa Rapid) joined South Korea for the East Asian Football Federation four team tournament finals in July, winning the title after deadlocks with China (2-2), Japan (1-1) and a 2-0 win over Chinese Taipei, who finished in fourth with 0 points. Korea Republic, China and Japan were all even on 5 points; the separation of the teams for placement purposes came down to the third tiebreaker of head-to-head goals: Korea Republic (3), China (2) and Japan (1). Esther Okoronkwo (AFC Toronto) won the CAF Women’s African Cup of Nations this summer with Nigeria.
Sierra Cota-Yarde (AFC Toronto) was called into Portugal’s EURO Finals side and Kayla Ademek (Ottawa Rapid) joined debutants Poland (see more on the 2025 EURO in: The Week in Women's Football: Profiling Euros and nation squads - TribalFootball.com) while Ukraine’s Tanya Boychuk (Montreal Roses) was called in for a pre-EURO friendly against Poland in Mielec (a 4-0 win for Poland), with Adamek scoring Poland’s final score in stoppage time.
NSL Documentary is coming this year
There will be a television documentary on the league entitled “The Pitch” to be released this fall in Canada, which features league commissioner and founder Diana Matheson and the launch of the Northern Super League. It is produced by award winning filmmaker Michèle Hozer, who is an Emmy-nominated and Canadian Screen Award–winning director and editor (Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould, Sugar Coated).
Michele Hozer said: “I thought I was making a film about building something new. What I came to understand is that this league is a response to everything these women were denied. This is more than a sports story, it’s a story of perseverance, equality and the people building the future of women’s soccer in Canada.” This documentary should further help the visibility of this new league in the nation.
Canadian Forward Olivia Smith is Transferred for a Women’s Football Record Amount
Canadian national teamer Olivia Smith joined 2024-25 UEFA Champions League winners Arsenal of the WSL for a record fee of 1 million pound (U.S.$1.34 million) to become the most expensive player in women’s history, surpassing the 900,000 pounds (U.S.$1.1 million) paid by Chelsea for U.S. international and former San Diego Wave defender Naomi Girma earlier this year. Smith (20) signed a four year contract.
Arsenal director of women’s football Clare Wheatley: “She’s one of the most talented young players in the game and has huge potential for further development here at the club.” Gunners head coach Renee Slegers added: “Olivia is an exciting young player and we believe she can make a big contribution here at Arsenal. We’ve been impressed by her mentality and character, excelling in two European leagues at such a young age.”
After one season at Penn State University, Smith joined Sporting Lisbon in Portugal in 2023 and scored 16 goals in 28 appearances. She moved to Liverpool of the WSL last year and scored nine times in 25 games (7 in 20 league matches). Smith is also Canada's youngest international after making her debut at 15 in 2019. She has four goals in 18 caps to date and won the CONCACAF W Gold Cup Finals Best Young Player Award in 2024 in the U.S.-hosted tournament.
Review of Christine Sinclair’s Playing the Long Game Autobiography
Christine Sinclair retired from club football at her long-time team Portland Thorns last season after leaving Canada’s WNT in 2023. She is the all-time international goal-scorer—men’s and women’s— with 190 and is still involved in the game as part of the ownership group for the Vancouver Rise in the new Northern Super League. She is iconic in the game and I have interviewed her many times over the years—earlier in my career I wrote for a Canadian outlet out of Nanaimo, British Colombia.
Her book is a fascinating read but very focused on her national team career, with very little on her long club career with Portland in the NWSL or in the WPS or personal items—she has always been self-admittedly shy and withdrawn from the public, but she always was good to interview about the game and the growth of the sport, which she is passionate about.
Her discussion of the 2011 Women’s World Cup Finals in Germany were particularly interesting, as former Italian international Carolina Morace led the team ahead of that tournament as head coach. Morace took the team to her native Italy for a three month long training camp that was largely devoid of friendlies (playing three games according to Sinclair) and, in her view, was not productive.
