Christine O'Connor

In 1983 Christine O'Connor became the founding member and first President of the Winnipeg Women's Soccer League. At the time women's soccer was practically unheard of in Manitoba, and with the help of then President Fred Stambrook, the women's game was introduced to the province.

In 1986 she became the first administrator of Canada's National Women's Team and was appointed tournament director and manager for the inaugural Manitoba All-Star Team.

Throughout the eighties and nineties Christine held many roles in the soccer world including Prairie Representative for the Women in Sport Advisory Committee, Director of Provincial Teams for Manitoba, Event Manager for the International Women's Tournament, Director of Senior Soccer for the MSA, Canada Soccer Competitions Committee Member, Co-Director of Soccer for Dakota Community Centre, Vice President of the Manitoba Soccer Association, Event Manager for The Day the World played Football and Event Manager for women's Soccer at the 1999 Pan-Am Games.

In 1983 Christine and her husband opened the Sweet Shack, a soccer store that they ended up working in for over three decades. They also started a women's team, Sweet Shack SC, which Christine and her husband coached and managed. The team was very successful and represented Manitoba at Nationals on numerous occasions.

In 2003 she was honored with life membership to the Manitoba Soccer Association, and in 2010 was elected President of the MSA, the first female to serve in that role. She held the role of President for two years, while also being a Canada Soccer board member. In 2010 she was also inducted into Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame in the builder category.

Christine was selected to represent Canada at the FIFA symposium for Women's Football in 2011 and in 2012 was selected to be head of delegation for the U20 Women's National Team for the CONCACAF Championships in Panama. In 2018 she was inducted into the Manitoba Soccer Hall of Fame.