Women’s soccer team heads to Olympic qualifier

High hopes for Canadian team inspiring young girls

The Canadian women’s soccer team is heading to Texas to qualify for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janero, rallying behind team leader Christine Sinclair.

Sinclair is the winner of the FIFA Golden Show, Golden Ball, and Top Scorer awards and the face of Canadian Women’s soccer.

Christine Sinclair
by the numbers

40
appearances

36
goals

19
wins

6
draws

15
losses

Source: fifa.com

The team will feature seven veterans of the bronze winning 2002 Olympic team.

Tina Cook, assistant coach of the Ryerson Rams women’s soccer team likes the makeup of team Canada.

“I think there’s lots of great veteran players on the team as well as some new faces. Some new players have really come in and shown well,” says Cook.

One of those new faces, Allysha Chapman, tweeted her excitement about joining the senior squad.

Thanks to Canada’s recent success in women’s soccer, people are flocking to the sport with a renewed interest.

“I think it’s really picking up. I think the last few years have been a great time for women’s soccer in Canada…. Lots of girls are more interested now.”

Tina Cook

Cook says the younger generation of female players are seeing soccer as a potential carrer, but Cook sees some improvements that need to be made to the funding available to the players, many of which need another source of income.

But Cook sees a potential for that to change, saying, “But with the growing popularity, maybe that is something we’ll see in the future.”

Tina Cook, Ryerson Rams assistant coach, says younger girls are dreaming of careers in soccer.

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Posted: Feb 4 2016 11:58 am
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