WsoccerCa 2022 Roundup

2022

wsoccer ca

DEDICATED TO CARMELINA & SARA

TABLE OF CONTENTS

HIGHLIGHTS - JANUARY PAGE 1 - FEBRUARY PAGE 4 - MARCH PAGE 8 - APRIL PAGE 11 - MAY PAGE 14 - JUNE PAGE 17 - JULY PAGE 20 - AUGUST PAGE 25 - SEPTEMBER PAGE 29 - OCTOBER PAGE 33 - NOVEMBER PAGE 37 - DECEMBER PAGE 41 LEAGUE IN FOCUS - LIGA BPI PAGE 2 - DAMALLSVENSKAN PAGE 5 - SERIE A PAGE 9 - UWCL PAGE 26 - BUNDESLIGA PAGE 30 - NCAA WOMEN’S SOCCER PAGE 34 - LIGA MX PAGE 38 LOCAL FOOTY IN FOCUS - WANTED: HEAD OF PRO WOMEN’S SOCCER PAGE 6 - INTRODUCING LEAGUE 1 CANADA PAGE 10 - LEAGUE 1 ONTARIO PAGE 12 - PLSQ PAGE 15 - LEAGUE 1 BC PAGE 18 - UWS PAGE 21 - USPORTS COAST TO COAST PAGE 31 - 3 TAKEAWAYS: USPORTS CHAMPIONSHIPS PAGE 38 -PROJECT 8: PRO WOSO BY 2025 PAGE 42 CANXNT/YNT NEWS - JANUARY PAGE 3 - FEBRUARY PAGE 6 - MARCH PAGE 10 - APRIL PAGE 13 - MAY PAGE 16 - JUNE PAGE 19 - JULY PAGE 23 - AUGUST PAGE 28 - SEPTEMBER PAGE 32 - OCTOBER PAGE 35 - NOVEMBER PAGE 40 - DECEMBER PAGE 43 Click to access

soccer.ca W January Roundup

FEBRUARY 1, 2022

Welcome back to the Canadian Woso Roundup written by AC Lang of wsoccer.ca! As always, this column aims to increase the visibility of Canadian womxn’s soccer players. The league in focus will be Portugal’s Liga BPI and the growing number of Canadians making the jump to Europe through beautiful Portugal. Highlights in January were primarily off the field. Many transfers, a contract renewal, a retirement announcement, a special award for the GOAT, and a historic CBA stole the headlines.

In local footy, the landscape continues to grow and take shape in BC and Ontario as you'll read about in Domestic Footy in Focus. In #canYNT news, the U20 team was called into camp for the first time since Spring 2020, as Canada’s best 02/03’s battled for a roster spot in the upcoming CONCACAF Championships in February.

Newsletter Highlights Highlights from the past month of woso

League in Focus: Liga BPI Canadians in Portugal

Local Footy: Coast to Coast Update

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE PAST MONTH

CanWNT/CanYNT News

Sinclair wins FIFA Best Award, commits to play until 2023, inks book deal First thing’s first, on January 17th, at the FIFA #theBest ceremony, Christine Sinclair finally won her big individual award. They called it a special award and it was awarded to the GOAT for becoming the highest international goalscorer of all time (2 years ago). In her speech, Sincy talked about her journey in woso over the last two decades. Specifically, she spoke out against the fact that women’s sports have often been an afterthought and emphasized her intention to continue to push for a better, more equitable future. In the following media availability, Sinclair also committed to playing at least until the end of the 2023 NWSL season which includes the WWC in Australia. At the end of the month, Portland made it official, announcing a contract extension until the end of 2022 with an option to extend until 2023. Lastly, she followed up this flurry of excitement, by announcing a book deal with Penguin Randomhouse. Her much-anticipated memoir is expected to come out in fall 2022.

But let’s be real, Sinc would trade all the awards and book deals in the world for a professional women’s league in Canada, so until we achieve that, we have not done her legacy justice.

CanWNT legend Stephanie Labbe announced her retirement While this still feels more like a loss than a highlight, fans all around Canada paid tribute to Labbe when she announced her imminent retirement in April of 2022 after the upcoming CanWNT games on the West coast. In a moving essay she published in partnership with CBC, Labbe discussed her decision to retire from the game and what she’ll remember about being a part of the NT program since 2004. In her 19 year career, she won a multitude of championships including the NWSL with NC Courage, the Swedish Damallsvenskan with Rosenborg, and of course two Olympic medals with Canada. In her essay, she emphasized the importance of curiosity and connection which helped her stay engaged with the game through the good and bad times. Beyond her epic Olympic performance in 2021 and that smile, she will be remembered for her incredible openness and vulnerability around the topic of mental health. The best part of her retirement announcement was hearing that after taking 3-4 months off to relax with her fiancee Georgia, Steph aims to continue to work in women’s sport and drive professional women’s sport forward in Canada.

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FEBRUARY 1, 2022 Stratigakis joins fellow CanWNT youngsters in Sweden Last but not least, we’ll see a highly touted talent, Sarah Stratigakis from Michigan, head to Sweden to join the Damallsvenskan (next month’s league in focus). To say you love to see this is an understatement. Strats joins a top 5 european league, one characterized through tactical and that Swedish defensive style we’ve all grown to love. If Strats can spend her days learning how to unlock an organized back line and defensive block as a creative midfielder, the CanXNT will only benefit. She is exactly the type of player we have been missing, an offensive midfielder who can help the team penetrate the offensive third through, create chances, and get on the scoresheet herself. Strats joins fellow Canadians Evelyne Viens and Gabby Carle who will also be looking to secure a call to CONCACAF qualifiers this summer and the Australia WWC in 2023. Stay tuned!

LEAGUE IN FOCUS - LIGA BPI This week's league in Focus is the Portuguese Liga BPI also called Campeonato Nacional Feminino. It is directly operated by the Portuguese Football Federation, similar to the english league. The first season was in 1993, however, it was an amateur league until 2016 when Braga and Sporting CP, both tied to pro men’s clubs, became the first professional teams. The format of the Campeonato is an interesting one. Specifically, in the first half of the season, the 16 teams are split into a Northern and Southern division and compete from September to December. In the second half, the teams are split into the championship and relegation groups based on the results of the regionalized competition. As the name suggests, the teams in the relegation group compete to avoid relegation to the Nacional II Divisão (instituted in 2005). In the Championship division, teams like Benfica, Sporting CP, and Braga have been dominant in recent years, as can be expected from well-funded sides. In terms of Canadians in the league, we have seen a growing number of Canadians make the move to Portugal in recent years (see graphic).

After Cloe Lacasse’s success in the league as Benfica’s top scorer and captain, the doors seem to have opened for more Canucks to make the jump. And it’s easy to see why people are so impressed with Lacasse at Benfica.

She has 39 goals in 37 matches since transferring in 2019. She earned her first CanWNT call at age 28, in April 2021, although she missed out on the Olympics and wasn’t capped until later in the year when Canada played in Mexico in November. Lacasse’s playing style impressed fans in Portugal, as she’s equally as hard a worker as she is a natural goalscorer. A friend who traveled to a game down told me that the fans absolutely love her in Benfica.

Other top Canadians in the league are Chandra Davidson, a Stoney Creek, ON native and winger for Lisbon who has found some success in the Cup competition. Another player to keep an eye on is Caroline Kehrer from SCU Torrensee who has previously played in Denmark and Hungary. Kehrer, a midfielder/ attacker from Winnipeg, MB, is a regular starter for her club who are among the top 4-5 teams in the championship division.

How to Watch in Canada It is simultaneously a good and a bad thing that there is no international TV deal in the Portuguese division. While this means less exposure, many games are available through the Eleven PT youtube page. Make sure to follow @ligabpi on socials to keep up to date. Check out a game when you can! Kickoff is usually on one of the weekend days any time from 5am to 10am.

LOCAL FOOTY IN FOCUS: COAST TO COAST Let’s go coast to coast in this edition of Local Footy. A lot of great things have happened! On the West coast, the TSS Rovers of League 1 BC made headlines in two big ways. First, they launched their community ownership model and have started canvassing owners. At the time of this writeup, they’ve secured $93k in funding. Their unique ownership model is one to keep an eye on in the coming years as they’ve modeled themselves after European clubs and allowed fans and community members to be a part of it.

Secondly, they hired their first head coach in Chelsey Hannesson for the women’s side. Chelsey is a CSA A-licensed coach and has

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FEBRUARY 1, 2022 been involved in the BCSPL, Whitecaps REX and the BC provincial program. We can’t wait to see her succeed in this new role. In other BC news, Emily Moore, a former UBC keeper, signed with West Ham in January on a short term deal to replace their third GK. The Vancouver Island native had been training with the squad after ending her successful UBC career where she won a National Championship in 2019. Hopping one province over to Alberta, after some initial rumours that St Albert and Calgary Foothills would join the WPSL Canada, it was confirmed that instead they’ll once again compete in the UWS (a popular US-based semi-pro second division). The UWS is a solid summer destination and Calgary in particular has been dominating their division for the past few years, developing some top talent along the way (e.g. Stordy, Monck, Leonard, & more). Another province over, in Saskatchewan, Astrid Baecker was named head coach of the University of Regina. This is huge, considering that the amount of female head coaches in Usports has hovered around 17% over the last five years or so. She has been part of the program since 2001, first as a player, then as an assistant for 6 years, and then as interim head coach in 2021. It’s nice to make it official. Shoutout to Astrid for shattering that glass ceiling. We wish her the best of luck.

Next up, L1 Ontario. Two huge announcements were made in January to add some intrigue to the league. First, Janine Beckie came on board as co-owner of the Simcoe County Rovers (joining CanMNT’s De Guzman, Henry, and Larin) announcing the move through a Toronto Star article by Laura Armstrong. Beckie stressed the importance of investing in opportunities at home, clearly indicating her belief in the league’s potential to one day feed a pro league (players and teams). Secondly, L1O announced their ‘2024 plan’ late in the month, most notably the switch to a promotion-relegation system, and the return of a cup competition. The move was met by praise from coaches, players, fans, and the brass at Canada Soccer. By implementing a 10-12 team top tier (Premier Division), a 1012 team second tier (Championship), and a third tier called League 2, they hope to create a platform for the most ambitious clubs along with those who see themselves as development first pathways. As someone who plays in the league, I am thrilled. In Quebec, PLSQ teams announced the start of their pre-season, with top sides like AS Blainville posting photos on social media. The season is expected to start in the Spring. Last but not least, two proud East Coast women made waves off the field. Mallory MacDonald was named as Halifax County United’s Executive Director and is thought to be the first female to lead a major Nova Scotia soccer club.

Moreover, YNT star Annika Leslie rallied the soccer community to collect over 4,000 pieces of equipment to donate to new Canadians.

Let’s just say it’s been a good month coast-to-coast.

CANWNT/ CANXNT NEWS Let’s kick off the NT section by featuring our future stars, from the U20 program. Given the U20s compete in the CONCACAF U20 qualifiers in February in hopes of qualifying for the U20 world cup (August 10-28 in Costa Rica), it was high time they held their first camp since Spring 2020. The program has changed a lot since February of 2020 starting with a new coaching staff since the departure of Rhian Wilkinson and Carm Moscato. Cindy Tye led the group of 25 02- and 03-born players, mainly composed of players from NCAA D1. Overall, this was a diverse group from a variety of NCAA programs and with only 5 returners from 2020 in Rose, Karpenko, Novak, Wilkinson, and Kazandjian. Other standouts in the group were Olivia Smith (FSU), Grace Stordy (Memphis), Bessette (USF), Nikayla Small (Wake Forest), and US dual-nationals from USC (Brooklyn Courtnall, Simi Awujo, and Zoe Burns). While it was a closed-door camp in Markham with a focus on inter-squad games and re-introduction to tactical principles, it was nice to see the U20s back in action as they represent the next generation of senior NT stars.

In NWSL news, the problematic end to last season almost looked to be extending to the beginning of this season. With just a few hours left before pre-season kicked off on February 1st, the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) was finally ratified by the NWSLPA. The players had threatened to not show up to camp if the agreement was not signed. The main issues addressed through the first-ever NWSL CBA are free agency, higher minimum wages, and other benefits such as maternity leave, mental health supports, and minimum standards for housing. Especially in a league with a history of abuse of power, and a previous minimum salary of below 25k, this CBA should be a key piece in protecting

players and increasing standards in a league that calls itself the “best in the world”. In other, more NWSL news, Dee Scott signed an extension with the KC Current which takes her to the end of the 2022 season. The “Destroyer” will be lining up in a stacked midfield with Sam Mewis and fellow Canadian Victoria Pickett, and will look to provide service for Lynn Williams up front.

Last but not least, in Europe, two major cup competitions came under major scrutiny when it was revealed that there’s unequal prize money between the men’s and women’s competition.

Example A, in the FA Cup, a women’s side in the fourth round of the competition wins 2k pounds vs 90k for the men (2.2%), the women’s winner gets 25k and the runner-up gets 15k vs 1.8 million and 900k for the men (1.4%, 1.7%). After some pressure, from prominent people like Chelsea coach Emma Hayes, the FA announced they will be significantly increasing the prize money for the 2022-2023 season. Example B, in the Coupe de France, the same criticisms arose, when it was released that for the same stage of the competition women received 0 euros for advancing to the Round of 16 while men’s clubs received 102,500 euros. While this is disappointing, it is unfortunately not surprising. Speaking of the Coupe de France, in the Round of 16 the clash of the titans saw Kadeisha Buchanan and OL eliminated. PSG beat out OL 3:0 in a more lopsided game than expected, and Lawrence contributed an assist on PSG’s second goal, helping secure the win. Deanne Rose also came up big for Reading this month, helping them win all three of their games, contributing a goal and two assists, and coming away with Canada’s Player of the Month in the process. To end on another positive, Julia Grosso made her debut for Juve and won her first trophy (Supercoppa Italiana) shortly after joining the club in late December.

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soccer.ca W February Roundup

MARCH 1, 2022

Welcome back to the Canadian Woso Roundup written by AC Lang of wsoccer.ca!

As always, this roundup aims to increase the visibility of Canadian womxn in soccer.

The leagues in focus will be Sweden’s Damallsvenskan (1st Div) and Elitettan (2nd Div), two popular destinations for Canadian players looking to play pro. As most club teams were on break or in pre-season, the highlights are once again off the field; TSN puts non-WWC/Olympic Canadian Woso on TV, real talk by a WNT legend, and our sisters from down south settle their equal pay lawsuit (and how it could affect us). In the local footy section, we’ll do a deep dive into what the new CSA role of Head of Pro Woso means and who the candidates could be. In #canWNT news, we’ll break down the Arnold Clark Cup performances, and in #canYNT news, we’ll report on how the U20 team has fared so far at the U20 CONCACAF Championships.

Newsletter Highlights Highlights from the past month of woso

League in Focus: Damallsvenskan

Local Footy: Wanted - Head of Women's Soccer

Photo Source: Sportsnet

Arnold Clark Cup and CONCACAF U20 Champ.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE PAST MONTH Diana Matheson Spills the Tea In wake of the men’s emphatic FIFA WC Qualifying window, the eyes of and ears of the nation were on soccer. Being on the brink of qualification brought with it a flurry of media attention. I was shocked when, on my drive to work, I heard on the radio that CBC The Current’s Matt Galloway would be speaking about translating the success of the men’s team to a prosperous pro league for women with CSA Pres Dr. Nick Bontis, as well as canWNT Legend Diana Matheson and journalist Shireen Ahmed. As can be expected from these two formidable women, they fought back on some of Dr. Bontis points and weren’t afraid to speak bluntly to problems like lack of concrete action. While there were many memorable moments during the interview the one that stands out is when Diana essentially called Nick out on having too big of an ego and not being a collaborative leader who surrounds himself with experts (“This is something he could learn from John Herdman”).

Matheson talked about the opportunities (and cash) the rise of the men’s team could create for the women, specifically pro women’s soccer in Canada. The whole thing is excellent so give it a listen if you have 20 minutes.

Women’s Soccer on TV! We’ve all been screaming about it on twitter, and finally, it has happened. Three women’s national team games were shown on TV through TSN, with a solid pre-game shows, and they weren’t even the Olympics or a WWC! No disrespect to OneSoccer, but TSN is a much bigger deal with a whole new audience women’s sports has yet to target in our country. It looks like for TSN it was worth investing to secure the rights to the Arnold Clark Cup, an invitational tournament featuring hosts England, Spain and Germany, and they received plenty of praise and eyeballs for making that decision. Amy Walsh (CanWNT Legend, 102 caps) crushed the pre-game show and Clare Rustad (CanWNT Legend, 45 caps) did well on the call with Luke Wileman. Overall, the experience was a 10/10 and I would recommend it to a friend. Three games for $20, plus I’ve snuck in some MLS games now too. More of this please.

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MARCH 1, 2022 USWNT settles Equal Pay Lawsuit As Canadian fans we never like to give Americans too many props, but, the USWNT accomplished something monumental for gender equity in February when they settled their long-standing wage and working condition dispute with the USSF. For those who know the history of this fight, you know the fight to be paid equally has gone back to the 99 and early 00 generations. Hopefully, that fight is over when the new USWNT CBA is ratified, and the clauses of the settlement kick in. $22 million USD + $2 million in charitable donations. How does that sound for reparations? In all seriousness though, this is amazing to see and a great moment for footballers across the world.

This will certainly have ripple effects when the Canadian players negotiate their upcoming CBA. An additional factor in the CanWNT CBA is that NWSL Allocated Federation players are a thing of the past. The new NWSL CBA has resulted in a better financial model and increased conditions/wages, meaning that the WNT is finally less reliant on the federation, and in a better position prior to these talks. In theory, Canada Soccer will be saving $50k USD per player x 10 players (avg amount of NWSL allocated per year) = $500k USD. Where will that money go instead and how will the gold medal change the power dynamics in the room? We’ve seen with the USWNT that what fuelled their successful negotiations and lawsuits the most was continued excellence, trophies and medals. Now that the CanWNT player reps approach these talks with Gold in their pocket for the first time, you’d expect them to demand what they deserve.