She said: “Looking back, I think about the fact that a coach tried her best to prevent people from playing professionally because she wanted to keep them in a residency environment far away from home. If that wasn’t a warning sign, I don’t know what was… Camps nowadays are ten days at most, and it’s a very busy ten days because the time is limited. It Italy we didn’t really have meetings or film sessions; that’s because we weren’t preparing for a game or reviewing a game—we were just living. We didn’t have evening meetings or one-on-one meetings with the coach or her staff. Even when we got to the World Cup, we still didn’t do film sessions. We still didn’t analyze practices” (Pages 96-97).
Sinclair further explained that Morace did not emphasize various tactical formations that a team could deploy for various reasons (chasing the game, to offset an opponent’s formation, etc.): “We had one way of playing. We had one formation. We had one style. That was it. If it wasn’t working, the coach’s answer was that we had to do it better. Which just doesn’t work. With John (Herdman—who was appointed after Morace late in 2011) and the coaches after him, if something wasn’t working, we’d switch formation and try something new. We didn’t have that option at the World Cup in Germany” (Page 100).
Canada lost to Germany 2-1 in the tournament opener before 73,680 fans in Berlin and then faced France in their second match in Bochum: “We had five days to prepare between our first game against Germany and our second game against France. During that stretch we had precisely one team meeting. We players were upset that we had lost to Germany, but thought it was a decent result. We believed we could take that game as a starting point and get better as the tournament went along. But our staff didn’t see the game as a respectable loss we could learn from. Instead, they were angry and frustrated with us over losing, and they couldn’t move on, which created extra stress within the team—the players were now worried about making our own staff mad. Looking back, I think many of us had always been a little afraid of setting the coach and her staff off, but the pressures of the World Cup really heightened that fear. Not only weren’t we preparing properly for the next game, but our coaching staff was looking backwards. Not only did they seem to underestimate the French team, but they also disregarded the fact that a win against them meant we still could do well in our group.” (Pages 105-106).
I covered that match against France in Bochum and I thought Sinclair summarized the mood around the team well: “We had done the match in our head, the way you always do in a tournament. All we had to do was not lose this game. With a draw, and then a win over Nigeria in our last group game, we’d probably still get through. The staff kept telling us not to worry, that we had this, that we could handle France. But then the game started and, man, did we not have it. France played out of their minds that day. I give them so much credit. It felt like everything they did wound up in the back of our net. Their play was crisp and clean. Since then, they have come to be regarded as one of the best teams in the world, and I think of that game as their coming-out party. Unfortunately, it was against us” (Page 107). I remember a German media member turning to me during the game and saying “I’m so sorry; I’m so sorry your team is so bad.”
Christine Sinclair continued with her analysis of that match: “It was clear that we were outmatched, especially when we fell behind 2-0. There are games when you’re down 2-0 and you think, We’re in this. We just need one. Then there are games when you’re down 2-0 and you think, Oh God, this is going to get ugly. This game was the ugly kind. I don’t remember Carolina or anyone else saying anything to us at halftime. I just remember our disappointment in ourselves, and our sadness because we knew this World Cup dream was over” (Page 108).
I was one of only three or four CONCACAF reporters in the media tent outside the stadium after the game—there were many more for France—and I interviewed Morace and some of the Canadian players. Morace was very complementary of her players, saying that they had given their all. The players, including one that I had known since she played in college, was looking forward to a long vacation and spending time with family, after being in Italy for so long. It was sad to watch the Canadians parade through the media, particularly as the buoyant French players were interviewed just a few feet away, after first walking past the Canadian section.
Sinclair then described what happened before their final group game: “After the France game, we still had another game to play and six more days to spend mulling over our tournament, but we only saw our staff twice. They no longer came to meals. I’m not joking. They purposely went to lunch an hour later than we did and to dinner an hour earlier so they wouldn’t run into us. It was so depressing. It was clear that they thought the failure was all ours. They didn’t call a single meeting to prepare for our last game against Nigeria.
