Rhian Wilkinson

Rhian Emilie Wilkinson (born May 12, 1982) is a Canadian professional soccer defender and former striker who last played in 2015 for Portland Thorns FC in the National Women's Soccer League. She was also a member of the Canadian national team, with whom she won an Olympic bronze medal at London 2012. She has played as a forward and midfielder, but is primarily an offensively-minded right fullback who carries the ball forward and makes crosses in the attacking zone.

Rhian Wilkinson
Rhian Wilkinson (7) and Ella Masar (3)
in Chicago Red Stars vs Boston Breakers on June 9, 2013
Personal information
Full name Rhian Emilie Wilkinson
Date of birth (1982-05-12) May 12, 1982
Place of birth Pointe-Claire, Quebec, Canada
Height 1.66 m (5 ft 5 in)[1]
Playing position(s) Defender / Striker
Youth career
1997–1999 Quebec provincial team
1997–1998 Lakers Lac St. Louis
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2000–2002 University of Tennessee
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2003–2005 Ottawa Fury 38 (13)
2005–2012 Team Strømmen 71 (10)
2009 → Western Mass Pioneers (loan)[2] 1 (0)
2010–2011 → Surrey United (loan)[3] 10 (1)
2013 Boston Breakers 14 (2)
2014 Laval Comets 4 (0)
2015 Portland Thorns FC 1 (0)
Total 139 (26)
National team
2003–2017 Canada 181 (7)
Teams managed
2009 University of Tennessee (Assistant coach)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of February 14, 2016

Early life

Wilkinson was born in Pointe-Claire, Quebec, to parents Keith Wilkinson and Shan Evans. Her Danish-born English father is a former director of the Canada national rugby union team. Her mother, Shan Evans was born in Wales. She has an older brother, David, and a twin sister named Sara.[4]

In 1990, she relocated to Wales for one year where she attended Bont Faen Primary School in Cowbridge, the school did not offer soccer to girls and Wilkinson's mother joined the Parent-Teacher Association to convince the school to have inclusive sports teams.[5][6]

She attended Villa Maria High School in Montreal and was Valedictorian of her class. She played for the Quebec provincial team from 1997 to 1999 and was named most valuable player in 1999 after helping the club to the silver medal at the nationals. In 1997 and 1998, she helped Lac St. Louis Lakers earn two silver medals at the national club championships.[4] She was selected as the Greater Montreal Athletic Association's Most Valuable Soccer Player in 2000, and attended the national training centre camp for the under-19 Canadian national team in 2001.[4] Wilkinson competed for the Lakeshore, a female ice hockey team, and also played rugby from 1998 to 1999.[7]

University of Tennessee

Wilkinson majored in speech communication and English at the University of Tennessee and was chosen as the University of Tennessee's Lady Vols' Offensive Most Valuable Player in 2002.[8]

Playing career

Club

Wilkinson was named to the 2003 W-League All Star team and the 2004 W-League Championship All Tournament team,[9] She won the W-League 2005 Scoring Championship and tied for the assist leader with 38 points on 13 goals and 12 assists.

She began playing for Team Strømmen of the Norwegian league in autumn 2005 and maintained her relationship with the club over the course of eight seasons.[10][11]

In 2013, she played for the Boston Breakers in the new National Women's Soccer League. She played several games for Boston as a midfielder, scoring twice.

She signed with the Laval Comets of the W-League in 2014.

In 2015, Wilkson joined Portland Thorns FC of the National Women's Soccer League through NWSL Player Allocation.[12] In February 2016, the Thorns announced that Wilkinson will not play for the team in 2016, and she became unaffiliated.[13]

Rhian WIlkinson playing for Canada, 2011

International

Wilkinson won bronze with Canada at the 2007 Pan American Games,[14] and gold at the 2011 Pan American Games where Canada defeated Brazil 4–3 in penalty kicks. She captured an Olympic bronze medal at London 2012 after Canada defeated France 1–0 on August 9, 2012, in Coventry, England.[15] She contributed three assists in the first two games for Canada at the 2014 Cyprus Cup.[16] Wilkinson announced her retirement from international football on January 13, 2017.[17]

Honours

Coaching career

Wilkinson is a volunteer assistant coach at her alma mater, University of Tennessee.[4]

Personal life

Wilkinson plays both the cello and the trumpet, and has been a member of the Suzuki Strings Orchestra since 1994.[21] She participated in the 1997 Quebec Winter Games in ringette.

References
  1. 2015 World Cup
  2. Player Info – Rhian Wilkinson
  3. Team Statistics: 2010–11 Metro Women Premier
  4. "Rhian Wilkinson player profile". University of Tennessee.
  5. "Re Seeing Women Excel In Tough Sports May Change Kids' Ideas About What It Means To Be Strong (Folio, Aug. 22)". Globe and Mail. August 25, 2016.
  6. http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/local-news/meet-welsh-olympic-medallist-never-2025987
  7. WOMEN'S SOCCER OLYMPIAN JOINS PRACTICE
  8. TENNESSEE (W) OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE – Women's Soccer
  9. University of Tennessee Lady Vols
  10. asp FK Strommen Squad
  11. Team Strommen Fotball Klubb
  12. "Kaylyn Kyle, Rhian Wilkinson added to Portland Thorns FC through National Team Allocation Process". PortlandThornsFC.com. January 14, 2015. Retrieved April 15, 2015.
  13. Portland Thorns FC Communications (February 8, 2016). "Forward Christine Sinclair returns to Thorns FC through allocation process". Portland Thorns FC.
  14. Rhian Wilkinson | Team Darfur Archived July 28, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  15. Fifa.com
  16. "Schmidt, Sinclair power Canada past Finland at Cyprus Cup". CBC. Retrieved March 12, 2014.
  17. "Wilkinson, Tancredi, and Nault announce retirements". Canada Soccer. January 13, 2017. Retrieved January 16, 2017.
  18. 2000 SEC Women's Soccer Year in Review
  19. Athlete Bios – Pacific Sport Archived October 5, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  20. FSQ 2007 ANNUAL GALA Archived October 4, 2009, at the Wayback Machine>
  21. Rhian Wilkinson's Official Website – Profile Archived September 3, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
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