When we think of the world’s greatest soccer players, a familiar set of names crop up. Messi, Ronaldo, Pele and others. Most people don’t know that the world’s leading goalscorer in international soccer is Canadian icon and CIBC Ambassador Christine Sinclair.

That’s because female sports players get only 4% of the media coverage that their male counterparts do. When we celebrate and cherish our cultural icons with a platform built on equity, it inspires young girls to follow in the footsteps of their role models.

That’s why CIBC chose to celebrate her final game with a tribute to her ambition and its power to shape the ambitions of millions of Canadian girls.

According to the 2020 Rally Report, 1 in 3 Canadian girls drop out of sport by late adolescence. Fewer girls in sport now translates to fewer girls and women in leadership roles later on.

Last year, Canadian soccer legend and CIBC Ambassador Christine Sinclair announced her international retirement after 23 years.

As the official sponsor of the Canada Women’s Soccer Team, CIBC paid tribute to Christine by showing her how her ambition had inspired an entire generation of girls to follow theirs, at her final game.

At CIBC, inclusion isn't just a buzzword — it's the cornerstone of the bank’s culture. With over 50% women on the bank's Board of Directors, and 43% of the bank's workforce being people of colour, inclusive talent management is practiced every day.

CIBC wanted to give ambassador Christine Sinclair the send-off she deserved when she played her final international game on December 5th, 2023.

In her 23-year career, Sinclair scored a record 190 goals—more than any player ever (male or female).

With CIBC’s brand purpose Ambitions Made Real we wanted to celebrate the ambitions Sinclair has achieved and how that ambition has, is, and will continue to inspire millions of girls to pursue theirs.

According to a report by the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport, 40% of all sports participants are female, yet women’s sports receive only 4% of all sport media coverage.

With little to no media coverage devoted to female athletes, young girls today have fewer female role models to look up to, and that can be directly attributed to the sharp drop-off in female sports participation amongst adolescent girls.

Sinclair is an undisputed Canadian icon, and led the country to an Olympic Gold medal.

It was a moment that could be leveraged to convey a powerful message to women and girls around Canada, and to speak to their ambitions.

As the official sponsor of the Canada Soccer Women’s team, CIBC decided to celebrate Sinclair by using the moment to pay tribute to her ambition, and how it had inspired a generation of girls to follow theirs.

Because when we celebrate female role models, and give them a platform and a voice, it signals a positive shift in the overall gender discourse, and inspires the next generation of girls to follow their goals.

CIBC, Canada’s leading bank, created 190 Goals for Goals to celebrate Christine Sinclair’s legacy, when she announced her international retirement.

We wanted to show Sinclair the impact of her legacy with Canadians and the countless number of goals that her goals inspired. Especially with young Canadian girls.

So we got 190 young female soccer players to share their goals that Christine inspired, for each of her 190 international goals.

Though Sinclair might not have enjoyed the same spotlight as other soccer greats, her impact on the game goes way beyond the field. Her greatness is not just about her 190 international goals which is obviously more than any other international player, male or female, but it's how her game inspired a generation of young girls to achieve their ambitions.

Our strategy was to highlight this impact in a way that celebrates her legacy during her final game for team Canada.

And as the bank’s brand ambassador, we wanted to show that while she was leaving the pitch, our partnership with her and our commitment to building a more equitable environment for women in soccer would go on.

We got 190 young female soccer players to share their goals that Christine inspired, by writing each one on a replica Sinclair jersey.

Then, at her final game, all 190 girls went onto the field wearing their jerseys, while a tribute video was played that brought each goal to life for Christine.

We documented the act with a social video and used paid social media to show all Canadians the impact of Christine’s ongoing legacy.

The act was covered in depth by TSN, as well as CBC and The Toronto Star. It also outperformed all of the benchmarks on Tik Tok and social, garnering over 264+ million impressions across all media channels. The campaign also resulted in 135% lift in positive brand sentiment, and 35% more awareness of CIBC’s Ambitions Made Real purpose. Most importantly, it proved to Christine that she will never retire from inspiring us all.

As part of the brand act, CIBC donated $190,000 to Christine Sinclair’s foundation that works towards diverse representation for young girls in soccer.

As part of a long-standing commitment towards Canadian women’s soccer, CIBC’s grassroots program Soccer Fests has reached over four million Canadians and delivered financial, promotional and technical resources which contribute to the hosting of community soccer celebrations in collaboration with community soccer clubs.

And as the official sponsor of the Canadian Women’s Soccer Team, CIBC will continue working towards shaping a positive discourse in the representation of women in sports, and ensuring a fair and equitable outcome for all.