"We saw the coaches and staff only at practice, and otherwise felt very much like we were on our own. I remember feeling such relief when I talked to my professional team back in the States (Western New York Flash of the long defunct WPS). Here we were preparing for our third game in the World Cup and I was figuring out when I needed to fly home to join my club. The players decided to run our own meeting to watch film of Nigeria’s games. Even though we were already out of the running, we were still playing in a World Cup. If the staff wasn’t going to do it, we would do it ourselves. But in that final match, it was clear that Nigeria was out there fighting. We weren’t. We tried to muster up the energy, but we were done, all of us just waiting to go home” (Page 109). Canada lost to Nigeria 1-0 and finished last in the 24 team WWC.
After running FIFA coaching courses, working with academies in Italy and as a technical director for a men’s state league side in Western Australia, Carolina Morace then was hired in Trinidad and Tobago in late 2016, and that was an awful mess and she left in 2017, but she and her staff did later win a Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling over non-payment of salaries. She then was considered for the Australia WNT job ahead of the 2023 WWC (which Swedish native and now their WNT head coach Tony Gustavsson won), which some Matildas expressed severe concerns with regarding her possible appointment. She was also canned as head coach at London City during the first year of a two-year contract as the second tier side was in danger of relegation—they won promotion last season and are now in WSL1.
I’ve known Morace since she was a player in the late 1990’s and she has always been good to me, but her teams seem to be drama-filled and Sinclair’s insights rang true to what I had learned from various sources during her coaching career. The 2011 WWC was also a sea change from Canada’s former coach Even Pellerud, who won the 1995 WWC with Norway and brought a winning mentality, a focus on developing young talent and sharp organization to the Maple Leafs, which was polar opposite to what Morace brought.
Newcastle England native John Herdman, who coached New Zealand in the 2007 and 2011 WWC Finals, was hired—he said that the two late goals (90th and 94th minutes) that New Zealand scored in their last group game to tie Mexico 2-2 (after narrow 2-1 losses to Japan and England) in Germany was pivotal in his being considered and ultimately hired by Canada after Morace left. I was at Herdman’s first game in charge of Canada in late 2011 in Portland against the U.S. and had known him since before the Women’s World Cup in China in 2007; he was very excited to be in charge of a team with so much potential as Canada. Sinclair said: “John Herdman is the best coach I’ve ever had, hands down.
"He is life-changing…John always says that every team he puts out will be the most prepared team on the field. The first time I heard him say that I kind of rolled my eyes, but he was telling the truth. Every single game under him, we knew we were more prepared than our opponent. We knew exactly what they were going to do and how we were going to exploit it and the three different formations we were going to play to do it” (Page 116).
Late in her book, Sinclair writes about the importance of Canada having a professional women’s league: “That’s one of the reasons why we need a domestic professional women’s league in Canada (to have a development pipeline system for the national team). We are the only country in the world’s top twenty that doesn’t have a professional environment for their females to play in. That just doesn’t make sense to me. We’re a progressive country. We pride ourselves on opportunities for all. But at times, it seems we’re all talk. Canada has a gold-medal-winning team.
"We qualify for all the big tournaments. If not now, when are we ever going to start a professional league? Just having a couple of NWSL teams in Canada won’t do it. If you have a team in Vancouver and a team in Toronto, that’s maybe twenty Canadian players taken care of. That’s not changing the landscape of soccer within the country. That’s still the national team players plus a couple more. You’re not creating opportunities. I believe in a Canadian league. I look at the NWSL and think of the number of players that would never have been on the U.S. national team except for their performances there. The depth that team has now is absolutely insane” (Page 228-229).
Thanks to her former WNT teammate and league founder Diane Matheson, other former national team players and Christine Sinclair herself as an investor in Vancouver Rise, the Northern Super League exists and will close out a very successful first season on a number of fronts.
Christine Sinclair’s Playing the Long Game is an important look at her iconic career with the Canadian Women’s National Team, with tremendous insights into the coaches and some of her teammates; it is definitely worth reading.
Tim Grainey is a contributor to Tribal Football. His latest book Beyond Bend it Like Beckham on the global game of women’s football. Get your copy today. Follow Tim on X: @TimGrainey