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Jill Tracy
- For the Record
NSL COMPETITION CREATES COMMUNITY
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It hit me as we walked out of our hotel.
A dad in his Ottawa Rapid jacket caught sight of our Vancouver Rise scarves and greeted us like old friends.
Within minutes, we were swapping stories with his daughters about the season — the wins, the heartbreaks, the pride.
That’s the magic of sports — the way competition creates community.
Sure, fans rally behind their favorite men’s teams and their universities, but this weekend at the Northern Super League Final in Toronto, something bigger was happening.
Everywhere you looked, people wore the gear of the women’s teams, even the ones that weren’t playing.
In our section at BMO Stadium, there were Halifax Tides hats, Calgary Wild scarves, Montreal Roses signs, AFC Toronto toques, and Vancouver Rise scarves — united fans cheering together, bonding through the brief lightning and freezing rain delay.
It was fans from across the country showing up not just for a win, but for the success of this new league — for the players who’ve paved the way, and for the girls who’ll now have the chance to play professionally, at home in Canada.
The inaugural NSL season began in Vancouver and ended in Toronto — and being there for both games and seeing Vancouver win them both was incredible.
When that final whistle blew — fireworks streaming, strangers hugging like teammates — I teared up with the emotion of how exciting, and how important, it is to finally have a professional women’s league here in Canada.
For a fan still learning the sport but all in on her hometown Vancouver team, it was more than a win. It felt like witnessing the first chapter of something extraordinary — a perfect bookend to the inaugural NSL season, and proof that women’s soccer has a real, lasting home here.
After years of watching women’s sports bring people together in other countries, to feel that same energy here — fans from every city, united by possibility, pride, and progress — it was beautiful.
And knowing young girls were there to see it made it even more powerful.
That feeling — of belonging, connection, and shared pride — is exactly why we started SHE’S GOT NEXT.
So more women can find community through sport.
So more girls can see women leading — on the field, in the stands, and long after their playing days are done.
Huge respect to everyone at the NSL — the players, the front offices, the partnership teams, the merch crews, and the fans. Especially the SHE’S GOT NEXT-ers that filled our section at Swangard each game and the fab leadership team that made it all feel so special.
You made something magical.
And the best is still ahead.
I hope everyone reading this gets tickets for next season. I look forward to connecting with you during the season and seeing you at the Finals!