LEAGUE IN FOCUS - OBOS DAMALLSVENSKAN The Swedish league, sponsored by OBOS (a large Swedish Housing Developer) is one of the oldest women’s soccer leagues in the World. Originating in 1973 and professionalized in 1988, the Swedish Championship has been home to some of the world’s best players like Marta (who arrived at age 18), Christen Press, Lotta Schelin, and Nadine Angerer. Though the appeal and pay of the Swedish league has not been able to keep up with some of the investment in other top European leagues, it is still a great destination for footballers. The Swedish league was at its peak from 2000-2010, but dropped out of Europe’s top three leagues in 2014, when the FAWSL replaced it.

Currently, the league sits in fifth spot in Europe. Nevertheless, Sweden has long been one of the most stable safe-havens for women’s footballers, especially at the beginning of pro woso, when no one else had invested. The league has also been a major reason behind the Swedish National Team’s consistently strong results in major tournaments and world rankings.

The 12-team format of the competition is based on promotion-relegation of two teams to/from the Elitettan at the end of each season. Related to the climate, the league follows a summer schedule from late March to early November. Perennial winners Rosenborg/Malmo (Steph Labbe’s previous club), Gothenburg/BK Hacken, and Linkopings have split most of the league titles over the past decade. The 2022 season is set to kick off on March 26th with 13 Canadians involved (see Graphic), most notably CanWNT players D’Angelo, Stratigakis, Viens, and Carle. Others include exciting prospects Lisa Pechersky (formerly Memphis Tigers), Paige Culver (formerly Bordeaux), and Christie Gray (Queens U) who are joined by vet Shannon Woeller (21 caps) and dual-national Carley Wickenheiser who enters her third season in Sweden. Players looking to break into the Canadian National Team are well advised to make their way to Sweden. Through strong club performances, the likes of Allysha Chapman, Sabrina D’Angelo, and Jenna Hellstrom have all made comebacks to the national team. Young guns Viens, Stratigakis and Carle will be looking to follow their examples and start their careers off on the right foot.

How to Watch in Canada The best way to watch the swedish league in Canada is through a streaming platform called fanseat.com, which shows all games live and on demand. Games are typically played on Saturday and Sunday mornings starting at 9am EST / 6am PT. The streams are of high quality, but they do not have a commentator. The cost is 14 Euros per month, roughly $20 CAD.

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MARCH 1, 2022

LOCAL FOOTY: WANTED HEAD OF PRO WOMEN’S SOCCER On February 16th, the Canadian soccer scene was set afire by the announcement of the Head of Women’s Professional Soccer position at CSA. The announcement had been teased by President Dr. Bontis in a few media calls earlier in the month, such as on the national radio show CBC’s The Current and the popular podcast Northern Futbol. The main objective for the position is "to spearhead women’s professional soccer with a strong Canadian identity and prioritize the development of promising young Canadians," per the federation's official release. Specific jobs tasks will include; researching professional leagues globally, chairing the Women’s Professional Soccer Task Force (consisting of Bev Priestman, a former player, key individuals from CSA, and other partners), developing an operational plan, recommending a league operator and competition format, creating financial forecasts, and developing relationships with investors and corporate Canada.

The announcement was met with a ton of excitement, but also some criticism. The positive is that this position was posted, as it is the first real action we’ve seen from CSA on this front. It can only be a good thing that someone in the federation will be paid a full-time salary to make pro woso happen in Canada. Previously, a similar position was held outside of the federation by Carmelina Moscato through Canada Soccer Business, the mysterious “business-arm” of Canadian Soccer which runs the men’s CPL. She was hired in the Fall of 2019 and her title was Manager of Women’s Professional Football Development, in addition to being the L1O women’s commissioner. As someone who was close to her during that time, I know that she did not receive much support or many resources to execute her plan. Frustratingly, superiors did not even bother to engage with her strategic plan, and she generally faced misogyny and outdated beliefs about women in sport held by those in charge. In addition, the timeline has been criticized by some within the community who believe that 12 days is too short to gather candidates for such an important role.

So what’s the verdict? Canadians should be cautiously optimistic, but not naive to the barriers this individual could face. Fans should support whoever gets the role but also continue to hold the CSA leadership accountable to properly fund and resource this position.

CANWNT NEWS Last but not least, let’s round this out with some CanXNT news. Of course the senior team was in action in Bev Priestman’s home country of England at the Arnold Clark Cup. The invitational tournament was a success in many ways, serving as a growing opportunity for the team and offering an exciting on-field product. Priestman stressed before the tournament that it was crucial for the team to play against top European competition in the lead up to the WWC in 2023. Canada came away with a solid record of 4 points, 2 goals for and 2 goals against, a win against Germany and splitting points with England. Overall, our performances can be characterized as spirited, united, and ambitious. Players that stood out were Fleming, Quinn, Buchanan, Gilles, Beckie, Riviere, Lacasse, Sheridan, and Scott.

Buchanan and Gilles anchored a strong defensive line, racking up plenty of blocks and tackles, and even contributing offensively, in particular on set pieces (Gilles scored on a corner). The chances that did get through were almost all saved by a strong Sheridan in net, who grew into the tournament well, although she will face stiff competition from D’Angelo moving forward. Surprisingly, Jayde Riviere started all three games over Chappy and got lots of praise from her coach, fans and media for her brave offensive play and defensive prowess.

In midfield, 34-year-old Dee Scott continues to be a fantastic ballwinner and organizer, while young co-captain Jessie Fleming was literally all over the field, finding spaces and hunting the ball. The duo started every game together, and looked best when they were joined by Quinn who demonstrated excellent vision, ball control, and defensive work rate. In offense, it wasn’t always perfect, but the team did look much more dangerous than they ever do against top teams. Janine Beckie scored a worldie and also picked up the assist on Gilles’ goal and was generally strong in her delivery of set-pieces. Beyond Beckie, my forward of the tournament was Benfica’s Cloe Lacasse who is a recent addition to the player pool. The 28yo was very active on and off the ball, connected with teammates, and created several dangerous opportunities despite being kept off the scoresheet. She also tried an epic dive, which she was called on, but we like the effort.

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MARCH 1, 2022

CANYNT NEWS On the #canYNT side, the U20 Championships are under way in the Dominican. Coach Cindy Tye has assembled a team of top players from top NCAA and REX programs. Among their leaders are Jade Rose, Nikayla Small, Olivia Smith, Anna Karpenko, and Kaila Novak who have competed at this level prior. Canada has played two of their games. The first against St Kitts was a dominant 7-0 win in which they had 82% possession as per CONCACAF stats. The first half was the Olivia Smith show as she racked up 2 goals and 3 assists in 45 minutes on the field. She looked dangerous every time she got the ball and looks to become Canada’s go-to player in attack. Behind her, Nik Small pulled the strings and dictated the pace in midfield while also contributing a brace. Holly Ward also came through with a brace to make it 6-0 by half. After half, the pace slowed down as St Kitts settled in a deep block, but a beautiful free-kick by Zoe Burns found USC teammate Brooklyn Courtnall who headed it home.

In the second match vs El Salvador, the Canadians came away with a 4-0 win in a much more evenly-matched game.

Canada had 65% possession and racked up 7 shots on target while allowing 5 shots against (on target). Double goalscorer and super-sub Serita Thurton scored twice in the second half, while Miya Grant-Clavijo bagged her first goal of the tournament in her first start. Olivia Smith picked up another goal on an inch-perfect free-kick delivery by Zoe Burns who appears to be a lock at left-back. Coach Tye switched up the defensive core, starting Jade Rose alongside Brooklyn Courtnall in front of keeper Karpenko who made a number of excellent saves. If you want to catch their next match check it out on onesoccer.ca

CanW20 vs St Kitts & Nevis, taken by Audrey Magny 7/43

soccer.ca W March Roundup

APRIL 1, 2022

Welcome back to the Canadian Woso Roundup written by AC Lang of wsoccer.ca! As always, this roundup aims to increase the visibility of Canadian womxn in soccer.

The league in focus will be Italy’s Serie A including an update on the league’s Canadian star: Julia Grosso. With the NWSL and UWCL back, and the FAWSL and D1 Arkema in full swing, there were plenty of on-field highlights to pick from. In the local footy section, we’ll cover the NDC’s decision to join League 1 and PLSQ respectively and introduce you to League1 Canada . In #canWNT news, we’ll discuss the squad selected for the West Coast leg of the Celebration tour, and in #canYNT news we’ll recap the CanW20 Bronze medal and World Cup qualification, and the CanW17s trip to Spain.

Newsletter Highlights Highlights from the past month of woso

League in Focus: Serie A Femminile

Local Footy: Introducing League 1 Canada

Photo Source: Sportsnet

Celebration Tour Roster and U20 Bronze

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE PAST MONTH NWSL Challenge Cup is Back The NWSL’s pre-season tournament is back! This 6-week tournament was born out of necessity during the pandemic shutdown but has stuck around and is now in its third season. This year, the tournament is split into three divisions; West (Angel City, San Diego, OL Reign, and Portland Thorns), Central (KC, Houston, Chicago, and Louisville), and East (Washington, Gotham, North Carolina, and Orlando). With a couple of Canadians cut before the tournament kicked off, 12 Canadians made the final rosters of their respective teams.

Standout performers so far have been, Sinclair who picked up a goal in the first match, Sheridan who has been a rock in goal, and Desiree Scott who has started every game as Captain for KC. Currently, North Carolina, OL Reign, and Chicago are sitting atop their respective divisions.

Huitema, Lawrence, and Buchanan advance to the UWCL semis After a long break, the UWCL was back this month and the momentum keeps building.

Record crowds watched four stunning quarter-finals, which included four Canadians. Many of the clubs opted to host their home games in their traditional men’s stadium and the average attendance across the games was 37k, with over 91k in attendance for the Barca vs Real game at Camp Nou, smashing the previous world record for attendance at a women’s soccer game. On the field, PSG came out with a 4:3 victory on aggregate and Ashley Lawrence picked up the assist on the winning goal vs Bayern. Jordyn Huitema only saw the field for a few minutes in the first tie. The other matchup involving Canadians was Juve (Grosso, who started the first match) vs OL (Buchanan). While Juve took a surprise 21 win at home, OL ultimately came through with a 3-1 win in the second leg and won 4:3 on aggregate. OL and PSG go head to head in the semi-finals on April 23rd, guaranteeing that at least one Canadian will advance to the final.

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APRIL 1, 2022 Beckie joins Thorns By far the biggest news of the month came in the dying hours. Meg Linehan, of The Athletic, reported on March 31st that Janine Beckie was returning to the NWSL and joining the Portland Thorns. The deal was confirmed by both teams the following day, detailing a deal worth $75k in allocation money + $25k in additional bonuses contingent on performances, paid not to Man City, but to Louisville who technically held Beckie’s NWSL rights (don’t even get me started on this mess). In addition to the allocation money, the Thorns also had to pay Man City an undisclosed transfer fee. Janine will be joining up with fellow Canadians Christine Sinclair (captain), Rhian Wilkinson (coach), and Karina Leblanc (GM). Janine will become one of the highest-paid players in the league and is expected to be a star player for the Thorns who add another offensive weapon to their arsenal. Wilkinson emphasized the value of Beckie’s versatility, defensive work rate, attacking threat, and team-first mindset.

LEAGUE IN FOCUS - SERIE A FEMMINILE Italy has not traditionally been a powerhouse women’s soccer nation despite being home to one of the world’s oldest women’s soccer leagues. The first women’s team was formed in the 1930s in Milan, with another spike in female participation after the second world war. But it was not until the the 1970s, at the dawn of women’s football after the ban was lifted across Europe, that Italy was at the forefront as hosts of the first-ever (unofficial) World Cup. Italy lost the final of the “Martini Rosso Cup” (sponsored by beverage company Martini) to Denmark in front of a crowd of 40,000 fans in Torino. The bulk of the early success resulted from the efforts of the Italian Federation of Female Football (FFIGC), founded in 1968, and reformed in 1970, who also created a national league for women by 1974. However, it wasn’t until the mid 80’s to late 90’s that women’s soccer reached more mainstream popularity. Italy won two bronze medals and two silver medals at the European Championships during that time (‘84, ‘87, ‘93, ‘97).

Unfortunately, the professionalization of women’s football did not follow a similar path as in other European regions like Germany and Scandinavia. In fact, Italian law previously explicitly prohibited women from pursuing professional sport in Italy. Players were capped at $60 USD weekly wages, with a match bonus of up to $87, totaling less than $600 monthly, until 2019! Thankfully, in the last 3 years, important steps were taken to improve the working conditions and societal acceptance of women’s football. A new law, and an $11 million investment over three years by the government, allowed Italian clubs to finally become fully professional. By the 2022/23 season, the salary cap of 30k euros will be lifted, and a new competition format will be put in place which mirrors the Portuguese setup with 10 teams. Specifically, following a play-in, the top 5 teams will compete in a “championship” division for one of two UWCL spots, while the second group battles relegation. The aim is to make the league more competitive and ensure that top stars are attracted and want to stay in the league. Now, major men’s clubs like Juventus, AC Milan, Roma, Inter, Fiorentina, and others are investing in women’s programs and leading a renaissance of Italian women’s football. The NT has benefitted and is now considered a dark horse and once again ready to really compete at major international competitions, like this summer’s Euro. Just recently, they picked up two wins vs Denmark and Norway at the Algarve Cup. The backstory of Italian women’s football is fascinating, so with that knowledge, let’s look at some of the players in the league. Most of the big Italian stars play for Juventus, such as Sara Gama (126 caps), Barbara Bonansa (69 caps), and Cristiana Girelli (65 caps). Juve are the serial champions, winning 5 of the last 5 championships, largely due to their early and sustained investment in the team. In December 2021, they invested in canWNT star Julia Grosso who has since played 5 league games (4 starts), and 1 UWCL game (1 start). Grosso is deployed either as an 8 in a 4-3-3 or a 10 in a 4-2-3-1 depending on the opposition. In her appearances so far, Julia has looked comfortable while not yet dominant. Her strengths include finding space between the lines and vision in the opposition's half. Currently, only one other Canadian plays in Serie A and it’s Quebec’s Kelly Chiavaro, who serves as Napoli’s backup keeper and who recently got a call-up to the Italian beach soccer team. Furthermore, Ottawa’s own Margot Shore is currently the starting GK for Serie B side Pink Bari who sit in 4th and could still qualify for promotion. Carmelina Moscato is a prominent alumnus of the Italian league, playing 15 games (1 goal) for Tavagnacco in 2009/10.

How to Watch in Canada Canadians can watch Serie A matches on atafootball.com, an American women’s soccer platform. All matches are available on demand for free, but live games cost $7 monthly or $59 per year. The platform also carries other select matches from leagues such as D1Arkema, Iberdrola, and the Bundesliga.

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APRIL 1, 2022

LOCAL FOOTY IN FOCUS: INTRODUCING LEAGUE 1 CANADA Most youth, high-performance and collegiate leagues were not yet back in action this month. March is traditionally too cold to return to the pitch in all of Canada, except BC. However, exciting developments were still brewing in the Canadian soccer landscape. First and foremost, a new brand identity called League1 Canada was unveiled late in the month by Canadian Soccer Business (CSB), uniting the division 3 leagues across the country. Quebec’s PLSQ, Ontario’s League 1, and BC’s newly formed League 1 are combining forces to create a partnership and coast-to-coast soccer network. While the press release was quite vague about how the leagues would be working together, the goal is to help “unify and elevate the sport of soccer at the Pro-Am level in Canada”. Attributed to former CPL employee Carmelina Moscato, L1O President Dino Rossi, and the respective Provincial Bodies, the alliance promises to “create a unique value proposition for potential national commercial partnerships through a series of national tournaments, competitions, and activations”. Hopefully more details will follow.

The branding itself draws inspiration from and has similarities to the CPL logo with a North Star outline and related colours. Grassroots Green anchors the emblem and pays tribute to the starting point of the Canadian player, Meteoric Blue instills the energy and vibrancy of the rise in the heart of the emblem, and Night Sky Blue lives at the apex of the logo - the destination guided by the North Star. Notably, the upwards arrow speaks directly to the rise of the Canadian player to the CPL, which as we know, is not (yet) an option for female players. All in all, it’s a cool brand and a good idea. Uniting different stakeholders in this alliance can only benefit players if done well. We’re certainly excited to see more information emerge.

Canada Soccer also announced that the National Development Center teams (formerly REX program) will be joining their respective provinces’ pro-am leagues. With this move, the CSA is doing a 180 from their previous model which isolated many of the top girls players by allowing them play mainly against younger boys’ teams.

Now, the youngest and brightest players will be playing against adult women, which is likely a better move for their development. In an interview with AFTN’s Soccer Show, the Whitecaps Girls Director Emma Humphries stressed that taking the competition out of the REX programs had hurt both player and coach development.

CANWNT/ CANYNT NEWS Last but not least, Bev Priestman released her roster for the upcoming April matches against Nigeria in Vancouver and Victoria. Opting for a larger squad than usual, she has called in 29 players, including the 22 Olympians plus 7 who weren’t a part of the squad.

By position, we’ve got four keepers, Labbe, Sheridan, McLeod, D’Angelo, although McLeod has been on the injury list for Orlando since earning the callup. Bev stated to the media that Labbe will definitely start at BC place, but she didn’t yet share who will be starting the second match. In terms of defenders, we’ll see the Olympic crew, plus Sura Yekka, who has been part of the last two camps, and Zoe Burns, who had an impressive showing at the CONCACAF U20s (more on that later). The word on the street was that Jade Rose also got the call but had to decline related to school commitments at Harvard. In midfield, the non-Olympians are Sarah Stratigakis, Victoria Pickett and Marie-Yasmine Alidou. All three are upand-coming players looking to break into the midfield three.

Strats started the season well in Sweden, Pickett has impressed for KC and recovered from a minor concussion just in time for the international window, but Alidou was subbed out in the 32nd minute of her Austrian cup game and may have picked up a knock. Up front, the only non-Olympian included is Benfica’s newly crowned Footballer of the Year, Cloe Lacasse, who was impressive at the Arnold Clark Cup in February. Otherwise, Christine Sinclair and Adriana Leon are back in the fold after missing the last

window. All in all, it’s a deep squad and players will be motivated to perform well ahead of the summer’s CONCACAF WC Qualifiers.

