Christine Sinclair & soccer mates score with venture aimed at youth, business

For four key members who between them cover the rise of Canada’s women’s soccer program to national prominence, it’s a brand new game – but one they’re quite used to.

The foursome of Christine Sinclair, Diana Matheson, Rhian Wilkinson and retired goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc have partnered up in a venture called iS4 – as in “I Strive Four” – including the support of Canadian Tire’s Jumpstart program. Although they’ve been doing soccer camps together since winning a bronze medal in London four years ago, a press conference today in Burnaby, B.C., along with a camp for 100 children and participation in this week’s Sports Leadership Summit in nearby Richmond amounts to an official christening and taking it to the next level for years to come.

“After London and the bronze we were sitting around chatting as friends and thought it’d be really good to do some camps together with kids,” said Wilkinson over the phone from B.C. “We know how powerful it can be just to bring a medal around Canada and let people feel it and touch it.”

It has since turned into something a little bigger than that. The feedback from a breakfast talk for CEOs in Toronto early in 2013 convinced them their message applied equally well to business leaders.

“It’s our unique personalities that set us apart,” said Sinclair, the longtime captain of the team that followed on London with a bronze medal at the Rio Games last summer. “We’re such good friends and we’ve literally grown up together, we know each other’s strengths and weaknesses, and we have fun together.”

Their subject areas within iS4 mirror to an extent their own experiences in the national program. Sinclair, handed the captain’s armband 12 years ago and since established as women’s soccer’s No. 2 scorer all-time, speaks to leadership. Matheson, the medal-clinching goal scorer in Coventry at the London Games, overcame two injuries to make it to Rio, where they won another bronze – “I’ve got dibs on resilience,” she says with a laugh. Veteran forward Wilkinson, who will decide on her future within the program in the coming months, handles “synergy,” which the Canadians managed with a quite different side in Rio, integrating a number of dynamic young talents into their 30-something mix. LeBlanc, who actually retired in 2015 (and worked for Yahoo Canada Sports in Rio as an Olympics analyst), takes empowerment and going about business and sports “for the right reasons” as her theme.

“I look at the three people I’m with and we’re all different types of leaders,” said Sinclair. “My journey and all of our journeys have been pretty amazing. We were a leaderless team after the 2011 World Cup when John (Herdman) came in.”

Managing the transition from an inevitably short playing career in sports to “real life,” or something like it, anyway, can be difficult. Maintaining the kind of esprit de corps and commitment that’s been their calling card is even more problematic. Consider iS4 an attempt at ticking both those boxes for years to come.

“A lot of pro athletes are frightened of retirement,” said Wilkinson. “For us this is a more natural transition. We’ve been incredibly lucky.”