Christine Sinclair hopes custom Barbie will inspire next generation of athletes

23/05/2024

Twelve-year-old Christine Sinclair wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

“I had my own family member when I was 12 telling me that I wasn’t going to make it in soccer,” she said. “And I can’t imagine if I had listened to him.”

Instead, she laced up her grass-stained cleats and took to a muddy pitch in Burnaby, B.C., to work on her dream of becoming a professional soccer player. And just under 30 years later, Sinclair became the all-time top goal-scorer in international soccer.

On the way to that milestone, she also won an Olympic gold medal, a pair of Olympic bronze medals, three NWSL championships, was named the Canadian Player of the Year 14 times, and appeared in six FIFA Women’s World Cups. Not a bad resume, and now despite retiring from Team Canada duties in December, the 40-year-old is adding yet another achievement — becoming a Barbie role model.

In recognition of Barbie’s 65th anniversary, the brand is celebrating the achievements of impactful women through a role model campaign in 2024. Sinclair is the latest to get the nod in the form of a one-of-a-kind doll made in her likeness that will not be mass-produced or sold in stores.

When Barbie and Mattel first reached out asking to partner with her, the Portland Thorns forward was “in disbelief,” she said. “This is something I never thought would happen to me, but it’s a huge honour. As I’ve matured, being a role model to the next generation, and to show young girls that anything is possible, is one of the most important things I do.”

Nine women athletes are being honoured by Barbie and include tennis player Venus Williams (U.S.), swimmer Federica Pellegrini (Italy), and gymnast Rebeca Andrade (Brazil).

Over her astonishing career, Sinclair has been at the forefront of the women-in-sports movement, taking any opportunity she can to speak about the importance of offering opportunities to women and girls.

In 2020, she joined forces with the Canadian Women’s Foundation to help raise funds for girls impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Two years later, Sinclair joined Project 8, the upcoming Canadian professional women’s soccer league, as an advisor and brand ambassador. Moreover, the striker has has been a central voice for the Canadian women’s national team’s concerns over unequal pay. Sinclair has become not just a soccer icon, but a global inspiration.

“I grew up idolizing male athletes and I’m very glad that times have changed,” Sinclair said. “Now, young girls can look at female athletes, whether it’s soccer with the NWSL, for example, basketball with the WNBA and hockey with the PWHL. Now, they can dream of doing what they’re doing, because I definitely didn’t have that as a kid.”

Sinclair’s doll is yet another sign of the increased visibility around women’s sport and athletes, further proof girls should feel supported and accepted when it comes to their athletic achievements. In Sinclair’s eyes, it needs to become a normal, accepted fact that women can achieve anything they set their minds to. But in order to get to that point, they need to see it to believe it.

“I hope that in some small way this Barbie can help with that path,” Sinclair said.

Women’s sports are blossoming in Canada thanks to the “Caitlin Clark effect” and the success of the inaugural PWHL season. The news of a WNBA expansion team coming to Toronto in 2026 sent further shockwaves across the country.

But when it comes to soccer, Canada had nothing until Project 8 was announced, which is still in development. For some time, men have had two professional avenues with the Canadian Premier League and Major League Soccer.

“We say [Canada] is progressive, but we’re one of the only countries in the [FIFA world rankings] top 30 that doesn’t have a professional environment for their women to play. And I fear that we’re going to get passed by if that doesn’t change,” Sinclair said.

In Sinclair’s 2022 book, Playing the Long Game, she wrote, “there’s so much to fight for. There’s so much injustice in the way [female athletes have] been treated. Women in soccer won’t stop fighting until there is 100 per cent equality, starting at the grassroots level and going all the way to FIFA. The fight is on.” That passage perfectly summarizes Sinclair’s undeterred resilience and determination to make women’s sports a more welcoming environment than the one that existed when she was growing up.

Sinclair not only proved her doubters wrong — even the ones she’s related to — but she also went on to defy the odds stacked against her gender and pave the way for others to follow. Her spirit of humility, hard work and sacrifice, no matter the opinions or obstacles thrown her way, will be disseminated to women and girls across the world with this Barbie doll.

“My advice for women and girls is to not listen to the naysayers. Just go for what you want. Myself and my teammates are proof that sometimes those crazy dreams you have as a kid can come true,” Sinclair said.

“It takes hard work and dedication, but it’s possible and it’s worth it.”

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