Last but not least, the CanYNT U17s and U20s were in action this month. The U17s participated in a 4-nation friendly tournament in Spain against Belgium, Poland, and Sweden.

The Canadians suffered a tough loss in the semi-finals vs Poland, but pulled off a PK victory in the third place match against Belgium. The U20’s also won a bronze medal, but at the CONCACAF Championships, earning them a spot at the World Cup in August. The Canadians dominated the group stage, scoring 16 goals and conceding 0 in games against St Kitts, El Salvador, and Trinidad. The goals were spread out across the team but Smith (4), Thurton (3), and Ward (3) contributed the most. In the knockouts, Canada beat Cayman Islands 13-0 in the Round of 16 (Smith 4 goals, Novak 2 goals), and narrowly defeated Panama 1-0 in the quarters (Ward scored a PK). Then, in the semi’s Canada fell 1-0 to Mexico despite a valiant comeback effort. In the consolation final, Canada beat Puerto Rico 2-0 in a dominant performance (21 shots), Zoe Burns and Flo Jourde scoring in quick succession in the first half. Bright spots in the tournament were standouts Zoe Burns, Flo Jourde, and Anna Karpenko (golden glove winner) who all earned a team of the tournament nod. Burns in particular was fantastic at left back, notching multiple assists from open play and set-pieces. The 20-year old dual national (Two Canadian parents) currently plays for USC and represented the US at U17 level, but her switch to Canada was clearly a good decision considering she’ll now have the chance to participate in a senior camp.

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soccer.ca W April Roundup

MAY 1, 2022

Welcome back to the Canadian Woso Roundup written by AC Lang of wsoccer.ca! As always, this roundup aims to increase the visibility of Canadian womxn in soccer.

This summer we are switching things up a little bit to shift the focus on domestic provincial footy. The league in focus section over the next few months will feature our top women’s leagues; League 1 Ontario, BC, PLSQ, and the UWS. The highlight section remains the same. Last but not least, in #canWNT news, we’ll discuss the results from the two matches vs Nigeria, and in #canYNT news we’ll recap the CanW17’s first four matches at the Concacaf Championships.

Newsletter Highlights Highlights from the past month of woso

Local Footy in Focus: League 1 Ontario

CanWNT v Nigeria Recap & CanW17s

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE PAST MONTH Canadians tearing up the NWSL It’s high time an NWSL team comes to Canada, not only because we are an underserved market but because our players are legitimate stars in the league. In April, the Challenge Cup group stage wrapped and the regular season kicked off (don’t get me started about this unpopular overlap). Four Canadians are in the semi-finals; KC’s Vic Pickett and Desi Scott will play NC, and Spirit’s Devon Kerr will likely be the backup against Quinn’s OL Reign. A few Canadians picked up points in the Challenge Cup: St Georges (CHI) 1G, 1A, Pickett (KC) 1G, Sinclair (POR) 1G, and Prince (HOU) 1G. The regular season also started off with a bang. Notably, Vanessa Gilles picked up the first goal of the 2022 regular season, scoring in the 3rd minute for ACFC in front of 22k home fans, also helping them bag their first NWSL win. Elsewhere, St Georges continues her good run of form for Chicago, scoring in their first game vs Louisville. She is really making the RWB position her own. The third Canadian goal of the opening weekend was by Christine Sinclair who has scored in 10 consecutive NWSL seasons. Last but not least, Kailen Sheridan came up with 3 saves to secure a clean sheet for San Diego, who also picked up their first ever NWSL win.

Canadians promoted to D1 France In the French second division, the race for promotion is still tight in Group A and has been decided for Groupe B. The good news is Canadians will be promoted in both groups. In Groupe A, Le Havre is on 45 points, and Nantes has 44 points. Both teams have two games to go and both teams feature Canadians. Le Havre is home to CanXNT’s Sura Yekka and promising striker Kelsey Araujo (10G, 9A), who has recently been part of Portugal’s U23 squad. For Nantes, the veteran striker Pilar Khoury, is a regular contributor with 6G and 3A. Rodez Aveyron and their three Canadians won Groupe B thanks to a huge win over competitors Nice on Matchday 19. Alex Lamontagne, Yasmine Hall, and Mikayla Morton secured the league championship with two games to spare. Standout striker Lamontagne has 8 goals and 3 assists on the season and will likely be a huge factor in a successful D1 campaign next year. Great to see the pathway through D2 being a viable route for young Canadians.

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MAY 1, 2022 Canadians thriving in Sweden Two months ago we featured Sweden’s Damallsvenskan for our league in focus. Since then, the league has kicked off and Canadians are prominently featured across several teams. Let’s start with Evelyne Viens who is leading the league in assists (5), has scored once, and has played all but 13 minutes for Kristianstads. Viens looks hungry and clearly wants to recommend herself for a CanWNT spot at this summer’s CONCACAF Championship. She has developed a solid understanding with strike partner Tindell. Gabby Carle has also been impressive and flexible, being deployed both as a LB and CB in her 6 full 90’s. Over in Vittsjo, Sabs D’Angelo earned her third consecutive shutout last MD and Sarah Stratigakis has played all but 25 minutes in central midfield. Adamek started the first match, but was out for the following two and back on the bench for MD 5 and 6. Recently promoted Kalmar, named Paige Culver as team captain, a good decision considering she has led them to two wins. KIF Orebro’s Canadians Wickenheiser (team captain) and Hellstrom have both picked up an assist and have played 5.8/6 games on the season. Last but not least, vet Shannon Woeller has picked up 5 starts and one yellow card.

LOCAL FOOTY IN FOCUS - LEAGUE 1 ONTARIO Last month, we introduced you to the newly formed League1 Canada. This month, we continue to focus on domestic woso by featuring League 1 Ontario, Ontario’s most competitive women’s league. Founded in 2015 by Ontario Soccer (Dino Rossi) the league is classified as a tier 3 pro-am league, meaning it is not truly semiprofessional league and is two steps removed from a tier 1 leagues like the NWSL or Mexico’s Liga MX. No public information exists, but based on my involvement in the league, there are ex-pro players, but players aren’t typically paid beyond the odd gas expenses. With the expansion to Peterborough and Barrie, two investors have come in and shaken up the status quo. To my knowledge, there are certain Electric City FC players who are housed and some expenses are covered. Another important thing to know about the league is that it is a so-called “standards-based” league, meaning there are certain technical, infrastructure, operational, and governance standards that must be met, including minimum 3 practices a week, substitution rules, licensing requirements for coaches, and venue requirements such as changerooms and fenced-in fields.

This year, 20 clubs will be competing for the league title in a 19-game season from April 21-July 24th, as well as the playoff title. In addition to the usual title favourites, Woodbridge, Blue Devils, London and Vaughan, several new franchises are in the mix and generally look exciting. Among them are the two aforementioned ambitious newcomers Simcoe and ECFC, as well as new teams in Windsor, Waterloo, St Catherines, Guelph, and Burlington. In addition, Canada Soccer entered their provincial NDC (National Development Centre) Programs. This year, the stakes are a bit higher, considering that the 20-team division will split into two after 2024 (Premier and Championship), with all points from 2022 and 2023 counting toward promotion into the top tier. Another exciting twist this season is the launch of the League1 Canada Interprovincial cup being held in Quebec in mid August. For the first time, we will have something resembling a national competition, which is deeply needed. Stay tuned for more later this year.

In terms of star power, the league has tons. Keep an eye on veteran players like April Syme, Jessica Lisi, Alysha Mottershead, (Woodbridge), Rachel Melhado, Laura Twidle (Blue Devils), Julia Benati (London), Jenny Wolever (Alliance), Tori Chia (Darby), or Hollie Babut (Pickering). Challenging them for the spotlight will be returning NCAA players (Pais, O. Smith, Flynn, Chang, and many more), standout Usports players (Badinovac, Bradau, Nikkel, O’Neill, Desa, Rickert-Hall, and many more), and of course the very talented youth national team players (Maalouf, Allen, Markesini, Ottey, and many more).

There are also regional reserve divisions, Central, West, and North East housing younger players. Each Premier franchise has the mandate of registering a reserve team and other applicants were also able to field a team in these divisions. Controversially, the reserve teams are sometimes also used as a way to make money via registrations to help pay for the premier team (fielding a premier team costs about 100K). Speaking from personal experience, it is common practice to charge the reserve players upwards of $1500 to play. This certainly feels unethical and speaks to the need for human resources to pursue unique partnership and sponsorship opportunities.

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MAY 1, 2022

How to Watch L1OW The best way to watch the league is through youtube. All games are uploaded 24h postgame, accessible to all. One game a week is selected to be live-streamed on YT with commentary. If you live near a team, it’s a good league to check out if you are passionate about women’s soccer or want to expose your players to the top level of soccer in our country. You might even spot some future CanWNT stars! The league lists pros like Ashley Lawrence, Kadeisha Buchanan, Vanessa Gilles, Sarah Stratigakis, Alex Lamontagne, and Nicole Kozlova as alumni. Furthermore, the gameday atmospheres are positive and specifically the environments in London, Oakville, Guelph, and Barrie look fantastic.

CANWNT/ CANYNT NEWS The Gold Celebration tour finished up in Vancouver and Victoria (Langford) early in the month, Canada winning 2-0 and tying 2-2 against Nigeria. The excitement was palpable both in Vancouver and Victoria leading in to the games and BC showed up big time fore the team. It was also a welcome opportunity to celebrate #Sincy185+, Labbe’s retirement, and recent Canadian Hall of Fame inductees. I was lucky enough to go to both games and see Jessie Fleming and Vanessa Gilles score in the first game, and Sincy and Zadorsky in the second.

While it was disappointing and unusual to concede 2 against Nigeria in the second game, four goals scored is not bad and the team also had the opportunity to show character and learn from mistakes. Highlights included Fleming’s omnipresence, Quinn’s midfield play, Adriana Leon’s energy in attack, Beckie’s ability to play key passes, and a stellar senior debut for Zoe Burns. One controversial narrative around this game was the fact that it was not shown by mainstream sports networks like TSN, SN or CBC, but rather was broadcast by Onesoccer on their platform, fubotv and Telus. Onesoccer’s reach is growing, but the criticism by players and fans that the games were not on tv is not meant as an insult to their broadcast ability but the inability to access new fans or viewers through mainstream broadcasters. Historically, it’s been a challenge to view women’s sport on TV in Canada between major tournaments. The result being that less traditional sports fans are not exposed to women’s sport, delaying the social normalization process. While it felt like we took a step forward when the Arnold Clark Cup was on TSN, this felt like a step backwards or at minimum standing still.

Labbe was a hero to 4.4 million Canadians, you bet your ass tons of new fans would recognize the name and tune in.

To be real, Canada drew the “easier group” compared to the USA, Mexico, Jamaica and Haiti. Nevertheless, things are set up for successful WC and Olympic qualification this summer.

In CanYNT news, the CanW17 team coached by Emma Humphries is currently down in the Dominican Republic at the CONCACAF U17 Championship. In April, they emerged as group winners over the hosts, Jamaica, and Bermuda, scoring 16 goals and conceding one. The group win came closer than ideal, after a 1-1 draw on the final matchday with Jamaica saw them come close to a second place finish, winning only by goal differential. Regardless, there are many positives, including exciting new prospects to keep in mind for the future.

Standout players have been Lallier (GK), Markesini (CB), Monck (CDM), Logan (CB/CDM), Maalouf (FWD), Watson (FWD) and Allen (FWD). In particular, Rosa Maalouf looked sharp, scoring 9 goals to date, topping the scoring leaderboard. In the Round of 16, Canada defeated Honduras 4-1. After conceding the first goal, Canada showed mentality and came back to eventually earn a deserved shot at a semi-final berth.

The next opponent will be Costa Rica on May 4th. You can catch the games on Onesoccer.

Another exciting development on the CanWNT front is the draw for their group in the CONCACAF championships this summer. They’ll be playing Trinidad on July 5th, Panama on July 8th, and Costa Rica on July 11th in Group B. The format designates that the top two in each group qualify for the world cup 2023, the champion automatically qualifies for Paris 2024, and the second and third team duke it out in September in a 2-leg tie for the final Olympics spot.

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soccer.ca W May Roundup

JUNE 1, 2022

Welcome back to the Canadian Woso Roundup written by AC Lang of wsoccer.ca! As always, this roundup aims to increase the visibility of Canadian womxn in soccer. It was another trophy-filled month for Canadian womxn, as many European seasons wrapped up. Moreover, the CSA announced their hire for the Head of Pro Woso position, a momentous occasion in Canadian soccer history. For the domestic league in focus we’ll head over to Quebec to learn about their semi-pro Première ligue de soccer du Québec (PLSQ). Last but not least, in #canWNT news, we finally have a date and an opponent for our next friendly, so let’s dive into the depth chart based on club form. In #canYNT news, we’ll discuss standout performers during Canada’s bronze medal run at the CONCACAF Championship.

Newsletter Highlights Highlights from the past month of woso

Local Footy in Focus: Premier League de Soccer du Quebec

CanWNT v Nigeria Recap & CanW17s

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE PAST MONTH Kadeisha Buchanan claims her 5th UWCL trophy, earns big money move Kadeisha is ending her time with the world’s top women’s club Olympique Lyonnais with five Gold UWCL medals in hand. On May 21st, in front of 32K fans in Turin, and a further 3.6 million in front of their screens, OL stormed to a 3-1 victory over the 2021 Champions FC Barcelona. Kadeisha was subbed on early in the game, unfortunately related to an injury (Ellie Carpenter). She was pivotal in shutting down Barca’s offensive threats and was her usual brave self in buildup play out of the back. Overall, Kadeisha racked up over 100 appearances across competitions, contributing a respectable 9 goals and 3 assists. It was great to see her end her time with the club on top of Europe. Her contract is officially up this summer and she’ll be taking her assets elsewhere to take on a new challenge with a new club. The rumour mill has been quite active, but Chelsea and Real Madrid are thought to be front-runners in the race to strike a deal with one of the world’s best centerbacks.

Her agent recently stated on record that Kadeisha will sign an unprecedented contract for a defender in the women’s game. Get that paper, Keisha!

Trophies Galore in Europe Just about 110 Canadian women currently play pro soccer around the world. Over 80% of them play in Europe, from Iceland to Greece, and Portugal to Lithuania. Our Canadian players didn’t just play in leagues all over Europe they also bagged a ton of medals and trophies along the way, 29 to be specific! Here’s a list of all the players we have on our radar who won a league or cup this season: Fleming (FAWSL, FA Cup), Beckie (Conti Cup), Grosso (Supercoppa, Serie A, Coppa Italia), Buchanan (UWCL, D1 Arkema), Lawrence, Huitema (both French Cup), Lamontagne, Hall, Morton, Yekka, Araujo (all French D2), Lacasse (Liga BPI Portugal), Davidson (Portuguese Cup), Larisey (Scottish Cup), Bednar (Hungarian League), Cameron (Hungarian Cup), Lefebvre (Serbian League), Bukovec, O’Neill (both Croatian League and Cup), Lamanna (Malta League), Zajac (Polish Cup), Lagonia (Swiss League and Cup), Kozlova (Danish League). Congratulations to all of these players. We are super proud of all of them!

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JUNE 1, 2022 Hired - Head of Women’s Soccer Last, but not least, CSA finally announced their hire for the position of Head of Professional Women’s soccer. Breagha Carr-Harris is the successful applicant tasked with bringing professional soccer, and especially a women’s league to Canada. Breagha is a B-licensed coach formerly of York University, Vaughan Soccer Club and North Toronto Nitros, with more than 10 years of experience. She also spent the last 14 years at Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment (MLSE), where she worked in various positions, notably, Community Relations, Player Outreach, Marketing, Fan Services, Sport Development, Community Development, and Game Operations. To say we are excited about this hire would be an understatement. This is a much-needed step in the development of pro woso in Canada, and we can’t wait to throw all our support behind Breagha and her efforts. This is what she had to say about it all: "As a passionate supporter of the women's game from the grassroots through to our women's national team, I appreciate the dedication, commitment and support of Canada Soccer and our country's players and leaders at all levels and am excited that we are in a position to be having the discussion on how to establish the women's professional game in Canada."

LOCAL FOOTY IN FOCUS - PLSQ Last month, we introduced you to League 1 Ontario as part of our coverage of the top women’s leagues in the country. This month, we continue to focus on domestic woso by featuring Premiere Ligue de Soccer du Quebec (PLSQ), Quebec’s semi-pro women’s league. Quebec has long been a hotbed of female soccer talent for our country, producing great players who have gone on to shine at the national, collegiate, and international level.

The league was founded in 2018, 6 years after the men’s division. Until PLSQ-F was founded, many of the province’s top athletes competed in the USL W-League until 2015 with Dynamo de Quebec. Thanks to the renewed investment into women’s soccer by Quebec’s clubs, a new generation of talent has been able to use PLSQ as a launchpad for their career. Many players have gone on to play professionally in Europe, including Gabrielle Carle, Evelyne Viens (both Kristianstads), Bianca St Georges (Chicago Red Stars), Easther Mayi Kith (Reims), Gabrielle Lambert (Montpellier), Marie Levasseur, Imane Chebel (both Fleury), Latifah Abdu, Marika Guay, Sabrina Locas (all Metz), Olivia Mbala (SaintMalo), Charlotte Larrivee (Grenoble), Marie-Yasmine Alidou (Sturm Graz), and Kelly Chiavarro (Napoli). The pathway through the first and second division in France, in particular, seems to be a great fit for Quebecoises who are already familiar with the language.

