{"id":898,"date":"2026-06-08T14:08:36","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T14:08:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=898"},"modified":"2026-06-08T14:08:36","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T14:08:36","slug":"canada-goalkeeper-dayne-st-clair-hopes-to-fulfill-a-childhood-goal-at-the-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=898","title":{"rendered":"Canada goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair hopes to fulfill a childhood goal at the World Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Long before Dayne St. Clair was stopping goals, he was setting them.<\/p>\n

When the goalkeeper for Canada\u2019s national team was about 12 years old, his mentor and first goalkeeper coach, Jerry Pennant, told him to write down his goals. <\/p>\n

Read more Kim Jong Un hosts Xi Jinping from a position of rare strength<\/a><\/p>\n

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Written in pencil atop St. Clair\u2019s list of long-term goals was, \u201cPlay for the Canadian men\u2019s national team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having reached that goal \u2014 and others he wrote down more than a decade ago \u2014 St. Clair was recently shown his original list when he reconnected with Pennant. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe still had the documents that I wrote when I was 12 or 13,\u201d St. Clair said in an interview on the NBC podcast \u201cMy New Favorite Futbolista.\u201d \u201cAnd being able to kind of see the bigger picture of the things now, 15 years later, and to see some of the things that we talked about or I even wrote down as a kid that was feeling ambitious, and said, \u2018I want to go to a World Cup.\u2019 At that time, Canada wasn\u2019t really a part of the conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n

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More World Cup Coverage from NBC News<\/h2>\n
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  • Sebastian Berhalter turned his father\u2019s tough truth into World Cup breakthrough<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    St. Clair helped Canada enter the conversation, making his second consecutive World Cup appearance with the team. Getting there might not have been possible had it not been for a conversation he had years prior, when Pennant suggested he become a goalkeeper.<\/p>\n

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    St. Clair, a defender on his club team at the time, began training with Pennant to play keeper and soon made it his primary position. Pennant said he had to compete against six other goalkeepers in his age group.<\/p>\n

    \u201cAt one point in time, he was ranked as sixth and seventh,\u201d Pennant said. \u201cAnd over the years, he had to put in the work to propel above the rest.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Pennant, in addition to making St. Clair write down his goals, would have him draw sketches of the lessons they learned on the pitch.<\/p>\n

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