Canadian midfielder Jessie Fleming is ready to venture into new territory for both club and country this year.

Late January, Fleming announced she would be moving on from Chelsea FC to join the Portland Thorns in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).

Three weeks later, she was officially named captain of the Canadian women’s soccer team, as the post-Christine Sinclair era begins.

“I think for me, I just want to continue to develop as an individual and challenge myself as a leader, and get the best out of my teammates on this team,” Fleming told TSN.

The captaincy announcement doesn’t come as a surprise. Before the start of this year, Fleming had made 11 starts wearing the armband over the past two years, including Canada’s win against the Republic of Ireland at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, as well as the two Olympic qualifying matches against Jamaica last September.

Head coach Bev Priestman highlighted several of Fleming’s attributes that make her an ideal fit for the role: respect, humility, and leading by example. She doesn’t expect any of that to change now that Fleming has the official title.

“I would say Jessie has done an outstanding job of doing nothing different, and we don't need anything different from Jessie,” Priestman told the media last week. “She leads in the way she leads – very authentically, and it's very well received by the group.”

Although the seeds have been planted for Fleming to be the team’s new captain for some time, Priestman has always been careful not to draw any direct parallels to Sinclair, who led the team for more than 15 years before retiring from international soccer in December.

The coach has repeatedly stressed that, while Fleming may be the one wearing the armband, the team will be led by committee.

“The captain isn't going to fill Christine’s shoes,” Priestman said earlier in the month. “I want to take any pressure away from filling Christine’s shoes and more put attention on a group of players with very good experiences, medals around their neck, unique qualities. They’re all going to contribute to help lead moving forward.”

Fleming is currently in Houston with her Canadian teammates at the CONCACAF W Gold Cup. Canada sits in first place in Group C after a 4-0 win against........

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