For the 2022 season, twelve clubs will be fighting for the league championship, as well as league cup and a spot in the interprovincial championships to be hosted by League1 Canada in August in Laval. Historically, there has been one dominant club in the league, and that is AS Blainville, who have won 3 of 4 possible league titles, and the only cup competition played so far (2021). Their team, led by new head coach Robert Rositoiu, has a tough task ahead of them as they look to repeat their successes from last season. In particular, their offense is stacked with top players like Gosselin, Humes, Sanderson, Sauve and Vallerand who are all standout collegiate players. Blainville’s fiercest rivals will no doubt be AS Laval (recently rebranded from CS Monteuil), who play a mere 30 minutes across the city in Laval, and are the only other club in PLSQ history to lift a league champions trophy (see picture above). They will rely on continuity given that 19 of 23 players are returning for the season. In addition to the two top teams, two new teams will be joining the league. The National Development Centre based in Quebec (PEF Quebec) entered a team for the first time, featuring standout YNT players like Coralie Lallier, Janet Okeke, Florianne Jourde, Jade Bordeleau and Audrey Francois. Last but not least, AS Chaudiere-Ouest, based in Levis, near Quebec City joins the PLSQ as one of only two clubs outside of the Greater Montreal Area.

How to Watch PLSQ-F If you’re looking for a way to follow the league, the best way to watch games and stay up to date is through the QuebeFoot Youtube channel. Their mission is to elevate the beautiful game in Quebec and showcase the talent emerging from the province. To accomplish this goal, they show all the games for free on their YT channel. Definitely worth a follow!

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JUNE 1, 2022

CANWNT/ CANYNT NEWS Last but not least, it was another busy month for CanXNT and CanYNT players. First and foremost, we finally have another friendly at home! On June 26th, Canada will be playing South Korea in Toronto in a final preparation game ahead of the CONCACAF W Championship/ qualifiers in July. While not a stop on the celebration tour, which officially ended in Victoria in April, Canadians will no doubt be excited to welcome their team in Toronto! The roster drop is still a few weeks away, but that’s no reason not to discuss our educated guesses on who could be on the roster. For the West Coast games, Bev chose to travel with a large roster of 29 players, including 7 nonOlympians. My instinct tells me she’ll roll with a smaller squad of 25-26 as she looks to trim her roster down to 23 in preparation for July.

Going by position, here is my best guess at who will get to come to Toronto for this friendly, presuming a 26-player roster. In goal, Sheridan, D’Angelo and McLeod have the three GK spots on lock. Likely, we’ll see Bev give Sheridan the nod to get the start against South Korea and at the Qualifiers, although it must be said that D’Angelo is in fantastic form in Sweden. In defense, it’s safe to say that Buchanan, Lawrence, Gilles, Zadorsky, Riviere, Carle and Chapman get the call. Jade Rose could certainly get a call as well given that she only missed the last camp due to school commitments. Now whether we see Yekka or not will be interesting. She seems to have the edge over Levasseur and Burns, but personally, I’d love to see Bianca St Georges get a shot at breaking into the squad, given her two goals in 4 starts for Chicago this season.

She also provides more versatility since she has been playing at RWB this season.

In midfield, there is no way around Scott, Fleming, Quinn, and Grosso, who picked up the majority of minutes at the Olympics.

Sophie Schmidt will likely also get a call, given her consistency and good form for Houston, who sit in second in the NWSL for a reason. Between Pickett and Stratigakis, I would take both, however, likely only one will make the final Qualifiers squad given their similar play style/ position. We might also see Marie-Yasmine Alidou make her third camp appearance. She has been thriving in Austria since making the move this winter (4 goals in 8 starts) and presents another, more dynamic option as a 6 or 8. Lastly, in attack, there should be no surprises with Sinclair, Prince, and Beckie lighting it up in the NWSL, Viens scoring and assisting for fun in Sweden, Rose and Leon both coming off stellar seasons in England, and Lacasse making a stellar impression in her last callups and staying consistent in Portugal.

To finish off, let’s recap the rest of the CONCACAF U17 Championships from early May. Canada defeated Costa Rica 30 in the quarter-finals, Rosa Maalouf scoring the brace, and Renee Watson also getting on the scoresheet. This win earned CanW17s a FIFA World Cup qualification spot and a chance to compete for a final berth vs our archrivals, the USA, in the semi-finals. Unfortunately, Canada fell 3-0 to the Americans, who went on to win the tournament. In the bronze-medal match, Canada once again came away with a 3-0 win, over Puerto Rico. Maalouf once again found herself among the goalscorers, along with Anna Hauer and Amanda Allen. In terms of standouts, Rosa Maalouf is the first one to come to mind, as she contributed 12 goals and was named top goalscorer of the tournament. Allen and Watson both chipped in 4 goals as well. Despite being disappointed to not make the final, coach Emma Humphries and her staff will still be proud of their young players’ effort and performances overall and are looking forward to the World Cup in October.

Rosa Maalouf, CONCACAF W17 Championship Golden Boot Winner

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soccer.ca W June Roundup

JULY 1, 2022

Welcome back to the Canadian Woso Roundup written by AC Lang of wsoccer.ca! As always, this roundup aims to increase the visibility of Canadian womxn in soccer. As the transfer market opened and movement started, several Canadian women made highlight-worthy moves to new clubs. For the domestic league in focus we’ll head over to BC to learn about the newest league on the block: League 1 BC. Last but not least, in #canWNT news, we’ll recap the South Korea friendly and highlight standout performances, as well as offer some perspective on fan support at the match.

Newsletter Highlights Highlights from the past month of woso

Local Footy in Focus: League 1 BC

CanWNT v South Korea Recap & CanW17s

Three Centurions Jessie Fleming, Kadeisha Buchanan and Ashley Lawrence

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE PAST MONTH Moscato Makes History in Mexico On June 9th, Carmelina Moscato was officially unveiled as the new head coach and technical director of Tigres Feminil, one of Mexico’s most historic clubs based out of Monterrey. She became the first foreigner and the first woman to fulfill these roles.

Commonly called Las Amazonas (The Amazons), they are historically the most successful Liga MX club, with 4 title-winning seasons. They are also among the top 10 most followed women’s clubs in the world, with over 530k followers across twitter and instagram. Tigres pulls in the second highest attendance in the league, with a 2021/22 average of just over 5.6k and a season-high of 13k. We can’t wait to cheer on Carm and Tigres this season when they kick off in July, and we wish her the best of luck in this new adventure.

Transfer News - Canadians in high demand Since winning Gold in Tokyo, nine CanXNT players have transferred clubs. In June, Kadeisha Buchanan and Jordyn Huitema announced two blockbuster moves to top women’s clubs. After weeks of rumours, Kadeisha finally announced she will join Chelsea FC ahead of the 2022/23 WSL season. The goal for Chelsea’s new number 26 is clear, bring a UWCL title to London. Given her track record it’s likely that Keisha adds a 6th UWCL by the end of her 3-year contract. In other news, Jordyn announced her departure from PSG and shortly later signed for OL Reign of the NWSL. Given Jordyn’s limited minutes and the profile of Katoto at PSG, this move will allow her to play more while also being closer to home and having the flexibility to move back to Europe after 2023. Next up, keep an eye on Adriana Leon who did not renew her contract with West Ham and has been linked with a move to Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United, and Brighton.

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JULY 1, 2022 Ev can’t stop scoring Evelyne Viens is the hottest Canadian striker right now. With 6 goals and 1 assist in 4 games, Ev turned up the heat in the month of June.

Previously, she had picked up 5 assists and 3 goals in the first ten games of the season. It’s no surprise that her team also enjoyed a massive jump in the standings in June, ending the first half of the season in the third UWCL spot after 7 consecutive wins. If you take a look at the goals she scored, you’ll find a healthy mix of close-range poachers goals, cold-blooded counter-attacks, and long-range bangers. It’s great to see Evelyne thriving in Sweden, and her timing is impeccable as she looked to secure a spot on the CanWNT roster ahead of the CONCACAF W Championships (more on that later).

LOCAL FOOTY IN FOCUS - LEAGUE 1 BC Over the last two months, we introduced you to League 1 Ontario and PLSQ as part of our coverage of the top women’s leagues in the country. This month, we continue to focus on domestic woso by featuring League 1 BC, British Columbia’s pro-am women’s league. To say this was a long-time coming would be an understatement. The fact that there wasn’t a standards-based provincial league in BC before 2022 is a tragedy, especially considering that BC has the most ideal football conditions in Canada (as long as you’re okay with playing in the rain). The good news is that League 1 BC is here and providing new opportunities for young women in British Columbia. Most of the 7 teams are situated in the Greater Vancouver Area or Vancouver Island (see Graphic).

The league is home to the province's most elite players including ex-pro players, players who return home between NCAA seasons, top Usports/CCAA talent, and the region’s best U15-U20 national team hopefuls. Among the big names are players like Texas A&M’s Mia Pante, Illinois’ Joana VerzosaDolezal, Texas Longhorns Emma Ragan and Holly Ward, TWU standout Liz Hicks, ex-pro’s Karlee Pedersen, Tristan Corneil, and Brooklyn Tidder, and Whitecaps’ young guns Clare Logan, Izzy Monck, Anna Hauer, Jamie Perrault, among many others.

If you’ve been following the league, you know that halfway through the season, there is a 3 to 4-horse race for the title.

Impressively, the youngsters from the Whitecaps sit atop the standings with 7 wins, followed by Varsity FC who have won 6 times.

In third, there’s TSS Rovers who were the only team to take points off the Whitecaps/NDC program, followed by Unity FC who are two games and four points behind.

Off the field, one of the most exciting developments in the buildup to the season was the announcement that Sian Bagshawe would become the league’s inaugural commissioner. You absolutely love to see a woman in such a pivotal leadership position, especially a woman with such well-rounded experience. The former UBC, Whitecaps and Edmonton Aviators keeper has coached at the national and collegiate level, as well as having a hand in building the REX/ National Development Program and working at a Fortune 500 company. Bagshawe has already led the successful rollout of the league’s branding, media partnerships, fan program, season kickoff, and landing the league’s first corporate sponsor (Hall Construction). This is what she had to say about the role: “I'm very honoured to be a part of BC Soccer's vision to bridge the gap between the youth and professional level in the province with the inception of League1 BC. It is a vital piece of the development pathway to give players, and those associated with the League, a high-performance environment locally so there is an avenue for them to continue to pursue professional opportunities.”

How to Watch L1BC If you’re looking to follow the league, make sure to check out their social media channels as well as the Homestand platform which houses all live games and highlights. You can also join an exclusive fan program with special perks such as POTM voting.

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JULY 1, 2022

CANWNT/ CANYNT NEWS After a long time apart, the CanWNT players were finally reunited in Toronto at the end of June for a friendly against South Korea. It was their first time back in Toronto since 2019, and yours truly was in attendance. The big news emerged before the game though, as Bev Priestman first nominated a 28 player squad to take part in camp, and then cut 5 players two days before the friendly in accordance with CONCACAF roster regulations. And wow, there were some surprises. First and foremost, the omission of Sweden-based players Viens, Carle and Stratigakis turned heads. These players have been thriving, to say the least, and the fact that they didn’t make the squad certainly makes you reconsider the level of the Damallsvenskan, if they were not able to keep up in camp. When asked about it in media availability, Bev stated that Gabby’s omission was more related to the performance of the players around her, while Ev “didn’t take her chance”. Puzzling to say the least. The other two cuts were Mimi Alidou, who had been part of the previous two camps, and standout GK Anna Karpenko.

On the flip side of that decision were Zoe Burns, Bianca St Georges, and Lysianne Proulx, who all made the final 23player roster. Burns, surprisingly, was listed as a midfielder (where she played at youth level) instead of a defender, likely related to the insane depth at fullback. Speaking of fullbacks, fans were elated to see the notorious BSG back in the fold, given her excellent performances in the NWSL. Lastly, Syracuse student-athlete and former YNT player Lysianne Proulx earned the third GK spot. The rest of the roster is comprised of the Olympic gold medalists plus Sabrina D’Angelo and Cloe Lacasse, who both seem to have impressed Bev throughout the last year. The good news, the squad is healthy with the exception of Christine Sinclair who picked up a knock in a Thorns game, but she is expected to return to the squad in time for the tournament.

So let’s move on to the friendly, which ended in 0:0 draw. To be blunt, I thought Canada was a little underwhelming, both on and off the field.

Diana Matheson's Retirement Ceremony, from CSA's Twitter

While the team was once again solid defensively, we struggled to create many shots on target, ending the game with only four. Our ability to create chances through the middle of the park was impacted by Sinc’s absence. Most of our attacks came down the flanks, and we struggled to find open players in the box against the well-organized South Korean low defensive block. There were certainly positives though, as the team had time to re-connect and work through problems together.

Janine Beckie was very active down the right hand side, though her crosses and set-piece delivery could have been more accurate. The fullbacks in Lawrence and Riviere got forward well to provide width, and also had everything under control defensively. Kadeisha nearly had the game-winner in the 94th minute with a towering header off a Beckie corner, but the goalie came up big with the save, and Deanne Rose’s follow-up effort was blocked on the line. All in all, it was a friendly game for a reason and provided a very good snapshot of how teams will play against Canada in the group stage of the W Championships, which starts on Tuesday July 5th at 10pm vs Trinidad (Watch on Onesoccer).

I’d like to end off on a short comment about the attendance and general atmosphere at the game. While acknowledging the many factors at play (price hikes, conflicting youth soccer schedules, lack of promotion by CSA, pride weekend) I was still disappointed by the turnout and atmopshere at the game.

Around 15k were at BMO on Sunday afternoon, not a terrible number by any means, but less than in Ottawa and Vancouver.

It seems CanWNT attendance is stuck between 12-17k. I say this not to be a downer, or overly negative. It’s simply an observation. I was fortunate enough to attend several CanMNT qualifiers over the course of the Winter, and this game was a far cry from any of those experiences where 20-30k fans rolled up and the supporter’s group section was raucous all game.

Yes, it was a friendly, and yes there were complicating factors, but to see the supporter’s section half empty was a stark reminder that sexism is still alive and well in Canadian soccer.

Steph Labbe and Diana Matheson called on us as fans to sell out the game and to show up with signs and chants demanding equal pay. We did not do that. We collectively missed an opportunity to stand behind our women’s team.

Picture of the Southend Voyageurs section against South Korea

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soccer.ca W July Roundup

AUGUST 1, 2022

Welcome back to the Canadian Woso Roundup written by AC Lang of wsoccer.ca! As always, this roundup aims to increase the visibility of Canadian womxn in soccer. It was another busy month for Canadian woso both on and off the field. We’ll start with three highlights as usual. In our last domestic league in focus, we’ll head over to Alberta to highlight the two Canadian UWS teams, including the Foothills’ national Championship run. Plus, we’ll recap the various League 1 Canada seasons from a stats perspective to showcase top players and teams. Last but not least, in #canWNT news, we’ll recap our performance in the CONCACAF W Championships, and preview the U15 CONCACAF and U20 World Cup squads.

Newsletter Highlights Highlights from the past month of woso

Local Footy in Focus: UWS, L1 Canada Recap

CONCACAF W Champ., CanW15 & CanW20 Preview

Julia Grosso celebrating her goal during the CONCACAF Championship

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE PAST MONTH Kailen, Vanessa, Jessie, Julia make CONCACAFW Best XI While we will discuss our CanXNT’s performance at the CONCACAF Championships in more depth later, it is important to celebrate our top performers. In the back, Kailen Sheridan and Vanessa Gilles combined to create an impenetrable defense (1 goal against), although all team members did their part as usual. Both were impressive all tournament, just like our midfielders Jessie Fleming and Julia Grosso who were joint first in scoring (along with Alex Morgan and Khadija Shaw) with 3 goals. Grosso won the Golden Boot because she had the highest goals/min average. The midfield’s contribution (7) was huge as they accounted for over half of our 12 team goals. Vets Chapman and Schmidt both scored bangers, while our forwards got one a piece (save Prince, Rose and Lacasse).

Transfer Headlines: Grosso extends with Juve, Leon to ManU, Hellstrom to France There were about 25 Canadian signings, transfers & contract extensions in July, which represents just over one fifth of our whole player pool. As previously reported, the pool continues to grow each and every transfer season. We currently sit at about 110 professional players total, but just last fall we were at 80, so we’ve already seen tremendous growth as Canadians have been inspired to pursue their goals abroad. This summer, the world's top clubs once again invested in Canadian talented, starting with Juventus and ending with Manchester United. Of course the big stars stole the headlines, but lots of cool story lines emerged, including mass emigration to Portugal (Alidou to Familicao, Proulx to Torrensee, Kats & Kehrer to Braga), Usports standout Ciera Disipio went on trial in the Czech Republic and CanW20 players Tse and Ladhani moved to France and Norway. We love to see so many women follow their dreams. Good luck to all!

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AUGUST 1, 2022 European Pre-Season gets under way While international players are still resting up from their respective continental competitions, many players have returned to or found new club environments for the 2022/23 season. Specifically, the French second division and later on the first division returned to training.

Canadians like Metz’s Marika Guay and Latifah Abdu, Lille’s new signing Olivia Mbala, Nantes’ big GK transfer Taylor Beitz (fresh off the Coupe de France Final), and the freshly promoted Araujo, Yekka, Lamontagne, and Hall were all spotted on socials. Others, like Sporting’s star striker Chanie Davidson, were spotted on pre-season trips to beautiful places across Europe. Most importantly, they were bagging goals and being gamechangers for their clubs. Example A. Larisa Clarisey who scored a brace and another game-winner merely two games into the pre-szn.

That’s all to say it’s looking to be an exciting Woso Fall season, keep an eye on our coverage of all Canadian players.

LOCAL FOOTY IN FOCUS - UNITED WOMEN'S SOCCER It was a strange weekend on July 23-24th, when not one or two, but three National Championship finals were held at the second division level in the States. Among them, the oldest-running league, the WPSL, the new / relaunched USL W-League, as well as the United Women’s Soccer (UWS) league. Why there were three different National D2 Finals is a discussion for another time, but let’s just say that lack of cohesion/ unity has been a big factor in the splintering of these three leagues. We’ll focus this feature on the UWS, because it features two Canadian teams from Alberta; Calgary Foothills and St Albert Imapct.

