Playing first-ever NSL game ‘a privilege’ for Vancouver Rise, Calgary Wild

Canada's first ever professional women's soccer league got underway in downtown Vancouver Wednesday night.

There’ll be a lot of emotions circulating at B.C. Place on Wednesday when Canada’s new women’s professional soccer league officially kicks off.

And Lydia Bedford wants one in particular to be dominant for her Calgary Wild as they take on the Vancouver Rise in the first-ever Northern Super League game.

“The biggest feeling that our players should have when they step out onto the pitch is pride,” said Calgary’s head coach.

“Yeah, there’s a ton of pressure on everybody right now, but if we didn’t like pressure, we wouldn’t do these jobs. It would be much easier to take different jobs or different paths.”

Bedford knows what it’s like to be a trailblazer.

Before joining the Wild, she was head coach of the under-18 men’s team at Brentford FC and was the first woman to ever hold a coaching position at an English Premier League club.

Reflecting on that experience, Bedford had a simple piece of advice for her team.

“Someone’s got to be the first in every situation,” she said. ”For me, it’s not being fazed by that and seeing it as a privilege.”

The first game of the inaugural NSL campaign follows 10 weeks of pre-season preparation for each of the league’s six teams.

Finally approaching kick off is a bit like the emergence of spring, said Rise head coach Anja Heiner-Moller. “We’re just ready to get started and so excited,” she said. “We want to give the best we have that day and be able to enjoy it because this is a day of celebration.”

Vancouver’s club has deep ties with the Canadian national women’s team. Soccer legend Christine Sinclair is part of the ownership group and former Canadian ‘keeper Stephanie Labbe is the sporting director.

The Rise roster includes Quinn, who won gold with Canada at the Tokyo Olympics and spent six seasons playing for the Seattle Reign in the National Women’s Soccer League before signing with Vancouver. The midfielder is joined by homegrown defender Shannon Woeller, fellow Reign alumni Nikki Stanton and American forward Jasmyne Spencer.

Heiner-Moller is expecting her team to play entertaining, competitive soccer.

“We would like to be on the ball,” she said. ”We want to have an attacking mindset. We want to be tactically flexible, able to do different things and vary how we play.”

Coming into a brand-new league, Heiner-Moller and her staff aren’t exactly sure what they should be expecting from the Wild. And that’s just fine.

“For us to be able to focus more on ourselves in a building situation of the team, that’s actually OK,” said the Danish bench boss, adding that she wants her squad to be able to respond to whatever situation a game presents.

“Otherwise, we’ve used too much time on the opponent, I would say.”

There are notable names behind Calgary’s club, too.

The Wild ownership group includes Vancouver Whitecap defender Sam Adekugbe and Winnipeg Jets defenceman Josh Morrissey, while the roster features Afghan-Canadian midfielder Farkhunda Muhtaj, formerly of Dutch club Fortuna Sittard, and three-time Olympian Meikayla Moore of New Zealand.

One advantage the team has, Bedford said, is the connections they’ve built over the pre-season. Players and staff alike have been sharing their stories over the past 10 weeks and have developed special bonds that will be key as they navigate the unknowns of a startup league.

Struggles this season could include navigating the travel and fatigue that comes with having teams spread across the country, the coach said.

“But we say we’re owl in it together because the owl’s on our crest,” she said. ”We’ll find a way to work through it as a group. And I think the group being close is really going to help.” The journey will begin with a special game at B.C. Place on Wednesday, one that Bedford expects to be memorable not just for the coaches and players, but the fans in the stands, too.

“Both teams are going to bring a ton of energy and intensity and a desire to show the best of their pre-season efforts and the best of themselves as individuals,” she said. “And I think that makes for a really exciting game of football.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 15, 2025.

Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press