Christine Sinclair has witnessed many highs and lows over the last 10 years with the Canadian womens soccer team, but through it all her reliably excellent play has been the teams backbone. That consistency was rewarded Friday when Sinclair was named Canadian womens soccer player of the year for the 10th straight time, and 11th overall. Her latest accolade came a day after the 30-year-old forward from Burnaby, B.C., marked her 200th appearance for Canada and scored her 147th career international goal in a 2-0 win over Scotland. "Internationally Ive been a part of this team for a while and been through many ups and downs, and three coaches, but its clear to see the program is progressing," Sinclair said Friday on a conference call from Brazil, where Canada is participating in the Torneio Internacional de Futebol Feminino. "I think both technically and tactically, the support from the federation, everything seems to be going in the right direction building towards 2015," she added. The national womens program is in a good place heading into 2015, when Canada will host the FIFA Womens World Cup. Canada won its first ever Pan Am Games gold medal in 2011, then made its mark on the nations sports landscape with a bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics. "Very few people get an opportunity to actually play in a World Cup at home, but I think we have a shot at doing very well," Sinclair said. "Everything were doing is building toward that and trying to prove to everyone that what happened in London isnt a one-off thing and that its sustainable. That Canada is a forced to be reckoned within the international scene." Sinclair called her international experience this year "interesting." She missed Canadas first four international games due to a suspension stemming from an altercation with an official after Canadas semifinal loss to the U.S. at the London Games. She also said that Canada is currently in a building phase and developing younger players for the main squad, which has meant results have been muted following an explosive 2012. But on the club level, Sinclair had a season to remember. She led the Portland Thorns to the NWSL championship with eight goals in 20 matches. It marked her third straight club title, having won in 2010 with FC Gold Pride and 2011 with the Western New York Flash. "I have many ties to the Portland area having gone to university there," she said. "Its a soccer-crazy city, and being able to reward those fans and that organization with a championship, it just meant so much to me to be able to give that to the city." Sinclair added that as big as international womens soccer is getting, a healthy domestic league will do a lot to help to grow the game. "For me its all about doing everything I can to help the NWSL survive," she said. "Its my goal to have this league around for years to come, so that nine- and 10-year-olds now have a place to play when theyre done with university and a place to dream of playing. "Very few people make national teams, but it doesnt mean that once youre done your university or youth club career that your soccer career should be over." Sinclair made the 10-player shortlist for the 2013 FIFA Womens World Player of the Year award and was honoured on Canadas Walk of Fame. Sinclair first won the Canadian award in 2000 and has made it her own since 2004. Six men have won the male half of the award since then. A lot has happened since her first award, from the highs of playing in the 2002 under-19 World Cup final in front of a big crowd at Edmontons Commonwealth Stadium, to the lows of finishing in last place at the 2011 World Cup in Germany. "I remember back to 2002 with the under-19 world championship and there being almost 50,000 fans at the final and thinking All right, womens soccer has arrived in this country," she said. "And then we went through a little bit of a lull. As a national team we didnt perform as well as we would have hoped to, and you didnt see the huge increases in attendance. But obviously what happened in London has blown everyones expectations out of the water." Sinclair said the benefits of winning an Olympic medal go right down to soccers youth level. "Just little kids who recognize all of us, because when I was that age I had no idea there was even a national team," she said. "Now these kids have female athletes as role models and they dream of being the next Erin McLeod (Canadas goalkeeper), that never happened 15 years ago." Midfielder Diana Matheson was runner-up for the Canadian soccer award, followed by McLeod and midfielder Desiree Scott. The award is voted on by Canadian media, coaches and clubs. Portland Timbers captain Will Johnson was named male player of the year on Thursday. Dylan Carreiro and Kadeisha Buchanan were earlier named under-20 players of the year. Marco Carducci and Sura Yekka took under-17 honours while Liam Stanley was named Para Player of the Year. The awards are sponsored by BMO.