The league was founded in 2015 after the W-League (former home to the Ottawa Fury and Vancouver Whitecaps) folded, and the competing WPSL was in dire financial and logistical trouble. Since 2016, the league has grown to 45 teams in 6 conferences making up the first division, as well as a feeder reserve division. The UWS lists players like USWNT players Cat Macario (OL), Taylor Kornieck (San Diego) and Ashley Sanchez (Washington), CanYNT players like Zoe Burns and Anna Karpenko, as well as established pros like as Natalie Kuikka (Portland) and Bethany Balcer (Reign), as alumni. From a Canadian lens, we’ve seen players like Alex Lamontagne, Yasmin Hall, Emily Burns, and Jamie Erickson successfully make the jump to the pros.

Speaking of our Canadian clubs, they compete in the West Division, which is considered one of the better conferences. The Foothills, in particular, have been dominant, finishing the regular season either in first or second in all of their 5 seasons since joining in 2017, as well as making the Finals twice. Most recently, they made the 2022 edition of the final against eventual champion Chicago Mustangs. The great thing about the Foothills is the opportunities the club provides for their athletes, who come home from their NCAA programs or make the quick trip over from the University of Calgary program. The Foothills organization has been game-changing in Canadian woso, to say the least, not only because of the opportunities they provide for players from Alberta, but also because of the approach they take. They value the women’s team as much as the men and provide proper resources, travel conditions, and infrastructure (facilities, medical, housing, etc) to the players and staff. We’ve seen coaches like Katie Collar make the jump from coaching the Foothills UWS team to being named head coach of the Whitecaps Girls program (more on them later). This season, their squad boasted YNT players like Grace Stordy, Mya Jones (6 goals) and Lara Kazandjian (2 goals, 4 assists), promising collegiate players like Saorla Miller (5 goals, 2 assists) and Jayden Berg (2 assists, 600 minutes), complemented by veterans like former WNT player Sara Kinzner.

The second Canadian club, the St Alberta Impact, joined the league in 2021. Given an intimate connection between the MacEwan Griffins program (who won their first national championship last season) many players are from the Edmonton area.

Championed by Troye Flannery, who departed before the season, and now led by Dylan Cordeiro (MacEwan Head Coach), the Impact have two third-place finishes under their belt. The team is composed of veterans like Olivia Chu (formerly Cumberland university) and Kelti Biggs (46 saves), two defensive rocks in Samantha Gouveia (MacEwan) and Erin Van Dolder (Rice University), and exciting young players like Grace Mwasalla (MacEwan). To say this team was a gamechanger for the region would be an understatement.

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AUGUST 1, 2022 These two strong UWS clubs in Alberta will continue to act as an important development step for young players from across Canada. While a strong domestic provincial competition may be coming in the future (L1A?), in the meantime, we should be grateful for the opportunities these teams provide Albertans. Hopefully, we get to see them play part in an inter-provincial competition some time in the future.

WRAPPING UP LOCAL FOOTY IN FOCUS Over the past few months it’s been a pleasure to go into more depth about domestic footy. You all know this is something I am passionate about and I hope you’ve enjoyed the introductions to the top woso leagues in the country. Since the seasons are now wrapping up, I’ll take a minute to summarize their various seasons.

L1O The 380-game season came to an end on July 24th, the top 6 teams making it to the playoffs. As you’re aware this season’s points will carry a 0.75 value weight towards the cumulative points by 2024, thus impacting whether teams will end up in the top or second tier in two year's time. Standout L1O players included a fun mix of veterans (Syme, Benati, Gill, Gosse, Lisi, Chia), as well as collegiate standouts (Uddenberg, Desa, Crichton, Chouhan, Pais, Antoine), and young guns - in particular youth nationals (Smith, J Rose, Allen, Maalouf, Ottey, Watson). It was tight at the very top between Vaughan and NDC, but Vaughan ended up in first place. The rest of the top 5 spots were clinched before the last matchday, so it came down to three teams (Alliance, Electric City, and Nitros) in the race for 6th spot on Matchday 19. Ultimately, in the last team to qualify for the playoffs - Alliance FC (composed of mostly U of T players), knocked out Woodbridge and Vaughan to made it to the final on August 6th, vs a much different NDC team (senior players off to school & WC). Nevertheless, Alliance was looking to repeat their upset of NDC in the regular season, courtesy of Chelsea Cheung who has been scintillating form in the crucial weeks of the season. NDC-O ended up winning the final 3:1 thanks to a dominant display by Rosa Maalouf (brace). Alliance wil stilll go on to represent Ontario at the League 1 Canada Interprovincial Cup in mid August due to scheduling conflicts with the Canada Games.

PLSQ The PLSQ season ended just like it did in 2021, with AS Blainville sitting at the top of the table and en route to winning the inaugural Cup trophy. AS Laval, Chaudiere-Ouest, and FC Laval came in second, third and fourth, once again demonstrating the depth of talent emerging from the province. Pamela O’Neill, the league writer, noted that many teams had an adjustment period early on, especially considering that some had opted to skip the 2021 season related to COVID concerns. Things were competitive throughout the season, and several key performers emerged from a number of teams.

Cassandra Provost, of AS Laval came away as the Golden Boot winner, scoring 8 goals in 11 games. The Chaudiere-Ouest trio (Fortier, Bunker, Raymond) fired the new club all the way to the League Cup final and secured a top three finish with 5 goals a piece.

Of course, the three-time consecutive league winners AS Blainville had one of the deepest and most experienced squads in the league with former Usports standouts Megane Sauve, Joelle Gosselin and Claudia Asselin, NCAA prospects like Beersworth, as well as former youth nationals Valerie Sanderson and Alexie Bellerose. Off the field, Blainville also had one of the best gameday experiences in the country with lots of supporters and kids out at home games. Their blue and white ultras will be out in full force as the winners and runners up (local rivals AS Laval) host the interprovincial championships from August 12th to 14th.

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AUGUST 1, 2022 L1BC Last but not least, the newest guests at the Canadian woso party. League 1 BC wrapped up their inaugural season on July 24th, UBC’s partner club Varsity FC, claiming the first ever league championship with 11 wins, only 1 loss, 31 goals for and only 7 against. Impressing from the beginning, young guns Vancouver Whitecaps came in second place finishing with 25 points, but ultimately coming up as the Playoff winners on August 1st in the inaugural Championship match. Big shoutout from us to coach Katie Collar, one of the top female coaches in Canada for winning the trophy with her young squad. Unfortunately, the Whitecaps will not be representing BC at the interprovincial championships, as only Varsity FC was able to make the trip in mid August due to roster constraints. In other cool news, L1BC tried out a new format in which the points from the men’s and women’s sides would be combined to crown the winner of the “Juan de Fuca Plate”. Varsity FC handily won this trophy, given their men’s team also finished in first place. Love to see a unique format like this one encourage clubs to give equal attention to both programs.

In terms of standout players, look no further than GK Dakota Beckett (Varsity FC) who conceded less than a goal a game, veteran defenders Liz Hicks (Unity FC) and Joanna Verzosa-Dolezal (TSS Rovers), as well as up and comers Claire Logan and Iba Oching (Whitecaps). In midfield, Sophia Ferreira, Emma Ragan (Varsity), Avery Tulloch (Rivers FC), and Katie Bishop (TSS Rovers) held it down. There was plenty of firepower, too, from players like Jenna Baxter and Holly Ward (Varsity FC), Maya Rogers (TSS), and Aurora Hughes-Goyette (Altitude).

CANWNT NEWS Our favourite national team was back in action last month in the high stakes CONCACAF W Championship. The team's two goals were to qualify for the World Cup and to qualify for the Olympics. Goal one was achieved after the first two wins vs Trinidad (6:0) and Panama (1:0) which secured one of the top two spots in Group B. The final win of the group stage vs Costa Rica (2:0) rounded out a solid first three games, highlighting the teams’ defensive stability and also demonstrating that the goals wouldn’t necessarily be coming from the strikers. As mentioned in the highlights section, the midfield scored 7 of 12 total goals. Bev Priestman mainly deployed her usual 4-3-1-2 formation, with Sinclair as a hybrid central attacking midfielder, Quinn and Fleming as 8’s/ shuttlers and Desi Scott as a CDM. While in the group stage we saw a rotating starting XI, Bev stuck with the same starters for both the semis and final.

Ultimately, after a relatively routine 3:0 victory over Jamaica in the semi (POTM Adriana Leon 1 goal, 1 assist), Canada was once again up against our big rivals from down South in the finals. Despite a good Canadian start to the game, the Americans grew increasingly dominant throughout the game, finishing with 14 shots, 51% possession, and 7 corner kicks.

Despite their dominance, the Americans complete lack of finishing ability, as well as Gilles and Sheridan’s defensive heroics, led to it staying a 0:0 match late until the second half.

The Canadians truthfully were the second best team for long stretches of the game, and key players Beckie, Quinn, and Fleming looked gassed after the hour mark.

It wasn’t until the 78th minute that Rose Lavelle took a strategic tumble in the box after what can only be considered the world’s lightest touch/”shove” by Chappy. Alex Morgan scored the breakthrough goal on the resulting penalty (vs her San Diego teammate, coincidentally).

While it was certainly disappointing to lose and not grab that automatic Olympic qualification spot, it was still great to see our team back in action. Bev will certainly have a lot of learnings from these meaningful matches, especially when it comes to breaking down low defensive blocks. However, she’ll also have some questions she needs to answer going forward.

The first question is - why is Julia Grosso not starting? Despite being the Golden Boot winner, Julia only started one match (vs Panama) and picked up only 135 minutes total (compared to Fleming’s 415, Scott’s 365, and Quinn’s 330). The second question is around substitutions. While she did make some astute subs this tournament, there were some concerns about appropriate load management for key players. For example, Fleming and Beckie both picked up over 400 minutes (nearly all 5 games) in 13 days. It was no wonder that our offensive output subsided significantly considering two of our best players were running on empty. Lastly, some fans were left wondering about Bev’s perceived “safety first” mindset. The first 4 games of the tournament were an exercise in patience and unlocking stubborn defensive lines, yet Bev stuck with her faithful Destroyer at CDM in every match. Some fans were hoping to see Quinn get to deputize in this position and demonstrate their ball progressing qualities, allowing Fleming and Grosso to find spaces between the lines.

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AUGUST 1, 2022

CANWNT/CANYNT NEWS CONT'D Nevertheless, there is a reason Bev is the coach and we have full faith in her abilities to take Canada to the next level at the WWC next summer. Plus, we get a long-awaited meaningful home match (last one was in 2015) in September of 2023 for the Olympic Qualifying playoff vs Jamaica.

In CanYNT news the U15s and U20 squads were announced for their respective tournaments in August. The U15’s roster was surprisingly well-rounded in terms of representation from the big four provinces (BC, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec).

Interestingly, two sets of twins were called up (Taegan and Keelyn Stewart from Calgary, & Annabelle and Isabelle Chukwu from Ottawa). Head Coach Jasmine Mander is set to take on her first major tournament in charge at the CONCACAF U15 Championship from August 1st to 7th in Tampa, Florida. The U20 names may be a bit more familiar if you’ve been following their qualifying cycle, with players like Karpenko, Burns, Smith, J Rose, and Small headlining Cindy Tye’s World Cup Squad. The squad is relatively unchanged, with the exception of the addition of Maya Ladhani who hasn’t been part of the team this cycle.

The creative midfielder spent 2022 in Denmark, getting valuable pro experience in the second division, ultimately earning her a call back into the squad just in time for the WC. The team is up against South Korea (Aug 11), France (Aug 14), and Nigeria (Aug 17) - all games played at 10pm EST and shown on TSN - and the will face three very different tests. In France they are playing against the 2019 U19 European Champions and three-time U20 WC semi-finalists (last three editions of the tournament). Nigeria has also been a regular in the knockout rounds (7 of last 9 tournaments) and South Korea will present its own unique and organized challenge. The kids have their work cut out for them, but given the starpower and most importantly experienced players in the Canadian lineup, there’s no reason they can’t finish in the top two in their group.

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soccer.ca W August Roundup

SEPTEMBER 1, 2022

Welcome back to the Canadian Woso Roundup written by AC Lang of wsoccer.ca! As always, this roundup aims to increase the visibility of Canadian womxn in soccer.

We’re going back to the usual format; Three August Highlights, League in focus: UWCL, Local Footy, and CanXNT/YNT News. It’s been a busy month, with pre-season in full swing across Europe, uni/college seasons kicking off, summer transfer season wrapping up, the U20 world cup, and one of Bev’s more controversial roster drops.

Let’s dive in.

Newsletter Highlights Highlights from the past month of woso

League in Focus: UWCL

Local Footy: L1 Canada, Canada Games, Usports

CanWNT Roster Drop, CanW15 and CanW20 News CanW20 squad standing during the anthem during the World Cup

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE PAST MONTH Canadians star in Pre-szn action There’s not much more exciting than the European pre-season finally kicking off. After a smashing Festival of Football (Women’s Euros, CONCACAF, AFCON, and Copa America), players took some well deserved rest and are now back with their clubs eyeing a good start to the season. Some Canadians were on pre-season trips with their clubs including to exciting international club tournaments (Women’s ICC, Women’s Cup, Amos French Women’s Cup). These types of tournaments are increasingly well promoted and featured interesting matchups for our CanWNT players, such as Chelsea vs OL (2:3 pen.) Portlanada vs Chelsea (0:1), ManU vs PSG (2:1), and Tottenham vs Club America (1:2). We got to see our CanWNT stars in new threads including Leon at ManU, Hellstrom with Dijon, Alidou at Familicao, and most notably, Buchanan with Chelsea. Chelsea and ManU in particular are throwing a lot of their marketing money at their new Canadian stars, who have quickly become regulars in the starting XI, early on.

Canadian NWSL dominance One look at the NWSL standings these days tells you something Canadian NWSL fans have known for a long time. Canadian players are genuine stars in the league. All top 8 teams feature Canadians as key players, from San Diego’s brick wall / PK-killer Sheridan to highflying Houston’s Canadian trio. Sophie Schmidt, in particular, has been instrumental in Houston’s strong performances this month, tallying a goal and an assist, and dominating the midfield both on and off the ball. Elsewhere, KC’s Desi Scott hit the 10k minutes milestone and veteran GK Erin McLeod is second in the league in saves, leading Orlando to playoff contention. Down in Portlanada, Sincy picked up her 5th goal vs the Spirit, and is generally a key creative piece of the league’s highest scoring team. Last but not least, the newest Canadian in the league, Jordyn Huitema is off to a great start with OL, racking up 400 minutes in 5 starts, scoring once, picking up an assist, and playing 8 key passes.

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SEPTEMBER 1, 2022 Pickett, Tcheki, & Domestic standouts headline August transfer news Inarguably the biggest transfer story of August was Victoria Pickett’s shock move to NJNY Gotham FC announced on August 22nd. KC’s sweetheart and ROTY Finalist in 2021, was a fan favourite with the club and admitted the move was unexpected in a presser. Nevertheless, Gotham FC paid a significant sum to secure the creative midfielder’s rights, sending $200k in allocation money + a 2023 first-round draft pick to KC in exchange. Most fans were shocked, and some were skeptical, but the good news is Vic will pick up tons of minutes with Gotham, and has the opportunity to learn lots from leaders like Kristen Mewis. In other news, a former CanYNT player in Natasha Tcheki-Namgotchian made a well-deserved comeback to pro soccer. After tearing her ACL in Hungary last year, her viral post about the lack of support she received from the club emphasized the danger of sending our players to unvetted environments abroad. Good news is, she’s back! She signed a deal with Damallsvenskan club AIK and has started every game since. Last but not least, four domestic university-level and League 1 standouts went pro after the conclusion of their seasons. Kathryn Harvey (TWU/Unity), Ellie Bakayama (Lethbridge/Rivers), Kayla Goncalves (SFU/Altitude), and Julia Benati (Buffalo/London) signed pro deals in solid second divisions in Denmark, France, and Norway, respectively.

Best of luck to all players making a move this season. This marks the conclusion of summer player movement, largely until the winter break or when the college season ends.

LEAGUE IN FOCUS: UWCL Last year, when we first started this newsletter, the UWCL was the first league we featured. But as you know, the coverage has deepened since then, so let’s take a look at the 2022/23 campaign, starting with Qualifying.

Albeit a bit complex, the path to qualification is a fascinating one, with only four teams automatically qualifying for the Group Stage. This year, those teams are OL (previous winner/ French champion), Wolfsburg (German Champion), Barca (last year’s finalist), and Chelsea (English Champion). All other teams, entered qualifying either, in Round 1 or 2. There are two pathways to qualification, the Champions path, which consists of teams who won their respective leagues, and the League path, consisting of teams who finished 2nd or 3rd in top leagues (UEFA League coefficient 1-6).

Overall, 14 Canadians entered qualifying while only 2 automatically qualified (Fleming, Buchanan). The central venue mini-tournament format made for interesting challenges, as the teams played a semi-final, and only the tourney-champions moved on. The first round (played Aug 18-21) saw Grosso (Juve) and Lacasse (Benfica) advance, as their powerhouse sides continue to show they are among the best 16 teams in Europe. Both players saw significant minutes across both the semi-final and final games. Despite being knocked out, the other Canadians also showed tremendous effort.

KDFF’s Canadian quad played a solid first game against Ajax, with Viens scoring the go-ahead goal. In the consolation final, Gabby Carle came up with a big performance, scoring two goals, including the game-winner. In Round 2, Cloe and Julia will encounter two more Canadians in Ashley Lawrence (PSG) and Nicole Kozlova (dual national - UKR, HB Koge). Round 2 will follow a more traditional 2-leg knockout / home and away format. Keep an eye out for the draw on September 1st, and the two matchdays on September 20/21, 28/29.

How to Watch in Canada After almost a decade of relatively shallow growth, the UWCL has exploded in the last 2-3 years. A new deal with DAZN, the major streaming platform known for carrying the Men’s CL and EPL (until this year), among other major sports, has completely changed the game. All of a sudden, the broadcasting quality finally matches up to the level of play these women have been exhibiting all this time.

The viewership records have all been smashed, both online and in-person (see 90k at Camp Nou x2). Their campaign slogan is ‘with all eyes we all rise’, which is one of the most on-point takes I’ve ever heard or seen in Woso. The first two years of the contract see all matches starting at the group stage streamed in multiple languages live and for free on YouTube. This has increased global viewership and brand visibility tenfold. The final of the 2022 edition of the tournament drew 2.3M viewers to their youtube stream.

