Stepping into any new role is daunting, let alone one that is the captain of your national football team – but that is just what Jessie Fleming did in 2024 for Canada.
She replaced Christine Sinclair as skipper – a legend of the women’s game – and will lead her team into the latest round of World Cup qualification, which begins for Canada in November.
It was only six years ago that Fleming joined Chelsea at the age of just 22, with the midfielder developing her own mental health coping strategies as well as the perception of presence as she navigated her way through her career.
Both are among the subjects of a new audio series from Common Goal and E-Motion called ‘Create the Space’ – a collective initiative designed to help football organisations become intentional spaces of care, connection and resilience.
Fleming joins the likes of Vivianne Miedema, Naomi Girma and Becky Sauerbrunn in reflecting on these topics and more, which the Canada skipper weaves into both her professional and personal life.
Speaking to Sky Sports on the first World Football Giving Day, Fleming said: “I’ve enjoyed it [being captain of Canada], but it’s been one of the most challenging experiences of my career.
“Maybe I underestimated how difficult it would be and so I’ve definitely come back to leaning on some of these mental health-related tools.
“My brain likes to sway more towards self-doubt and overthinking and I take the role very seriously, which lends me to question whether something I said to a team-mate has impacted them negatively. Everything is a little bit heightened when you’re in that role, but it’s been a good challenge and has allowed me to grow.
“One thing that I’ve been really grateful for is the group of players that I have around me. That’s another element of mental health – I’ve been able to lean on close friends and team-mates and there’s so many other leaders on the team.
“It’s something I’m trying to work through from a mental health perspective, not putting too much pressure on myself for it to just be me or be someone that I’m not.
“It’s another example of how I still need and value mental health resources because our brains have these natural tendencies and my brain does it probably every day.
“That’s what I want to come from the Create the Space series is this acknowledgement that I’m still very much experiencing those things and I think it’s really valuable for everyone.
“I was really lucky that I was introduced to some of these concepts and I saw how powerful it was, what a positive benefit it had for me when I was thinking more positively and helping me through difficult performances or even difficult moments in my life.
Fleming was appointed as Canada captain in 2024
“It was almost therapeutic for me going through the experience [of creating the Create the Space audio series] and having to think about what presence looked like for me. It was a tool and it serves to show how helpful it is and how valuable these reminders are.”
Fleming’s home nation, Canada, is preparing to host the men’s World Cup, and play their first game on Friday. They are in Group B with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Switzerland and Qatar as they aim to make it out of the group stage for the first time.
“Speaking to my parents and friends back in Canada, there’s a lot of excitement around the tournament,” Fleming said.
“The guys are going to do well. You’ve seen their development and progress, especially over the last five years and when you look at where some of our players are playing like Jonathan David, Alphonso Davies, Tajon Buchanan, I’m really excited to see how they do.
“Hopefully they can manage what it means to play in a home World Cup. That’s something that can be quite daunting, but if you can capture that energy and the excitement around the tournament, then it’s going to be amazing for our country and hopefully inspires a lot of young soccer players.”
Fleming has been at Portland Thorns in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) in the USA for the last two years and is now working under two coaches who are well-known to WSL fans – Casey Stoney for Canada and Robert Vilahamn at Portland.
Ex-Spurs head coach Vilahamn has only been at the club since March, while Stoney replaced former England assistant manger Bev Priestman in January 2025.
Fleming has been at Portland Thorns since 2024, having joined from Chelsea
“I’ve really enjoyed working with Casey,” Fleming added. “It’s always a really cool experience when you get to work with someone who is a former player.
“I really value when she’s able to give anecdotes and you can see how she thought about the game. She’s very methodical, especially when it comes to defending and has very high standards. She also brings that classic English intensity with a side of the dry humour, which I really like.
“When we’re on pitch, the expectations are extremely high and the standards are high. Everything is very serious and detail-oriented, but then we’re also able to unwind off pitch.
“She’s helped create a very good balance for our team in camp. People really look up to her and value the expertise that she brings.
“Robert encourages us to use a brave style of play. He wants us to play out and play exciting attacking football, which I really enjoy.
“He hasn’t been here for too long, so he’s still trying to slowly ease the team into some of his principles and what he expects and wants from us.
“Similar to Casey, he’s very methodical, very detail oriented and analyses our performances with a fine-tooth comb. I’m excited to continue working with him.”
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: skynews.com
