When will there be a professional women’s soccer league in Canada? The answer, you can imagine, is more complicated than the question.
Posted at 8:00 a.m.
Last May, Soccer Canada announced that it had entrusted Breagha Carr-Harris with the mandate to develop women’s professional soccer in the country. A little over three months later, she began the first phase of her new mission: she carried out research, in particular by meeting with various stakeholders, amateurs and players across the country.
“I listened a lot. I’m still listening. And I still have to listen,” she says from the outset in an interview with The PressSunday noon, on the sidelines of the inaugural League 1 Women’s Interprovincial Championship which was held in Laval all weekend.
“What I learned is that there are so many people who are passionate about it. Many of them, they’ve been waiting for this for a long time. »
Opinions on the development of women’s soccer in Canada differ. But fundamentally, she says, everyone wants the same thing: “To see the sport grow, for women. Now, the goal is to figure out how to create a “Canadian professional ecosystem”.
The term of Carr-Harris, a former player herself, is two years. So that’s the target date for setting up a league, or “around that”.
PHOTO FROM SOCCER CANADA WEBSITE
Nick Bontis, President of Soccer Canada, and Breagha Carr-Harris, Head of Women’s Professional Soccer
I do not want to say [officiellement dans] two years. But it’s definitely coming! It is important for us to do things well. It must be durable and able to grow.
Breagha Carr-Harris, Head of Women’s Professional Soccer
Over the past few months, Carr-Harris has spent a lot of time reviewing the global strategies that have been deployed in the world of women’s soccer.
She cites in particular “historic” countries, such as European countries, where “soccer has always been part of the way of life”. We think in particular of the victory of England in front of more than 85,000 spectators in the final of the Women’s Euro 2022. Carr-Harris also evokes the Australian and Mexican leagues, or the North American women’s league (NWSL).
“It will help us grow, but we are not these markets and these countries, recalls Carr-Harris. We have a huge, great country, so we’re going to use best practices and try to figure out how to go about it, in combination with who we are, our Canadian identity, to build what we want to build. »
“You look at teams like Angel City FC [le club de la Québécoise Vanessa Gilles] who do extraordinary things, and you look in Europe, and you can’t help but say to yourself: what an extraordinary world! But somewhere in the middle of it all is our world. It will be Canadian, that is our task. »
Salary equity
This year, the US Soccer Federation reached a historic agreement ensuring pay equity between the men’s and women’s national teams.
On pay equity for a future Canadian women’s professional league, Breagha Carr-Harris says “that’s the goal.”
Equity [salariale] is important. If you’re building for women, it has to be part of the conversation. There isn’t much more to say.
Breagha Carr-Harris
“If we want to professionalize this game, we have to do it at all levels,” she continues. We not only want to retain our best talent, but also bring them back. »
“If we want to do all of this, we have to be honest and authentic about who we are. We have to take care of the players. We need to create an environment where they are respected and treated properly. »
“The Second Division”
This is the first edition of the League 1 Women’s Interprovincial Championship, which took place on the grounds of the Bois-de-Boulogne Sports Center in Laval this weekend. There were the two champion and vice-champion teams of the First Quebec Soccer League (PLSQ), the champion team of League 1 of British Columbia and that of League 1 of Ontario. We are talking here about semi-professional circuits.
According to Breagha Carr-Harris, this championship is a step forward for the development of women’s soccer.
“This tournament is so important because it shows collaboration,” she said. Most of the time we live in isolation. We are so focused on what we are doing in our own space. »
League 1 Canada is a perfect example of what happens when we work together.
Breagha Carr-Harris
According to Sonia Denoncourt, director of programs at Soccer Quebec, the idea is to develop League 1 across Canada in order to make it “the second division for the professional level”.
“If we have our professional league in two years, this Canadian championship can become a bit of a platform to reach the professional leagues,” she explains. We hope to have several Canadian women, to give them visibility, the possibility of asserting themselves in a Canadian championship. »