Nuke Soccer

Jackson is male selection for 2009 Canadian Players of the Year award
Simeon Jackson is the male selection for the 2009 Canadian Players of the Year award. Jackson was honoured in a vote shared by Canadian media (50%) and Canadian coaches who have taken the Canadian Soccer Association’s national course at the B and A levels (50%).

Jackson of Mississauga, ON wins the award for the first time. His co-winner Christine Sinclair of Burnaby, BC – announced yesterday – is a five-time winner of the prize.

“This is a fantastic achievement for Simeon,” said Canadian national head coach Stephen Hart. “He had an excellent club season and performed admirably at the national level. Full congratulations to Simeon.”

In 2009, the 22-year old striker helped Gillingham FC earn a promotion to League One in England. In the second half of the 2008-09 season, he scored nine goals in 25 League Two appearances, including three goals in the final two playoff matches to earn Gillingham FC the promotion for the 2009-10 season. It was on 23 May 2009 in front of 53,706 fans at Wembley Stadium that Jackson scored the winning goal of a Gillingham FC 1:0 victory over Shrewsbury to secure the promotion. Jackson scored on a header in the 91st minute of play.

Just one week later, he made his international debut with the Canadian national team in a 1:0 victory over Cyprus in Larnaka. Again, Jackson scored the lone goal of the match, this one the first of his international career.

Over the summer, Jackson represented Canada at the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup. He helped Canada reach the quarter-final stage. He was called up again in November for a pair of friendly matches in Europe, thus earning him seven national appearances by year’s end.

As for the start of the 2009-10 England League One season, Jackson has been in fine form through the first 18 games of the season. He has scored 10 goals including an opening-day hat trick against Swindon Town on 8 August. He scored two additional goals in League Cup matches against Plymouth and Premiership opponent Blackburn. The 25 August goal against Blackburn was Jackson’s second of the year against a Premiership opponent; his first was a 4 January 2009 goal against Aston Villa in FA Cup action.

Sinclair is female selection for Canadian Players of the Year award
Christine Sinclair is the female selection for the 2009 Canadian Players of the Year award. Sinclair was honoured in a vote shared by Canadian media (50%) and Canadian coaches who have taken the Canadian Soccer Association’s national course at the B and A levels (50%).

Sinclair of Burnaby, BC wins the award for the fifth-consecutive year. Her 2009 co-winner – a selection from the men’s national team – will be announced on Friday.

“Christine is a superb leader for our national team,” said national head coach Carolina Morace. “I would like to pass along my full congratulations to her on yet another fine season.”

In 2009, Sinclair joined FC Gold Pride for the inaugural season of Women’s Professional Soccer. She led the team with six goals (tied for fifth in the league), 58 shots (third in the WPS) and 27 shots on goal (third in the WPS). Three of her goals came in three consecutive starts from 31 May to 17 June. She won WPS Player of the Week honours in Week 8 and was selected to the year-end WPS All-Star Team.

At the 2009 WPS All-Star Game on 30 August, Sinclair scored both second-half goals in a 4:2 victory over Umeå IK in St. Louis , MO.

At the international level, Sinclair scored four goals in seven games, leading her country in goals scored for the ninth time in 10 seasons. In each year of her international career she has scored at a rate of more than a goal for every two games played. Her four goals came in three consecutive games as Canada finished second at the 2009 Cyprus Women’s Cup, falling 1:3 in the final to England .

Sinclair is Canada’s all-time leader with 99 goals in 132 career appearances. In 2009, Sinclair passed Charmaine Hooper for most career starts (129) and tied Andrea Neil for most career appearances (132). Sinclair is also Canada ’s all-time leader with 11,706 minutes played.

FINAL LIST
Male players from the Men’s national team
1. Simeon Jackson (18.2)
2. Dwayne De Rosario (17.6)
3. Julian de Guzman (17.4)
4. Mike Klukowski (10.9)
5. Will Johnson (10.7)
6. Atiba Hutchinson (8.2)
7. Nevio Pizzolitto (7.5)
8. Ali Gerba (3.9)
9. Sean McKenna (2.3)
10. Ethan Gage (0.6)
10. Charles Gbeke (0.6)
10. Tomasz Radzinski (0.6)

Female Nominees from the Women’s national team
1. Christine Sinclair (32.6)
2. Karina LeBlanc (21.3)
3. Erin McLeod (8.3)
4. Diana Matheson (7.9)
5. Candace Chapman (7.6)
6. Rhian Wilkinson (6.5)
7. Kelly Parker (5.9)
8. Carmelina Moscato (4.8)
9. Martina Franko (2.1)
10. Sophie Schmidt (1.0)

CANADIAN PLAYERS OF THE YEAR
2009 – Simeon Jackson & Christine Sinclair
2008 – Julian de Guzman & Christine Sinclair
2007 – Dwayne De Rosario & Christine Sinclair
2006 – Dwayne De Rosario & Christine Sinclair
2005 – Dwayne De Rosario & Christine Sinclair