Rhian Wilkinson won a Maurice for Collective Sports Team Player of the Year at the 36th Gala Sports-Québec. The award (« Athlète en sport collectif ») was presented to her on Wednesday night at the Sheraton Centre in Laval, QC.
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\u200bWilkinson of Baie D’Urfé, QC represented Canada at the 2008 Women’s Olympic Football Tournament. She played her youth football in Baie D’Urfé in the Lac St-Louis region and made her national-team debut at age 20 in April 2003. Five years later, she has already accumulated 67 appearances with the national team. She has taken part in two FIFA Women’s World Cups (2003 and 2007) and won medals at two Pan American Games (silver in 2003 and bronze in 2007).
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\u200bFrom 1 September 2007 to 31 August 2008, Wilkinson won the 2007 FSQ Joueuse senior excellence (senior player of excellence) and the 2007 CanadaSoccer.com Fans’ Choice. She has taken part in the FIFA Women’s World Cup China 2007, the 2008 Four Nations Tournament in China, the 2008 Cyprus Cup (first place), the 2008 Peace Queen Cup in the Republic of Korea (second place), and the 2008 Women’s Olympic Football Tournament.
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\u200bSince 1 September 2008, she has won the 2008 FSQ Joueuse senior excellence and now the 2008 Sports-Québec Athlète en sport collectif.
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\u200bOther soccer finalists at the 36th Gala Sports-Québec were the Québec U-16 Boys All Stars team (2008 BMO National Championships) and the Dynamo de Québec senior women’s team.
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\u200bJust last year, soccer won four awards at the 35th Gala Sports-Québec. The Fédération de soccer du Québec won Best Sports Federation, the FIFA U-20 World Cup Canada 2007 won Best International Event of the Year, Francis Millien won Volunteer of the Year, and the U-18 Lac St-Louis Lakers men’s team won Team of the Year.