As the product of an athletic family, it’s no wonder 20-year-old Rebecca Quinn has so rapidly developed into a leader on Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Team.
With a mother who played college basketball, a father who played rugby, and three sisters, all of whom started playing soccer quite young, Quinn was introduced to sports early.
“My older sisters started playing when they were six years old. My dad was the coach of their team, so he would let me jump into their games. Then when I was five I started playing my own little local house league games.”
An avid Chelsea FC fan, Quinn grew up in North Toronto, near Yonge and Lawrence. She attended Havergal College and started playing competitively for the North Toronto Soccer Club (NTSC) at a young age. Whenever Quinn returns to Toronto, she trains regularly with NTSC.
“They’ve been huge and still support me to this day, whether it’s just verbal or getting training sessions in with the male teams on their side.”
As a young player honing her game, Quinn looked up to the national team and was influenced by one of the greatest soccer players to ever don the red-and-white.
“Growing up I watched the women’s team a lot and my favourite player on that team was definitely Charmaine Hooper. She’s been a huge soccer influence for me.”
At the London 2012 Olympics, the women’s team went on a glorious run that was abruptly ended by a set of controversial calls that led to a 4-3 loss in extra time to the top-ranked Americans. The Canadians would go on to win the bronze.
Since then the sport has seen an almost exponential increase in popularity and support.
“It’s huge now. The support we got for the World Cup just last year and the exhibition games we just played in Toronto and Ottawa, both to sellout crowds. It’s amazing to feel the country behind us leading up to Rio.”
The Rio 2016 Olympic squad will look and feel much different than those past. Many veterans, like Christine Sinclair and Melissa Tancredi return, but are flanked by talented young players like Jessie Fleming and Deanne Rose, just 18 and 17 years old respectively.
With two years under her belt, Quinn says she has taken on a leadership role with players her junior.
“We definitely try to help the younger players bridge the gap between some of the more experienced players. Because younger players aren’t going to go and talk to Christine Sinclair sometimes because when you’re new that may feel a little uncomfortable, so we can bridge that gap for them. We’re pushing ourselves to be leaders on the field.”
While the team has been busy training and preparing for their first match against Australia on Aug. 3, Quinn says she feels confident on the eve of her first ever Olympics.
“It feels fresh because so many of us haven’t experienced an Olympics before so we’re looking forward to that experience, along with the other, more experienced players who are looking to repeat what happened in 2012.”
