Karina LeBlanc, the final supervisor of the Portland Thorns, will step down on the conclusion of the NWSL season, as introduced by the group. The previous Canadian worldwide goalkeeper will transition to a brand new place with RAJ Sports activities, the funding platform owned by the Bhathal household, which additionally owns the Thorns and the upcoming WNBA group set to debut in Portland in 2026.
LeBlanc has performed a vital position in offering stability for the Thorns throughout difficult instances, contributing to their NWSL championship victory in 2022 and actively participating with the group. The Bhathal household expressed their confidence in her resolution to maneuver to a brand new position that can permit her to give attention to group impression as they work to ascertain Portland as a number one hub for ladies’s sports activities. A seek for a brand new normal supervisor will begin instantly.
Having beforehand helped the Thorns safe the NWSL title in 2013, LeBlanc’s expertise in girls’s soccer is in depth. She represented Canada in 5 World Cups and two Olympic Video games earlier than retiring in 2015 with 110 worldwide caps. She joined the Thorns’ entrance workplace in 2021, drawn to town the place she has raised her daughter and the place she sees a robust connection to girls’s sports activities.
The Thorns’ roster consists of notable Canadian gamers, comparable to present and former nationwide group captains Jessie Fleming and Christine Sinclair, who is ready to retire on the finish of the season. The group is coached by Rob Gale, a former Canadian youth coach and Valour FC head coach, with Stephen Hart additionally a part of the teaching workers.
The Bhathal household’s sports activities investments lengthen past soccer, together with possession stakes within the NBA’s Sacramento Kings, the NBA G-League’s Stockton Kings, and minor league baseball’s Sacramento RiverCats.