And the most exciting part is that it’s going to keep growing with all the investment and research happening at UEFA. The most recent reports by UEFA show that women’s football could be a $700 million dollar (USD) business by 2033.

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SEPTEMBER 1, 2022

LOCAL FOOTY IN FOCUS: AS BLAINVILLE WINS L1 CANADA, ONTARIO WINS CANADA GAMES, USPORTS KICKS OFF Back to our usual Domestic Footy section, but we hope you enjoyed the indepth features of League 1 ON/BC, PLSQ and UWS this summer!

First and foremost, the first interprovincial championship between L1BC/ON, and PLSQ clubs took place in Laval, QC on the second week of August. Through a strong partnership with OneSoccer / CSB the broadcast quality of the tournament was fantastic and perfectly promoted the quality on the field. Surprising absolutely no one, AS Blainville took the treble (they also won their league and cup competitions), but all teams were winners considering they were all part of history. All teams and players made an excellent account for themselves under the eyes of Breagha CarrHarris, Canada Soccer’s Head of Professional Women’s Soccer. The weekend brought everything we could have wished for; dramatic games, PK’s, bangers, and passionate fans. She spoke to La Presse, keenly observing that the collaboration demonstrated in the event will be key for the growth of Woso moving forward.

In other news, the Canada Games took place in Niagara for the first time since 2020 (COVID). It was amazing to see our top youth athletes partake in a national competition for the first time in their young careers. Team Ontario’s Women’s soccer squad ended up on top, defeating Quebec in the final. Nova Scotia ultimately earned the bronze medal, showing once again that the East coast has just as much talent as the rest of Canada. The nation's top young players, including CanW17 stars Rosa Maalouf, Clare Logan, Zoe Markesini, Anna Hauer, and Amanda Allen, starred in the tournament. Most importantly it was clear to see how much these athletes have craved an experience like this, the opportunity to measure themselves against their peers and work together as a team. Another excellent showcase of the talent in our country.

Last but not least, the Usports season got underway, first with pre-season action, then with the Canada West division which kicked off a week before the rest. As usual, there were tons of off-season changes as seniors graduated and the country’s best recruits committed to various programs. From coast to coast, here are some story-lines to pay attention to this season (you can follow along here, or in my bi-monthly roundup for 49Sports). On the East Coast, Cape Breton is always a contender for the title, although last year the league saw more parity than in years prior. You can expect Acadia to be competitive as they look to build off their 2022 AUS-winning campaign, which snapped a three-year reign by the Capers. St FX may have something to say this season, as many of their players and their assistant coach are coming off a successful summer in League 1 ON with Electric City.

In Quebec, UQAM, Montreal, and Laval are sure to be among the top three finishers. Quebec’s talent shone bright this summer at the All-Quebec Interprovincial Championship game. Many of those players will now disperse among the aforementioned programs, and look to be the first Quebec-based team to win nationals since 2017 (Montreal in Winnipeg - coincidentally a tournament I played in).

In the OUA East, the road will run through powerhouse Ottawa again, though Queen’s look to retain the OUA Crown. U of T should be competitive, considering many of their players are coming fresh off the successful Alliance L1O season (bronze medal at Interprovincial Championships). They’ve also added key players such as Karly Hellstrom (yes, Jenna’s sister and Kent State standout), who will complement Badovinac’s threat in attack. In the OUA West, it will likely be Western running away with it once again. Their competition for the top spot will be Guelph and York, both of whom have quite a few young faces in their group and will look to build around key veteran midfielders (Uddenberg, Vanderhoef - Guelph; Chouhan, Mitchell - York). Last but not least, Canada West will once again be intriguing, with last year’s Champion MacEwan in the mix to win again, joined by Calgary, UBC, and Trinity Western who will all be competitive based on being historically strong programs, but also achieving great things through affiliated summer programs (UWS Champions Foothills, or L1BC’s Champion Varsity FC, etc). The first big game of the season came on opening weekend as UBC beat their bitter rivals TWU 2:0 away thanks to a huge game by GK Johns (8 saves) and a clutch goal by veteran Danielle Steere.

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SEPTEMBER 1, 2022

CANWNT/YNT NEWS Last but not certainly not least, let’s go over some major CanWNT and CanYNT News.

This Australia roster, though. Wow, what looked to be a normal and routine international window against top-12 competition turned into a complex puzzle for Bev Priestman. The absences will ultimately define this window, with almost our entire back line out of the picture (inj - Gilles, Buchanan, Riviere, Chapman, personal reasons - Lawrence). Replacing them are Carle (added later), Levasseur, Yekka, and J. Rose. Coming in as questionable are Quinn (concussion), and Fleming (missed recent friendlies). The only new midfielder called in USC Trojan Simi Awujo, the U20 midfield standout who Bev praised for her dangerous runs into the box. In attack, D. Rose has been injured (ankle) since the CONCACAF Championship. She is replaced by Clarissa Larisey, the standout striker stunning the competition with Celtic. Many fans had been tracking her for some time, calling for a call-up after her first full pro season in which she scored 9 goals in 8 games.

In three regular-season games this season, she has already scored 7 times, making her impossible to ignore on a team needing goals. With such a significant amount of turnover in the squad, you can expect the new faces to get their opportunities to play.

This was undoubtedly one of the most difficult squads Bev has had to select, especially since half her talent pool is unavailable as they’re just starting their NCAA seasons. Bev caught some (loving) flack this time around, mainly related to her continued omission of Swedish-based duo Viens and Carle. Both are playing consistent 90s, and tearing it up with goals and assists, too (Carle 2G, 1A, Viens 10G,7A, Strats 2G). Regardless, Carle ended up replacing the injured Buchanan, but Viens is still on the outside looking in. Bev responded to this line of questioning by stressing that she knows they’re doing well, but she wanted to see new faces, as this is one of the last windows to experiment in the build-up to the 2023 World Cup. Make sure to tune into the broadcast (OneSoccer), as the very late night/ early morning kickoff times (12:45 pm, 5:45 am EST/ 9:45/3:45PT) will give us a preview of what’s awaiting us next summer.

Let’s start the CanYNT section off with our newest medal! It was silver for the U15s at the CONCACAF Championships in Tampa earlier this month. In dramatic fashion, Canada beat Mexico in PKs to make it to the Gold medal game, where they ultimately fell to the US. Head Coach Jasmine Mander praised her young players who got valuable experience at the international level, and will bring the new standard back to their home environments. It’s good to hear the kids are dreaming bigger than ever.

Unfortunately, the U20s World Cup did not go as Canadian players, coaches and fans would have hoped. With three group stage losses, Canada did not make it out of the group stage. Truthfully, their effort can not be disputed and it was evident that the players and coaches were working hard for each other. The harsh reality was that the U20 program has not and does not receive nearly enough resources to truly thrive. While many people came out and blamed the lack of a domestic pro league (which may also be true), it’s important to consider that these players have not spent a lot of time together in the last cycle, with only a few camps able to run throughout COVID. Nevertheless, players and coaches had every reason to be proud of their commitment and service to the national team. Players like Jade Rose reminded us that what’s really important, after all. It’s sad to see another cycle graduate without the proper infrastructure in place to continue nurturing their soccer career at home. With another 2-3 years left at school, our hope is that many of them will go on to play professionally.

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soccer.ca W September Roundup

OCTOBER 1, 2022

Welcome back to the Canadian Woso Roundup written by AC Lang of wsoccer.ca! As always, this roundup aims to increase the visibility of Canadian womxn in soccer.

We’re back to the usual format; Three September Highlights, League in focus: Bundesliga (GER), Local Footy: Coast to Coast Usports Update, and CanXNT/YNT News. It’s been a busy month, with 83 Canadians kicking off their European seasons, the NWSL wrapping up the regular season, uni/college soccer athletes hitting their stride, and don’t forget about the CanW17 roster drop ahead of the World Cup, or the CanXNT friendlies vs Australia, or the roster ahead of friendlies vs Argentina and Morroco in October.

Newsletter Highlights Highlights from the past month of woso

League in Focus: Bundesliga

Local Footy: Usports Coast to Coast

CanWNT vs Australia, Viens returns, CanW17 WC Preview Adriana Leon celebrating her goal against Australia

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE PAST MONTH North London and Merseyside derby draw huge crowds The North London Derby, between Arsenal and Tottenham, is one of the foremost rivalries in English football. The two clubs have a bitter rivalry that naturally extends to their women’s teams as well. This year, the stage was bigger than in year’s past, the game drawing a WSL record audience of just about 48,000 fans. At the center of it all was CanXNT’s own hypewoman, Shelina Zadorsky, long-time captain of the Tottehnham Spurs. It was epic to see Shelina put on a classically solid performance, doing her best to keep Arsenal’s attack at bay.

Despite a strong performance by Z, the Spurs were outclassed by a clinical Vivianne Miedema and co., ultimately falling 4:0. Later that day, another Canadian found herself at the center of it all in the Merseyside derby between Everton and Liverpool (over 27k fans was good enough for 4th highest attendance all-time). Lifelong Liverpool fan, Rylee Foster, from Cambridge, ON, who is still recovering from a serious neck injury, appeared as a pundit on Sky Sports. You love to see Canadians involved in these types of historic events.

Gilles transfers to OL It’s always a good day when a Canadian player transfers to the best club team in the World. Mid-month, it was announced that CanXNT CB Vanessa Gilles would join Olympique Lyon on loan from Angel City FC (no buy option) until Summer 2023. While it came as a bit of a shock, given Gilles apparent enjoyment of the ACFC environment, it’s viewed as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the 26-yo Canadian. The Ottawa, ON native will miss early parts of the OL season due to the injury which has seen her sidelined since August. We wish her a speedy recovery and all the best with OL. Given their current injury crisis at CB, she should get solid minutes with OL, including in the Champion’s League. She returns to France after only a few months of being in LA, having joined the NWSL side in the Spring after three successful seasons at Bordeaux. This wraps up a truly meteoric rise Gilles since early 2021 when she first became known with the XNT thanks to a legendary performance against the USA in the She Believes Cup. Even more impressive, when considering that she only started playing soccer competitively at age 16.

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OCTOBER 1, 2022 Huitema and Quinn win the shield, Canadians in the playoffs October is playoff month in the NWSL, meaning that the final weeks of the season in September were even more chaotic and exciting. This season, the table is tighter than ever, with only a few points differentiating 1st and 6th place. The NWSL truly is one of the more competitive leagues out there, with no team clinching playoffs until the second last matchday. The last two spots actually came down to the final matchday. In keeping with the consistent trends of Canadians thriving in the NWSL, 9 of 15 players made it to the playoffs, with one still in the running at the time of writing. The first two teams to clinch were the Thorns and the Reign, two of Canada’s favourite teams. Rhian Wilkinson and Karina Leblanc, both in their first seasons in charge as Thorn’s head coach and GM, respectively, were on track to win the Shield until the final game when they only managed a 3:3 tie with Gotham (glad I caught that one in person). Just a bit further North, Quinn and Huitema played significant roles in their Shield-winning game, Huitema scoring one (assisted by Quinn) and assisting Rapinoe’s winner. Both teams will have a first-round bye. Rounding out the Canadians are Keeper of the Year candidate Kailen Sheridan from expansion team SD Wave, Desiree Scott who anchored KC’s midfield all season, and the Dash’s Canadian trio of Chapman, Prince, and Schmidt. Chicago’s Bianca St Georges is the final Canadian who could make a playoff appearance if Chicago wins tomorrow, but would miss the first game due to suspension for flipping the double bird at the referees last match.

LEAGUE IN FOCUS: BUNDESLIGA This one’s special for me as someone who was born in Germany and spent 3 seasons there, aged 16-18. Truthfully, in the three years of living there when I was a teenager, I only saw one Frauen Bundesliga game. Despite being one of the longest-running women’s football leagues in the world (founded in 1990), it is not one that was massively attended or watched at the time (2010-2013). The game I attended was an 1. FFC (Erste Frauen Fussball Club) Frankfurt match, who were one of the foremost women’s clubs at the time. They were 6x UWCL Finalists from 2002-2015, winning four titles, good for second place all-time. The game was played at a modest facility, in front of maybe 1000 fans, which seemed like a poor turnout, even for the time. Fast forward to 2022, Germany is slowly beginning to embrace the women’s game. For a soccer-obsessed culture, one that is steeped in misogyny and extremism to this day, it took a long time to get here. Despite producing some of the world’s best players and teams, German women had an uphill battle to get to this point. The good news is that the opening game of the Bundesliga, played in my former hometown, drew over 20k fans, for the first time ever. Buoyed by a second-place at this year’s historic Euro’s the league is finally poised to reach new heights.

The league, called FLYERALARM Frauen-Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, has been elite from the beginning, but since the interest and investment of major men’s clubs like Bayern, Frankfurt, Hoffenheim, and Wolfsburg in the mid 2010’s German women’s soccer has been setting the pace in Europe alongside France and England. Bayern and Wolfsburg have been perennial champions and runners-up over the last decade. Top players like Vivianne Miedema, Melanie Leupolz, and Dzennifer Maroszan broke through in Germany and move on to bigger environments like Lyon, Arsenal, and Chelsea. That being said, the league is still not considered 100% professional.

Many players continue to pursue second careers, not able to earn enough to live off their football careers.

In terms of Canadian content, it’s been rather sparse over the past five years or so. Previously, Sophie Schmidt had been the biggest profile Canadian in the league, playing with Frankfurt from 2015 to 2018. More recently, Sura Yekka played with Duisburg in 2020, before moving to France. Considering the tactical and technical strength of the German system, a bit of a shame, which is why it’s heartening to see that four Canadians signed in the first and second Bundesliga this summer. The most notable signing was Sonia O’Neill, a Toronto-native who represents Venezuela at the international level. She linked up with first division side Turbine Pottsdam, also a historic team in the league (6x league Champions). The veteran 28-yo defender moves to Germany from Croatia. Two Canadians signed in the second league, which is split into two divisions. Both of them are Canada West Usports standouts; Bella Rocque (TWU alumni) and Samantha Savoy (UFV alumni). They line up for SC Sand and Ingolstadt, respectively. Last but not least, one Canadian entered the youth system, and that’s Christine Eiblmeier, the Ottawa, ON native, who signed with FC Bayern’s youth team.

How to Watch in Canada

The best way to watch the Bundesliga is a paid Ata Football account (atafootball.com). This will allow you to view select top matches, especially Bayern and Wolfsburg games, where you can see German stars Popp, Magull, and Gwinn, alongside many other internationals.

This will cost you about $7 USD / month or $60 for the year. In terms of English language coverage, we recommend following the ata social accounts, as well as individual teams and players as desired. You can also catch highlights on DFB TV or Youtube.

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OCTOBER 1, 2022

LOCAL FOOTY IN FOCUS: USPORTS COAST TO COAST The first half of the Usports season was played throughout September, top teams and players emerging among the 54 schools.

Let’s go coast to coast with this one.

Starting on the East Coast, the AUS title race is tight, with perennial winners Cape Breton currently leading the pack. The #9 ranked Caper’s Alliyah Rowe leads the league in shots (22) and goals (5), in only five games. Defensively, CBU is equally solid, with zero goals against in their five wins. Chasing them are StFX (12 points), Dalhousie (11 points), and last year’s champions Acadia (9 points). StFX in particular is thriving with four players scoring three or more goals (Smith, Steen, Crichton, Cole). As AUS action continues this month keep an eye on the race for playoffs.

Now over to Quebec’s RSEQ, where a two-horse race is beginning to emerge between Laval and Montreal. The #7 and #5 nationally-ranked teams met once in early September, Montreal winning 1:0, with the away game scheduled for early October. The talent in Quebec continues to shine in the RSEQ University Division. The ageless wonder Megane Sauve, Montreal’s veteran forward, has four goals and two assists already. Lea-Jeanne Fortin is Laval’s leading player, bagging 5 goals and 3 assists in 8 games. Beyond the top teams, UQAM and McGill are in the playoff conversation. In unrelated Quebec soccer news, CF Montreal finally hired Amy Walsh to take charge of girls and women’s development at the club. The hope is to see a youth team sooner rather than later, perhaps as early as this Fall.

The OUA remains competitive in both divisions. You can find two in-depth articles about the 2022 WSOC season at 49sports. To summarize in only a few sentences, #4 ranked Queen’s remain unbeaten after 7 games, winning 5 and keeping up with the top three trio with #3 Ottawa and Toronto. An early Rookie of the Year candidate in Seema Sakran (8G, 3A) complements a dangerous Queen’s group (most goals - 32). Ottawa’s own Cassandra Provost is lighting it up, too, with 10 goals in 8 games. Karly Hellstrom has been the standout for U of T (3G, 5A). In the West, Western leads the way, with 7 wins, including a big one over Guelph at the end of September. Speaking of, Guelph and York are in pursuit of the Mustangs, rounding out a competitive top three. Standouts have been Olivia Brown and Hannah Vickers (both 6G).

Last but certainly not least, Canada West is arguably the strongest division in the country, with four nationally ranked teams in UBC, Trinity Western, MacEwan, and Calgary. #1 and 2 ranked UBC and TWU have a formidable rivalry, spanning decades. They are joined by Albertan strongholds in Calgary and MacEwan, who have both challenged for titles over the last few years (1 Usports Gold, 1 Silver, 1 Canada West Gold between them). In terms of standout players, look no further than the 2nd- to 4thleading scorers in Canada (Steer, Tolnai, Wardrope) and the best assister in the Country in Rachel Barlow (7A, 5G). Beyond individual stats, one of the coolest storylines out of Canada West this Fall was UBC’s huge crowd at their Frosh Week game, totaling over 3,400 fans, which made for an epic backdrop for UBC’s 4:0 win over UVic.

