Northern Super League’s 6 clubs unveil kits, league prepares for launch

As the clock ticked down to the Northern Super League’s launch, president Christina Litz made the rounds to check in on its clubs’ final preparations.

The reveal of each of the six clubs’ kits Thursday was another signpost on the road to the Canadian women’s professional soccer league that opens April 16 when Calgary’s Wild FC visit Vancouver Rise FC at BC Place.

“It’s amazing going to these different markets and seeing how much things have progressed in the last few months,” Litz said Thursday at Calgary’s McMahon Stadium, where a FIFA-approved pitch was about to be installed and a locker room was under renovation.

“An event like today, when we’re unveiling the kit, is another sign to the market that we’re coming and we’re real.”

Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver are the NSL’s original six. Each team will play 25 matches from April to October with the top four advancing to playoffs.

Three days after the opener in Vancouver, it’s AFC Toronto hosting Montreal Roses FC at BMO Field.

“We want to see these stadiums full in these early games and I think we will,” said Litz. “There’s a lot of anticipation around it, but I think that has to be balanced with realizing that we’re in this for the long haul, and growth takes time.

“You can see from our friends in the PWHL and even the WNBA that was 30 years in the making to where we’re at today, to think that this just happens overnight, and there’s not further work to do, and further things to fulfil, is unrealistic.”

Training camps that began last month to whittle rosters down to between 20 and 25 players coincided with a flurry of sponsorship announcements. WestJet, Coca-Cola, Toyota and Intact Insurance joined Canadian Tire, Sportchek, DoorDash and Westland Insurance.

A broadcast/streaming schedule is in place involving TSN, CBC, RDS, Radio-Canada and NSL.ca.

But the business of pro sport requires eyeballs on the product both in the stadium and outside of it on screens.

“I don’t doubt people will watch. I know people will watch,”‘ said Afghan-Canadian midfielder Farkhunda Muhtaj of Toronto.

Wild FC’s first player signing, who modelled the club’s purple and red home kit Thursday, was aware her team and Vancouver’s will set the tone for the new league April 16.

“The way that we’re kind of managing this is just taking it day by day and understanding that we’re truly honoured to be on this journey and just making the most out of it,” said the 27-year-old.

Litz came to the NSL after executive stints in the CFL and with True North, which owns the NHL’s Jets.

“I feel lucky that those previous experiences on the men’s pro side have given me both at the league and the team background, a unique insight into what it takes to build a league like this from scratch, all of the elements, and not taking for granted that anything is easy,” Litz said.

“This is an entertainment business now. This is an increasingly competitive business now, and then layer up all the joy that is running a startup and just learning things like how do you put together benefits packages and all the rental agreements you have for different things, some of that bread and butter stuff. I’m surrounded again by amazing people, both at the league office, who have a tremendous amount of experience, and then at our club level with Calgary being no exception.”

The NSL’s minimum salary will be $50,000 with one designated player whose salary won’t count against a $1.6-million salary cap.

Up to eight internationals are permitted per team, but an aim of the league is to provide Canadian women with a domestic pro league so they don’t have to play abroad.

Wild FC, which will be Alberta’s lone women’s pro sports team, will share McMahon with the CFL’s Stampeders and the University of Calgary football team.

The McMahon Stadium Society invested in equipment to paint lines for either football or soccer, and hydraulics will be installed for the football uprights, said Wild CEO Lara Murphy.

“They’ll be flipping the field almost like you flip a room for an event, except this will be for sport,” she said.

The Wild’s home-opener May 11 is against Ottawa Rapid FC. The east stands of McMahon will provide spectator seating and Murphy wants to see them full.

“We do need more exposure,” Murphy said. “We need people to buy tickets, whether it’s through their schools, communities, workplaces, or just for their families.

“I’d say we’re pleased, but we need to keep pushing more and get the word out, so we’re about to embark on another campaign to do just that.”