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Air Max 1 Sale Cheap . Thats exactly what happened. And they enjoyed every moment. Durant remained sizzling with 33 points, Serge Ibaka added 22 and the Thunder roared back from an abysmal start -- they trailed 22-4 early -- to embarrass the Miami Heat 112-95 on Wednesday night, erasing that big deficit out of the gate by outscoring the two-time defending champions by 43 points over a 33-minute span.BUFFALO, N.Y. - The Buffalo Bills are looking for anyone with a snow shovel and plenty of spare time.With 4 feet of snow having fallen at Ralph Wilson Stadium over the past two days, the Bills are racing the clock and Mother Nature to have the facility cleared in time to host the New York Jets on Sunday.With another 1 to 2 feet of snow projected to fall by Thursday night, its unclear whether theyll make it.Its hard to tell. If we didnt get any more snow from here on out, we would be fine, Bills Vice-President of Operations Andy Major said Wednesday. Knowing that we have another 1 to 2 feet potentially coming overnight, that just poses another challenge.It usually takes three days to clear a 1-foot snowfall, Major said. The snow removal has begun, and Major hopes to round up 500 people working three shifts around the clock to clear the facility.The team has stayed in constant contact with the NFL, which will have the final say on whether to postpone the game or have it played elsewhere.We are working with the Bills today to determine the status of the stadium, NFL spokesman Michael Signora said in an email to The Associated Press. If a change to the schedule needs to be made, the league will make the decision working closely with the club and local authorities.The weather is supposed to warm by the weekend. The forecast for Saturday calls for a high of 39 and rain. On Sunday, the forecast calls for a high of 46 and partly cloudy skies.Though rare, changing the date or location of a game has happened before.The most notable switch occurred in 2005, when the New Orleans Saints were forced to split their season playing in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and San Antonio, Texas, after Hurricane Katrina damaged the Louisiana Superdome. In 2010, the Minnesota Vikings were forced to play their home game against the New York Giants a day later in Detroit after the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodomes roof tore open.The storm forced the Bills to cancel practice Wednesday due to a driving ban in Orchard Park and its surrounding communities. And its unclear how many practices the team can get in before Sunday.Coach Doug Marrone and his staff spent the night at the teams headquarters going over the game plan and staying in contact with players.Us being able to go out and practice is obviously not an option for us, Marrone said. This is very challenging. Its a toughh, tough situation.ddddddddddddhe Bills (5-5) are already coming off an extended break after getting the weekend off since a 22-9 loss at Miami on Thursday night. The Jets (2-8) had a bye weekend off since a 20-13 win over Pittsburgh on Nov. 9.Buffalo practiced Monday, before players got their regular day off on Tuesday.Though he grew up in the Bronx and spent five seasons coaching at Syracuse, Marrone had never experienced such a snowfall before.Ive never seen anything like it, Marrone said. Its very difficult to put into words exactly whats going on.Marrone, defensive co-ordinator Jim Schwartz and defensive line coach Pepper Johnson found themselves in the thick of the storm while attempting to drive to the stadium Tuesday morning. They required help from a New York State trooper to exit Interstate 90. And couldnt get closer than within 5 miles of the stadium.Marrone did his part by helping push cars out of the snow.As much as 5 feet of snow hit a narrow region of communities south of Buffalo during a lake-effect storm that began Monday night.The Bills describe this is an unprecedented snowfall in their 65-year history. They estimate 220,000 tons of snow that need to be cleared from the stadium and surrounding parking lots. That would be enough to fill the teams practice fieldhouse facility eight times over.Bills players spent much of Tuesday sharing their snow-day experiences on social media.Running back Fred Jackson produced an amusing video of himself playfully tossing his children into a large snow drift.Receiver Marquise Goodwin posted a photo himself standing in the snow shirtless and wearing only sweatpants under the caption: This snow doesnt scare me.And kicker Dan Carpenter proved to be a good neighbour. Roy Noble, 88, told The Buffalo News that he and his 87-year-old wife Lorraine were pleasantly surprised to find Carpenter, who lives next door, shovel a path through 5-foot drifts to ensure the couple was OK.The storm drew attention from around the league.New York Giants coach Tom Coughlin deflected attention from his teams struggles by opening his news conference on Wednesday saying: Good morning. We could be in Buffalo.Former Bills coach Wade Phillips issued a message on his Twitter account which read: Hopefully all my friends in Buffalo are ok.___AP NFL website:
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