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SEPTEMBER 1, 2022

CANWNT/YNT NEWS Let’s round all this out with CanXNT/YNT news. The senior team started off the month with two wins in Australia thanks to two world-class displays by Adriana Leon (3G), and Jade Rose (1A). The 1:0 and 2:1 wins presented a good challenge and test run ahead of the World Cup. Two debutants Clarissa Larisey (Celtic) and Simi Awujo (USC) got their first minutes, the 19-yo Awujo looking particularly strong in attacking midfield.

Later in the month, the CSA announced two more friendlies against Argentina and Morocco in the October window. The squad dropped late in the month and was a familiar one, with most big names included. Unfortunately, Carle, Riviere, Gilles and D. Rose missed out due to injury. Lawrence, Sinclair, and Yekka were included, but are questionable to play many minutes, also related to injuries. Larisey and Awujo were called in again, as well as Zoe Burns, but most notably, Evelyne Viens returns to the squad.

I have been trying to work on different areas of my game, working with the coaches on my finishing, my touch, my creativity, my confidence, the mental side of the game, it has been great.

- Ev Viens via RC Sports This rounds out a solid few months for Ev since being left out of the CONCACAF squad. Fresh off a hat-trick + assist performance for KDFF, she also renewed her contract until 2024, the Swedish club eager to keep their 20-goal striker.

Coach Priestman also noted her recent form during a press conference and hinted that their recently adjusted system will benefit Viens as a number 9.

You can see she’s a number nine scoring with confidence now. I also think the shift in the system that we introduced in Australia really complements Évelyne as an out-and-out nine, too.

- Bev Priestman on Viens Finally, the Canadian U17s are headed to India to compete in the World Cup. Their group stage opponents include France, Japan, and Tanzania. Their roster includes the regulars like Zoe Markesini, Clare Logan, Ella Ottey, Izzy Monck, and Amanda Allen, however, star striker Rosa Maalouf misses out due to injury. The competition will be tough for Canada, but the hope is that they can steal a point or three from either Japan or France. The Canadians play on October 12th, 15th, and 18th. All games will be available to view on TSN.

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soccer.ca W October Roundup

NOVEMBER 1, 2022

Welcome back to the Canadian Woso Roundup written by AC Lang of wsoccer.ca! As always, this roundup aims to increase the visibility of Canadian womxn in soccer. It’s been an exciting October all around for Canadian Footy fans, including the NWSL Final, NCAA and Usports Playoffs kicking off, the World Cup Draw, two friendlies vs Argentina and Morocco, Brazil friendly roster announcement, a U17 World Cup, and a fresh hot cup of Canada Soccer tea! First, we’ll go over three highlights, then we’ll take a closer look at the league in focus: the NCAA and the well-traveled road of Canadians playing down south. We’ll follow that up with coverage of domestic footy, and lastly, CanXNT / YNT news!

Newsletter Highlights Highlights from the past month of woso

League in Focus: NCAA Women's Soccer

Local Footy: National Champions crowned

CanWNT vs ARG & MOR, World Cup Draw, U17 WC Leblanc, Wilkinson, Sinclair and Beckie celebrate their NWSL Championship win

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE PAST MONTH Portlanada wins the NWSL Championship It was quite a satisfying sight seeing Desi Scott and Christine Sinclair lead their respective teams out for the NWSL Final. In total, 6 Canadian women were involved in the matchup between the Portland Thorns and the KC Current. Sincy and Beckie competed on the field for the Thorns, and Wilkinson and Leblanc ran the show off the field. The game ended 2:0 for the Thorns, a much-needed positive ending to what has been an emotionally grueling season in light of the sexual assault scandal that continues to haunt the club. Christine Sinclair also became the all-time leader in NWSL Playoff minutes thanks to getting the start in the Final, which wasn’t a guarantee considering she only came on in the 93rd minute in the Semis. At the Victory Rally back in Portland, Sincy also announced she would be staying on for another year to help win a fourth title and also, “fuck Seattle” (her words). Janine Beckie entered the match in the 63rd minute helping the Thorns maintain their two-goal lead. The best part of it all, beyond the deserved hype and over 900k viewers, was how players and media embraced the Portlanada nickname. It even made it into Full Time with Meg Linehan’s Podcast title (Janine was the guest). We’re gonna go ahead and take full credit for that.

Grosso our Canadian UWCL Queen It’s Julia Grosso’s world, we’re just living in it. The winning goal-scorer from the Olympic Finals continues to thrive in Europe as she’s finishing her first year as a pro. The midfield maestro has three assists in ten starts so far this season. Her pass completion in particular has been top-notch, given a 90% pass completion rate putting her in the 99th percentile among her peers. She has been particularly impressive in the Champion’s League, picking up a POTM award vs Zurich, and playing 90 minutes in the draw with Lyon. Not only is she thriving on the field, she’s also all over Juve’s social media feeds, frequently appearing in photos and videos, showing off her dance moves and some solid Italian along the way. If she can continue her current form there’s no reason Bev won’t give her a start in the upcoming international window in Brazil.

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NOVEMBER 1, 2022 Labbe joins Whitecaps in Women’s Development Role Last but not least, on October 6th the Vancouver Whitecaps announced Stephanie Labbe as their new General Manager of Women’s Soccer.

Labbe will be the head of the Whitecaps women’s program and will work with director of women’s soccer development, Emma Humphries and Girls Elite REX program coach, Katie Collar. Labbe was visibly excited and emotional during the press conference: “Being able to have an impact on the next generation of players through my experience, understanding and passion for the game excites me beyond words. Knowing the club’s vision and goals of bringing professional women’s soccer to Canada, and being a leader in this space aligns with my ambitions.”

While the content of the announcement was largely positive, some fans were still skeptical of the timing of the hire, as it came on the heels of the NWSL Yates report and announcement by the Whitecaps stating the Lenarduzzi brothers, who were involved in the Birarda and Busby sexual assault coverups in 2008-2011, are still with the organization. Labbe chimed in on this issue as well: "I want to tell any victim, anyone who has ever faced abuse … I am here for you. I am going to be a voice that will stand up for you and continue to fight for you,"

LEAGUE IN FOCUS: NCAA WOMEN'S SOCCER National Collegiate Association (NCAA) Women’s Soccer has been around for forty years, making it one of the oldest elite women’s soccer competitions in the world. For decades, the only way to make it to the Canadian national team was to have a strong NCAA career, preferably at a top 100 program. Name any CanXNT player from the past 4 decades, they’ve played in the NCAA (barring the few Usports players, and one highschool to pro player). Christine Sinclair was a huge NCAA star, winning two national championships and scoring 110 goals in 94 games for the University of Portland Pilots from 2001-2005. Kadeisha Buchanan was a MAC Hermann Trophy Winner (Historic Player of the Year Award) with West Virginia where she played with friend Ashley Lawrence.

The format of the NCAA is complex and has changed over time, but essentially, the regular season takes place in conference play, conferences being specific regions and teams who play against each other. You may have even heard of some of these conferences, like Pac-12, SEC, Big 10, Big 12, or ACC. In total, the NCAA has grown to 333 teams, playing across 30 conferences, totaling around 10k athletes. That is an impressive amount of athletes and one constant has been the influx of talented Canadian players. Currently, around 500 Canadians are playing Division 1 Soccer in the USA (that’s 5%), with countless more playing in D2 or D3 Schools or the NAIA. In terms of some of the top programs, there are many, and they all require tremendous dedication from the athletes. Some top programs come to mind like North Carolina, Stanford, UCLA, Santa Clara, Penn State, or Florida State, which stand above the rest in the quality of players who succeed in these competitive, championship-winning environments. This season, there are lots of Canadians who have been thriving down South, being recognized as some of the best players in their conferences, and picking up hardware along the way (see Graphic below)

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NOVEMBER 1, 2022 The NCAA has often been criticized for being too focused on athleticism, unsurprising considering the American game produces some of the world’s top athletes and competitors. The transitional nature of play requires a lot of speed and endurance and is standard across all levels of play, from Highschool to the NCAA to the NWSL and even the USWNT. The length of the season is also a point of contention, running from September to early December, when the College Cup (National Championships) take places. Of course, teams not competing in the playoffs end their seasons much earlier, meaning that it can be a short season. Despite the Spring season adding a few competitive games, it’s not quite the year-round environment a pro club offers to young, developing players. While the NCAA has been an invaluable route for Canadian players, some argue that players are behind their international peers when they graduate at age 22 or 23. Bev Priestman recently weighed in on the debate, stating on the Footy Prime show that a domestic pro environment would be preferable for young players.

Regardless of what side of the debate you’re on, it’s safe to say that the stream of players from Canada to the USA for college will continue for years to come. Kids are trained from a young age to pursue scholarship opportunities, rather than encouraged to dream of playing professionally. To date, only Jordyn Huitema skipped the college stage completely, and it may still take some time for society to get to a place where it’s acceptable for a young woman to pursue professional sports exclusively.

LOCAL FOOTY IN FOCUS: USPORTS FOOTY HEATS UP, NEWFOUNDLAND’S HOLY CROSS WINS JUBILEE TROPHY In Usports news, the divisional Champions have been crowned across the country. Cape Breton once again took the AUS title (their 12th), thanks to a 1:0 win over Dalhousie. In Quebec, Montreal lifted the RSEQ trophy after they defeated Laval 2:1. The Ottawa Gee Gees continued their winning season thanks to their 1:0 win over York. Last but not least, the UBC Thunderbirds continue to dominate Canada West, defeating TWU 2:1 in the Final. Here’s a quick snapshot of the Usports Championships scheduled for November 10th13th in Laval, QC. All games will be broadcast by CBC. The most shocking news came when the reigning Usports champions, the Macewan Griffins, were stripped of 18 points due to fielding an ineligible player. Consequently the Griffins did not make the playoffs, robbing them of their chance to defend their title.

In other domestic news, a team from Newfoundland made history at the Canadian Amateur Championship. Holy Cross FC became the first-ever National Champion from NL, beating London-based Alliance FC 4:0 to lift the Jubilee Trophy. 35-year-old police officer and Memorial alumni Mallorie Harris scored her 34th goal of the competition and announced her retirement from club soccer after the game. Pretty cool to see a team from Newfoundland win this trophy. Last but not least, the youth National Championship took place from October 5th-10th, top U15 and U17 teams from across the country coming together to compete.

The top three U15 teams were Winnipeg 1v1 Futbol, PEI FC, and Celtix Haut-Richelieu. The top three U17s were Union Lanaudiere-Sud, Caledon United, and Calgary Blizzard.

CANYNT NEWS Let’s start with the U17s. The U17 World Cup took place in India in mid-October, with a whole crop of Canadian players fulfilling their dreams of representing Canada in a World Cup. The tournament started well for the Baby Reds. They tied their first match with France 1:1. 15-yo Annabelle Chukwu scoring our lone goal off an Anna Hauer assist. Unfortunately, the next game vs Japan was a tough one as Japan handed us a decisive 4:0 loss. Group stage qualification came down to the final match which started well, the Canadians going up in

the 14th minute thanks to co-captain Amanda Allen, but ended up in disappointment as the Tanzanians scored an equalizer 20 minutes later. The players tried to rally in the second half, but it wasn’t meant to be for the Baby Reds.

Regardless of the result, it was great to see young Canadians competing on the World stage with a few players being rewarded for strong performances (more on that later.)

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NOVEMBER 1, 2022

CANWNT NEWS Now over to the senior team, who had a busy month! It started off with two friendlies vs Argentina and Morocco in Spain. Coaches and players were happy to pick up two more wins (2:0, and 4:0) and two more clean sheets in the process. Standout players across the games were Evelyne Viens (2G, 2A), Sophie Schmidt (2A), Jessie Fleming (1G), Janine Beckie (1G), and Cloe Lacasse (1G). It was great to see Canada’s improved patience when breaking down a deep block, and their impressive depth, especially in attack. Lacasse and Larisey both scored their first goals for the CanWNT, and Evelyne Viens announced herself back on the scene after being left out in the summer.

Shortly after the window ended, on October 22nd, the FIFA World Cup Draw took place in Australia. Bev was on site to follow all the action live, and the draw did not disappoint.

The Canadians ended up in Pot 2 and managed to avoid all the European teams from Pot 1, drawing host nation Australia (ranked 13th, who they just defeated twice in September). While it won’t be easy to beat the host, it will certainly make for an amazing atmosphere for the players.

Next, we drew Nigeria (ranked 45th), another familiar foe, from Pot 3 who will pose a challenge but should be beatable. Lastly, Ireland (ranked 24th) was drawn into the Group B as a relative unknown to Canada, having only played them once before (2:1 for Canada). The draw means that Canada could potentially play England, China, or Denmark in the Round of 16.

After the draw, the CSA finally announced their destination for the November FIFA window. It’ll be another long trip for players and staff as they head to Brazil for two matches against Debinha, Kerolin & co. A few days later, they announced the roster for the upcoming trip. Christine Sinclair, Gabby Carle. and Ashley Lawrence returned to the squad, as did Marie Levasseur and Clarissa Larisey. As is typical this time of year, the NCAA players were unavailable, and with a few regulars still out (Riviere, Rose, Chapman - injured, Gilles - recovery, Beckie - rest) a trio of U17 players were called in. Left-back Ella Ottey got high praise from Bev, as did Winger Amanda Allen, and young striker Annabelle Chukwu. All three will get the chance to prove themselves among the senior players. Bev stated that calling in players after the U17 WC has proven valuable for the program in the past with players like Fleming, Buchanan, and Lawrence being prime examples.

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soccer.ca W December Roundup

DECEMBER 1, 2022

Welcome back to the Canadian Woso Roundup written by AC Lang of wsoccer.ca! As always, this roundup aims to increase the visibility of Canadian womxn in soccer. It’s been an exciting, soccer-filled month for Canadians with the CanMNT’s World Cup run so it was easy to miss some of the happenings in Woso world. As usual, there’s been lots going on between the last international window of the year, UWCL action, the NCAA Women’s College Cup, and the Usports Championship. First, we’ll go over three highlights, then we’ll take a closer look at the league in focus: Liga MX Feminil and the Canadian coach making waves. We’ll follow that up with a summary of Canada’s matchups with Brazil, and other news and notes from the XNT.

Newsletter Highlights Highlights from the past month of woso

League in Focus: Liga MX

Local Footy: 3 Takeaways from Usports Championship

CanWNT vs Brazil

CanXNT Huddle up post-game vs Brazil

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE PAST MONTH Lacasse and Grosso deliver goals Cloe Lacasse scored 7 goals in November for her Portuguese club Benfica to take her total to 15 on the season. That includes 4 UWCL and 11 League & Cup goals. She continues to thrive with Benfica who are having a familiarly strong season, recently beating Swedish champions Rosengard in European play. Cloe is once again having a stellar season in her fourth year with the club, inching closer to that 100-goal mark for the club (currently 83!). On the other end of that spectrum, Julia Grosso just notched her first goal for her club in a 1:1 draw vs Como in Serie A action. It was a tidy finish with her left foot just inside the 18-yard box after a long run forward to make numbers up front. Great to see the 22-year-old BC native reach this first milestone with Juventus and pick up nearly 600 minutes across competitions already this season, including a start in a tie with Arsenal this month in the UWCL. Canadians shine in the NCAA College Cup 83 Canadians qualified for the 2022 NCAA Women’s Soccer Championship, starting with 64 teams in Round 1. By the third Round, 24 players remained in contention, partially thanks to Canadian-dominated teams like Memphis and Pitt making historic runs. Those two teams together accounted for 15 Canadians, including Pitt Panthers Leah Pais (8G, 5A), Anna Bout (22 Starts, 1 G, 7A) and Keera Meelenhorst (20GP, 1 A), and Memphis Tigers Mya Jones (9G, 2A, 2 G, 1 A in playoffs), Grace Stordy, Saorla Miller (2G, 1 A in playoffs), Anne-Valerie Seto (1G in playoffs), and Claire Wyville (16 GP, 9 Shutouts). Unfortunately, by the elite 8 three more Canadians bowed out after Arkansas lost 1-0 to defending Champions Florida State. Despite the loss, the Razorbacks can be proud of their accomplishments, especially Canadians Shana Flynn (2G, 4A) and Jessica de Filippo (12G, 8A). Backup keeper Siera Cota-Yarde also had an impact on the tournament when she took a penalty shot in the win over Memphis (3:3 aET). The last two Canadians standing are Alabama’s Aislin Streicek and FSU’s Melina Descary.

Streicek usually comes in as a gamechanger for Alabama up front. Rookie Descary has picked up minimal minutes in a very strong FSU squad.

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DECEMBER 1, 2022 Sabs to Arsenal Rumours Sabrina D’Angelo is one of those sneaky popular Canadian players. Every time we post something about the Welland, ON legend we see tons of impressions and engagement. The latest rumour surrounding the goalkeeper’s possible transfer to Arsenal was a welcome surprise for Canadian fans. Sabs had another stellar season in Sweden, her fourth in total with Vittsjo, which saw her pull off 31 clean sheets in only 69 games. Thanks to her impressive club form, the Canadian keeper has worked her way back up to being the second keeper for the National team, impressive considering she is only about two years out from a devastating ACL injury in 2020. No one knows whether these rumours are true or not considering Manuela Zinsberger is among the world’s best and two other goalies in Kaylan Marckese and Naomi Williams are in the squad. It’s unclear whether Sabs would move for a short-term spell or as a longer-term backup. Stay tuned, as she recently announced her departure from Vittsjo and will have plenty of options.

LEAGUE IN FOCUS: LIGA BBVA FEMINIL Canadians had one main reason to be interested in Liga MX (BBVA for Sponsorship reasons) this November, and that reason is coach Carmelina Moscato. Adored by all those involved in the Canadian soccer system, the ex-NT player, turned coach and analyst made it all the way to the Apertura final this month. After coming in third with Tigres in the first half of the season (called Apertura) her team advanced to the final vs Club America. In the 2-legged final, the ‘Amazonas’ outscored their competition 3 goals to 0. Carm became the second Canadian woman to win a major North American woso league title in the span of a few weeks, after Rhian won the NWSL Championship with the Thorns.

While it’s a little bittersweet these women aren’t at home winning rings domestically, you love to see them succeed at the highest level.

But let’s talk liga MX. The 18-team competition got underway in 2017 with help of the Mexican Federation and the pro men’s teams.

