Canada joins the rest of the world in creating a Women’s Professional Football League
By: Anna Montaner
After a quick and disappointing journey in the Australian Women’s World Cup this summer, Canada is in the process of creating their first professional women’s football league.
The league that remains unnamed is being called Project 8 and is planned to launch in 2025. Vancouver Whitecaps FC, A.F.C Toronto City, and Calgary Foothills SC, who are currently playing in the USL W League will be the pioneers for the Canadian women’s league.
A.F.C Toronto City will also be the first women’s professional soccer team in Toronto.
Diana Matheson, the player who helped Canada secure Bronze in the 2012 London Olympics, is one of the leaders of this project. She, alongside Thomas Gilbert and Christine Sinclair, will continue working on recruiting more teams.
This news comes after a disappointing run in the World Cup, where the holding gold medalist for Tokyo 2020, didn’t make it out of the group stages. The advancement of other national leagues was painfully obvious for the Canadians.
Out of the 32 teams that participated in the World Cup, Canada was only one of two teams that did not have a women’s national league of their own. The other is Haiti.
“We’re making this product for everyone who believes in this dream. This League is about creating opportunities for Canadians. Not just for players, but for fans, referees, coaches, and management,” said Project 8 in a release for their website.
The mission of this project is to create opportunities for Canadian athletes without needing to leave the country. This advances the game and player pathways domestically and it also strengthens the national team for those big tournaments.
“Women’s soccer is the fastest growing sports industry in the world,” wrote Project 8, also on their official website, project8.ca. “This League represents an incredible opportunity to get in from the get-go.”
To promote this league, Project 8 has created a new series called ‘More Than a League’. These episodes take you on a journey through the heart and soul of women’s soccer in Canada and the quest to finally bring the professional game home.
So far, 11 of the 14 episodes have been released on YouTube, each getting around 1000 views. The next one is coming on Feb 19.
Christine Sinclair, the Canadian football hero, retired after playing a friendly with World Cup hosts Australia on Dec 5. While Sinclair is hanging her boots, she will remain involved in Project 8.
“We came from a time where we played for the national team, ten years before people were watching us. And then it shifted on the London 2012 [Olympics], and suddenly we had a platform,” said Sinclair for CIBC. “I think it’s recognizing that we have that ability to impact sports and leave things better for the next generation.”
Women’s football has grown exponentially in the last five years. According to a survey done by FIFA, the number of women playing organized football has increased by nearly a quarter compared to 2019.
Young athletes across the country can look forward to playing in a professional league, instead of being forced to go overseas.
Fabie Zumwalt, a fullback for the Calgary Foothills Academy, believes that by having a professional league in Canada, the number of girls who stop playing after high school will drop exponentially.
“It’s really important for young girls to see a woman playing at [professional]level because if they see it, they can believe they can do it too,” Zumwalt said. “If I could play in a professional league for Calgary, I think it would make all my dreams come true.”
If Canada wants to continue dominating the international competition like they’ve done in previous Olympics, this league is a necessity.
Canada has already qualified for the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics after beating Jamaica two nil this September, meaning people won’t be able to enjoy the new national league before that, but the next World Cup could look very different.
If things go to plan, Project 8 will begin in 2025, and it will give its players two years to prepare to be called up for the next World Cup, could this project help Canada become world champions for the first time in the country’s history?