At age 26, Coquitlam native Brittany Timko will be considered one of the leaders on the Canadian women's soccer team at the 2012 London Olympics.
More than 20 years ago, she had a hunch she would be one day.
"When I was five years old, after watching a game on TV, I told my parents I wanted to play soccer at the highest level," Timko recently told canadianathletesnow.ca. "[It was also] through my older brother. I always followed him around and wanted to play with him and his friends. When they started playing soccer, I played soccer with them and loved it."
The forward has been playing on the grand pitch for quite some time now, having toiled in 111 international games for Canada, including in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She is also in her fifth season with the Whitecaps FC W-League squad, with which she has won two championships (2004 and 2006) and has scored four goals and five assists while starting in 25 of her 26 appearances.
A five-foot-eight Centennial secondary grad, Timko has also toiled professionally overseas, suiting up for Australia's Melbourne Victory in 2008, Sweden's Pitea IF in 2009 and the German club SG Essen-Schonebeck in 2010.
Ranked seventh heading into the Olympics, Canada is grouped in a pool with reigning world-champion Japan, fourth-ranked Sweden and 61st-rated South Africa.Timko, a University of Nebraska grad, is one of five B.C. residents on the squad, including star captain Christine Sinclair of Burnaby, whose international highlight is helping Canada place fourth at the 2003 World Cup and also earning the Golden Shoe as top scorer at the 2004 FIFA U-19 women's world championship with seven goals in four games.
Canada kicked off play in London versus powerhouse Japan on Wednesday, losing 2-1, with the only Canuck goal coming from Melissa Tancredi. Canada's women next take on 61st-ranked South Africa tomorrow (Saturday) and concludes its group play next Tuesday against third-ranked Sweden.
