Image: Johnmaxmena
Women’s soccer superstar Christine Sinclair has won the 2012 Lou Marsh Award. The award is given out each year to Canada’s outstanding athlete. She is the first soccer player to win the award.
Sinclair, 29, is from Burnaby, British Columbia; she is captain of Canada’s women’s soccer team.
She led Canada to a bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics. She played a spectacular tournament, scoring an Olympic-record-setting six goals.
Her scoring ways have followed her throughout this remarkable year. She ended up with a national-record 23 goals in 22 games at the International ‘A’ level of soccer. The previous record was 16 goals in a year. That was set in 2007, also by Sinclair.
She has been nominated for the title of FIFA ( Fédération Internationale de Football Association or, in English, the International Federation of Association Football) world player of the year six times.
She has been named Canadian soccer’s player of the year eight times.
Other Canadian athletes who were on the ballot included cyclist Ryder Hesjedal, whose victory in the Giro d’Italia race made him the first Canadian to win one of cycling’s Grand Tours; trampolinist Rosie MacLennan, the only Canadian to win gold at the London Olympics; speed skater Christine Nesbitt, who won the 1,000- and 1,500-metre world championships; Calgary Stampeders running back Jon Cornish, the CFL’s most outstanding Canadian in 2012; and figure skater Patrick Chan. Chan won the Lou Marsh award last year.
A group of national sports editors, reporters and broadcasters vote on who should win the honour of being named Canada’s top athlete.
The award is named after a former Toronto Star sports editor
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
By Jonathan Tilly
Writing/Discussion Prompt
Today’s article explains that several editors, reporters, and broadcasters selected Christine Sinclair as the recipient of the Lou Marsh award. What criteria do you think these journalists used to make their decision? Based on the information in today’s article, do you agree with their decision?
Reading Prompt: Extending Understanding
If you were asked to nominate someone you know for the Lou Marsh award, who would you nominate? What exceptional skills and positive attitudes do they demonstrate when participating in sports?
Primary
Extend understanding of texts by connecting the ideas in them to their own knowledge and experience, to other familiar texts, and to the world around them (OME, Reading: 1.6).
Junior
Extend understanding of texts by connecting the ideas in them to their own knowledge, experience, and insights, to other familiar texts, and to the world around them (OME, Reading: 1.6).
Intermediate
Extend understanding of texts, including increasingly complex or difficult texts, by connecting the ideas in them to their own knowledge, experience, and insights, to other familiar texts, and to the world around them (OME, Reading: 1.6).
Grammar Feature: ‘The Numbers Game’
When reading a text, especially a news article, you will often come across many numbers. As you read these numbers, your mind may try to make sense of them by doing some quick calculations. This demonstrates comprehension of the text and can also allow you to understand the text more deeply.
Here are some questions that may add to your understanding of today’s story.
1. In total, how many times has Christine Sinclair been nominated as soccer player of the year?
2. How many total metres did Christine Nesbitt skate in the two races she won?
3. On average, how many goals did Christine Sinclair score in each of her games at the International ‘A’ level of soccer this year? What was her average in 2007?