The season is played in two halves, the Apertura (July to November) and Clausura (January to May). Initially, the Mexican federation had invested in the NWSL, as the Canadians did, to ensure a certain number of slots for their players in the league. Early on, they doubled back and basically invested all that money into the creation of this league to “nurture the stars of the Mexico women's national football team and to build an infrastructure for women's football nationwide”. It’s safe to say that this investment has paid dividends. In five years, they’ve been able to establish strong fanbases and players. The top clubs include Tigres, Monterrey, Guadalajara, and Club America, and they’re able to hold their own against NWSL teams in recent friendlies. Some of the top players like Mia Fishel and Stephanie Mayor are genuinely prominent stars and rank among the best players worldwide.

How to Watch in Canada The best way to watch Tigres games is usually through their Facebook page. Individual teams have individual broadcasters so it’s kind of a mess. Either way, it’s worth tuning in to a league that should be a model to Canadians. The goal has to be catching up to Liga MX, the NWSL, and the rest of the world within the next ten years (because we’re now a decade behind).

LOCAL FOOTY IN FOCUS: 3 TAKEAWAYS FROM THE USPORTS CHAMPIONSHIP 1. Quebec Reigns Supreme in Player Development and Footy Cultre It’s no coincidence that 100% of high performance women’s soccer national championships held in Canada this year were all-Quebec finals. First, AS Blainville beat out AS Laval in the inaugural League 1 Canada Inter-provincial Championship. Then, Aigles Ahuntsic defeated the Saint-Lambert Cavaliers in the CCAA final. Montreal and Laval made up the All-Quebec Usports final at Stade Telus. It’s coming up all Quebec these days and that shouldn’t be surprising given some of the trends we’re seeing in Quebec in terms of player development and the creation of more opportunities and pathways.

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DECEMBER 1, 2022 You’re seeing this on the national team and professional level as well with players like Carle, St Georges, Viens, Proulx, and Levasseur, regularly appearing in senior national team camps. While these players lead the way, they clearly benefitted from the coaching and infrastructure in the province of Quebec, more specifically in leagues like PLSQ (semi-pro provincial summer league), and the National Development Centre, as well as strong connections to top schools across the continent. This generation of Quebecoises is more empowered than ever to go pro, especially as the road from Quebec to the first or second french division becomes more traveled.

2. Strong Veteran Class faces Domestic Dead End This year more than others, the championships and final were dominated by a very strong senior class competing in their final Usports matches. Whether it’s the extra motivation of playing their last ever game, or simply the veteran leadership mindset, the vets brought it this year. Montreal’s 5th-year midfielder Megane Sauve was crowned MVP of the tournament, thanks to 2 goals and 2 assists, including the assist on the Gold medal-winning goal. Another clutch player for Montreal was 26-yo Midfielder Maude Leclerc, the captain of the Carabins who was named to the All-Championship team. Also among the All-Stars; Laval’s veteran Virginie Deschenes and Ottawa’s Kayla Kyle and Katerine Delev, both Bronze medallists in their final match with Ottawa.

These talented players may be entering their peak performing years in their mid to late twenties. Unfortunately, they’re also hitting the dreaded domestic dead end all talented Canadian women’s soccer players face at some point in their careers. They have to choose whether they want to continue their sport abroad to reach a higher level, or whether they stay at home and slowly retire. The lack of professional opportunities for women in Canada is well documented, but away from all the headlines, the widening opportunity gap affects dozens of real people each year, especially during turning points like the transition out of collegiate programs. Having recently gone through this myself, I can confirm it’s a hard decision and not one you want to be forced to make. The truth is, only about 10-15 Canadian players turn pro each year, and most simply don’t have the means or passport to enable a career abroad.

Asked about the importance of pro opportunities at home by Ben Steiner (49 Sports), MVP Megane Sauve responded,

“It would be important. We have the quality here, I think we’ve shown it this week. We need a league.”

It’s high time those in positions of power in Canadian sport started to see and understand the value we could create if we properly invested in women’s soccer, in women like Megane Sauve or Danielle Steere, because if their names were Marcel Sauve and Daniel Steere, they’d be going number one and two in the Usports x CPL draft.

3. Over 1k Fans attend the Final, 41k tune in to CBC Broadcast If you tuned into the English or French-language stream throughout the final, you undoubtedly heard the large and energetic crowd in attendance that day. All in, over one thousand fans were on site to cheer on their respective teams. All types of chants and cheers were roaring from minute one to minute ninety, contributing to an electric atmosphere at Stade Telus. With tons of Laval fans in attendance on their home turf, you could see the energy transfer from the fans to the field as the Rouge-et-Or attempted a comeback. It’s not the first time a crowd in Quebec has impressed. This summer, similar scenes played out at the League 1 Canada final in Laval, demonstrating that Quebec may be turning into Canada’s women's footy culture hub.

In addition to the in-person attendance, the Usports Championship once again drew tens of thousands of viewers online through the CBC partnership. The additional visibility and accessibility CBC’s coverage drew over 41 thousand people to the streams featuring analysts Signa Butler and Breanna Burton. Once again, a clear example of how investment can demonstrate and increase demand for women’s soccer in this country.

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DECEMBER 1, 2022

VOLUME 15

CANWNT/YNT NEWS Last, but certainly not least, the National Team was once again in action with two matchups with Brazil, and tons of other stuff happened too with Christine’s long-awaited memoir, Janine crushing it on TSN’s World Cup Broadcast, two player awards, and a devastating injury diagnosis.

On November 11th, Canada took their first match with Brazil 2-1 thanks to set-piece goals from Shelina Zadorsky and Adriana Leon, both goals coming within 8 minutes between the 22nd and 30th minute. The first goal came off a clever Jessie Fleming corner who found Ashley Lawrence a few yards outside the box who curled in a beauty to Shelina at the back post. The next one was even nicer, as Jessie’s corner was flicked on at the front post by Sinclair to find Adriana Leon at the edge of the 18. Her one time volley was an absolute screamer for her 5th goal of the year. Generally, Canada played well in their new system, keeping the ball well (51% possession), and hitting the target with virtually every shot (8 of 11 shots). The next game wasn’t quite as successful, the result being turned on its head with a 2:1 loss coming late in the game off of a defensive set piece. Still, Bev will find positives to take away from the match, with players like Ashley Lawrence (scorer of Canada’s lone goal in the 61st) and Shelina Zadorsky showing their class.

Compared to the first game, we only completed four shots on target despite getting more overall shots (16). We saw lots of players get gametime over the two games; Lacasse had good flashes but needs to improve in the final third, Huitema looked good as right-sided forward, Grosso and Viens had a huge impact as subs in game 2. One debutant also saw the field - CanW17 captain Amanda Allen saw over 20 minutes in the first game, Bev commenting that all three U17 players looked the level in training. The next window takes place from February 13th to 22nd and Bev has already hinted that the team will attend a tournament, although the Arnold Clark Cup and Algarve Cup are both out of the picture. One person who will not be at said tournament is Nichelle Prince who announced that she suffered a torn achilles tendon in the final minutes of the match, unfortunately putting her 2023 World Cup in danger.

In better XNT news, Christine Sinclair finally released her memoir called “Playing the Long Game” in early November and did some media around it. If you havent’ read the book yet, it’s definitely a must-read for all Canadian soccer fans, as it’s an in-depth re-telling of her entire career starting with her childhood in BC. The most moving parts of the book were about Christine’s parents and how they shaped her into who she is today. For those hoping that she would spill some tea in her book, she does, but in that typical understated way. There is some fair criticism of the CSA and former coaches, however, she doesn’t touch the really hard stuff from the 2008-2012 Whitecaps era.

Janine Beckie may have missed the Brazil games for some well-deserved time off, but she didn’t stay idle long. She has been onscreen daily as an analyst for TSN’s World Cup coverage, and absolutely slaying it at that. The media major is a natural in front of the camera, earning widespread praise from fans and those in the industry.

Shelina Zadorsky was named Canada Soccer’s November player of the month thanks to her two top performances vs Brazil. Of course, she scored a goal but she showed much more than that when defending some of Brazil’s top forwards like Debinha, Kerolin and Geyse. A model of leadership and consistency in the back, she’s never afraid to put her body on the line in those signature tackles.

Speaking of awards, Sophie Schmidt was named Houston Dash’s MVP and Player’s Player of the Year, showing exactly how crucial she was for the team’s fourth place league finish and first ever playoff run. Schmidt has had a resurgence in 2022, using that disappointment of not making the Tokyo 18-player roster to fuel her best ever NWSL season (19 games started, 1663 minutes, 4 goals, 1 assist, 54.7% successful tackles, 62% aerial duels). Arguably just as impressive, Sophie also decided to complete an ironman triathlon after the season finished, proudly showing off the pics on socials.

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soccer.ca W January Roundup

JANUARY 1, 2023

Welcome back to the final Canadian Woso Roundup of 2022 written by AC Lang of wsoccer.ca! As always, this roundup aims to increase the visibility of Canadian womxn in soccer. We’ll start with three highlights as usual. We’re changing up the format to focus on the big news of the month: Pro Women’s Soccer is coming to Canada in 2025 thanks to Diana Matheson and Project 8. Then, we’ll end with the latest CanWNT news including POTY awards, transfer news, and plans for 2023.

Newsletter Highlights Highlights from the past month of woso

Project 8: Women's League coming in 2025

CanWNT/YNT Player of the Year, 2023 Updates

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE PAST MONTH Canadians shine in the UWCL Four Canadians qualified for the Group Stage of the Champions League in the final days of December. Chelsea’s Jessie Fleming and Kadeisha Buchanan clinched on matchday five and followed that up with a 3:0 win over PSG to secure the top spot in Group A. Kadeisha was particularly impressive in a backline that only conceded one goal in group stage action. PSG on the other hand, also secured qualification on Matchday 5 thanks to a 2:1 win over Real Madrid. Ashley Lawrence once again came up clutch in that win, drawing a penalty and playing 90. She got a much-deserved rest day against Chelsea, unfortunately robbing fans of another Keisha vs Ash showdown. Group C had an epic matchup between Canadians on the final day for a chance to secure the final spot in the quarters. Lyon and Vanessa Gilles ultimately came out on top over Juve and Julia Grosso, thanks to a 0:0 draw. It was close though, as one goal for Juve would have kicked the reigning Champions out of the competition. Lastly, Cloe Lacasse’s Benfica may not have made it out of Group D (aka the Group of Death), however, our Canadian star did manage to score 5 goals (0.84 goals per game) and earn 1 assist, making her joint second top scorer in the group stage behind Pajor and tied with Kerr and Bonmati. Not bad considering she played (and scored) against teams like Barca, Bayern, and Rosengard.

Milestones in England The strong Canadian contingent in England continued to shine in December. Jessie Fleming scored her first and second goal of the season, in an 8:0 win over Leicester. She continues to pick up solid minutes with Chelsea in part because of Pernille Harder’s unfortunate long-term injury.

Shelina Zadorsky also reached a WSL milestone when she made her 50th WSL appearance for Tottenham on December 14th. The Spurs captain continues to lead the way on the pitch, starting and finishing all 9 WSL games so far this season. Lastly, Adriana Leon scored a brace in Conti Cup action for Manchester United in a win over Sheffield United. Good news for Dri who has been struggling for minutes and will look to build on her goals in the New Year. Despite limited minutes, she already has three goals for ManU in 2022 on top of her 5 National Team goals. She capped off an incredible 2022 with a new boot deal with Puma, announcing the new partnership on social media in late December.

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JANUARY 1, 2023 5 Canadians in Guardian’s Top 100 As usual, the Guardian dropped their list of the Top 100 Women’s Players of 2022. Five Canadians made the list from #46 to #77. Topping the crop of Canadians was Kadeisha Buchanan who won D1Arkema and the UWCL with Lyon, earned a big-money move to Chelsea, and had 8 clean sheets in 13 caps with Canada. Next up: Ashley Lawrence at #57 who continues to be in the running for the best fullback in the World, and is definitely one of the most consistent. Ashley played about 2,500 minutes for PSG, contributed 6 assists, and won the Coupe de France in 2022. Jessie Fleming came in at #63 as a WSL and FA Cup Champion with Chelsea. She scored 5 goals for Chelsea, and 5 for Canada in 2022, adding two assists for her club. After struggling for minutes in her first six months, Jessie is becoming a regular in Emma Hayes’ lineup shining through her versatility, playing anywhere from central midfield to inverted winger. Coming in at #76 is Christine Sinclair. Sincy won the NWSL Championship with the Thorns, scoring 5 NWSL goals along the way. For the National Team, she scored twice and added two assists. Last but not least, Kailen Sheridan was ranked #77 thanks to a strong season with Canada and San Diego. For her club, she led the expansion side to the playoffs and won the Goalkeeper of the Year Award. For the National Team, she had 7 clean sheets in 12 matches and had some incredible performances against top teams like the US and Brazil. Now, if you’re asking me who’s missing from this list I’d say Vanessa Gilles and Julia Grosso.

LOCAL FOOTY IN FOCUS: PRO WOSO BY 2025 There’s no way around the big news of the month. Diana Matheson and Project 8 stunned the soccer world when they announced the creation of a women’s domestic league by 2025, a mere 2.5 years away. If you’re still looking for the details, I’ve spent the last month reading every article and listening to every podcast Diana has appeared in and summarized what we know about the league so far and what questions remain (find the summaries at www.wsoccer.ca/project8).

Here’s a more personal reflection.

Diana Matheson visiting Foothills FC

As you know I am someone deeply entrenched in the women’s soccer landscape and deeply passionate about it. I have had the fortune of being privy to some of the conversations led first by Moscato and Matheson in advocacy for a women’s league since 2020. It still blew me away how important it was to actually read the headline “pro women’s soccer is coming to Canada by 2025”, and to witness the media flurry that came with it. One thing that goes underappreciated by some of the critics out there, is exactly how important it was for women across the country to hear this announcement, to hear a concrete date. As these women plan their next few years in soccer, they’ll finally have something to work toward. They have a reason to stay in the game and a genuine hope that there will be a spot for them in whatever pathway they chose, from playing to match officiating, to executive leadership, or as members of the media.

And I include myself in that group. I purposely chose not to pursue a career in soccer because as I looked ahead in my last years of uni it just wasn’t a risk worth taking. Even before that, in highschool, I didn’t apply to a sports management or sports media program because I didn't see myself represented. Despite being a decent athlete and passionate about the sport, nothing was actively pulling me in. Something like this would have changed that, and now it will for countless others going forward.

Finally, someone is doing it. Someone has committed publicly and said here’s the plan, it’s happening by this date. All we’ve heard until now has been “we’re considering it”, “it’s something we’ll look at in the future”, or “3-5 years”. Now don’t get me started on the fact that these womxn, this generational group of players that shaped women’s soccer in Canada in the 2010’s and ’20s, led by Matheson, Sinclair, and so many others, had to be the ones to say “fuck it, then we’ll build it, and we’ll build it better”. The sense of ambition this group is approaching the league with by stating their goal of being a top 10 league off the bat, one that can compete globally, is what has been lacking from the conversation for so long. It took these winners to get after it. To be ambitious. What we’ve heard from the men in power is “wait your turn” and “you need to walk before you can run”. For me, that’s reflective of a general lack of vision and lack of appreciation for the opportunity and value women’s soccer presents.

Needless to say, I’ve had a lot of emotions and thoughts about this. I can’t wait for there to be something people want to buy into and get behind. I see the appetite for it every NT matchday, every week when y’all tune into SN to watch Jessie or Kadeisha or DAZN to watch the UWCL, and every day on socials where the conversation is very much alive and growing. Join me here as we build up to 2025 and are hopefully a big part of it moving forward.

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JANUARY 1, 2023

CANWNT/YNT NEWS It was a bit of a slow month for the National team, as there were no games or camps to speak of. Nevertheless, there were some exciting announcements to wrap up the year and look ahead to 2023.

Firstly, the Canada Soccer Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year were announced in late December. Simi Awujo was named Young Player of the Year thanks to her strong performances in the U20 and senior teams. Having started the year as a relative unknown, the dualnational from Atlanta, Georgia impressed at the U20 CONCACAF Championship and World Cup which caught Bev Priestman’s attention.

She ends the year with three senior caps to her name. The dynamic midfielder has played as an 8 or a 10 for Canada, but is typically deployed as a holding midielder for her college team, the USC Trojans (11 GP, 2G, 4A in 2022). U20 Coach Cindy Tye was smart to call her in, as she was eligible to represent the United States (she formerly represented them at U17 level) and Nigeria (where her parents were born), but ultimately picked Canada (her mother is a citizen).

Jessie Fleming was named senior Player of the Year for the second consecutive year, her second POTY award in total. Some of her accomplishments have been summarized in the monthly highlights section. Let’s just say Jessie fully deserves this honour. She is flourishing into a top 10 midfielder in the world before our eyes. Her lungs continue to impress everyone, running almost 100% of possible CanWNT minutes this year. While it certainly feels like we haven’t seen her best, what’s to come is even more promising than where she already is as a 24-year-old. Her co-finalists Janine Beckie and Kadeisha Buchanan both put out messages of support for the diminutive midfielder following the announcement.

In other CanWNT news, Bev Priestman finally confirmed the team will be playing in the She Believes Cup again in 2023, joining the Americans, Japan and Brazil in the tournament. Some fans were critical of the fact that we will be playing two familiar opponents in Brazil and the US, but ultimately the level of play will be high and there will be other chances to test themselves against European opposition before the World Cup. The schedule is as follows: Tuesday February 16th at 7pm ET/ 4pm PT vs the USA, Sunday February 19th at 6:30pm ET/ 3:30pm PT vs Brazil, and Wednesday February 22nd at 4pm ET/ 1pm PT vs Japan.

Last but not least, there were two significant player moves. The first being Gabby Carle’s move from Sweden to the Washington Spirit. The second being Sarah Stratigakis’ new contract in Sweden until the end of 2023. There were also quite a few rumours circulating, including Sabs to Arsenal which is reported to be in the final stages, Juve rejecting City’s bid for Grosso, and Cloe Lacasse allegedly linked with Arsenal, Bayern and PSG.

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