SoccerWise - NWSL/CANWNT Edition: Casey Stoney (CANWNT) & Amy Walsh (Footy Prime)

Episode Date: January 15, 2025

NWSL is in it's offseason and Jordan is on vacation but there is huge news to cover around the women's game especially in the great white north! David sits down with the Canadian Women's National Team manager Casey Stoney about what she can bring to the program, how she will assist NSL & her views on her time in San Diego. Then Amy Walsh joins the show to bring her POV on this appointment, the strength of the game in Canada & the build of NSL into it's inaugural season. 2:55 Casey Stoney Interview 16:00 Amy Walsh on CANWNT 32:30 Amy on NSL Soccerwise Live 2pm ET Every Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday on Youtube/Twitch/Twitter

Hey everybody, welcome back to SockoWise, David Goss here with you once again. As you know, Jordan Angeli is on the steps of Mordor right now, traveling through New Zealand and Australia, having a great time in a much-deserved vacation after a long NWSL season. And so I'm going to continue covering the game here without her until she returns. A lot going on in NWSL. Just some brain-breaking moves that have occurred of course specifically thinking about jayden shaw right now and her trade from san diego to north carolina but a couple other big time moves we've had some shifts in front offices of course the new rules under the cba

a number of college players signing in the league i want to talk about all of that. I want to dig into all of that, but I thought today a bigger story was the shift for the Canadian women's national team and the sport in Canada right now. Former San Diego Wave head coach Casey Stoney, who of course won the Shield last year with her team and led them to one of the best expansion seasons we've ever seen off the back of her long storied career in England as a player and as a coach, has been announced as the new head coach of the Canadian women's national team. So we're going to have Casey on herself in a couple moments to talk about this job and what she's trying to accomplish. And then we're going to talk with

Amy Walsh after that, who is a former Canadian national team player herself, as well as an advisor right now to one of the NSL teams, the Northern Super League, which is going to be starting this year as the newest professional women's soccer league in the world. And the first first division professional women's soccer league in Canadian history. And I think there's a lot going on in Canada. There's a lot of energy. There's a lot of excitement. There's a lot of opportunity. And I really wanted to spend the time talking about that. So that's what we're going to do here today. And then I promise you, all of your big NWSL conversation depth will come later this week and next week with some other big guests to dig into all of the intricacies, all of the moves, and a lot of what we are excited about. You can still go and see our depth charts. If you are a subscriber to our

Patreon, which I'm updating, I put notes in there as well. So some of my thoughts are down there. And we're going to continue, of course, the cover NWSL. But today, it's all about the Great White North. It's all about Canada. Let's go to our interview right now with Casey Stoney. Well, we are honored now to be joined here at SoccerWise by the new head coach of the Canadian women's national team, officially, and someone we know very well from her days in NWSL and, of course, with England as a player, Casey Stoney. Officially announced. Casey, thanks for taking the time to join us. Thank you for having me on. So let's start at the beginning. Why Canada? Why this project?

And maybe why from club to international for you as your next job? Yeah, I think obviously I was having some time out after Wave and I was contacted by Canada about the role and listened, understood, kind of went away, did my own research. It was quite an extensive process in terms of getting the job. So lots of conversations, an extensive interview. And the more I got to know Kevin, Kevin Blue, the CEO, in terms of his leadership, his values, the more I was really interested in the role because I wanted to be with an organisation that had good values, good principles, and I felt like he was very aligned

to the way I think and the way I do things. The more I got an understanding of the player pool, the player group. Also, I'd watched them very closely over the last three years because caitlin was playing so you know when caitlin plays we watch um and i'd followed their journey and i think what they've done over the last year has been incredible in terms of not being beaten in open play and then what they did at olympics in really difficult circumstances and the more i got to know the culture of the people of Canada, it just became something I really was keen to be part of.

And I felt like I could, you know, bring leadership to this group and hopefully take the team to the next level. Let's talk about the player pool because leadership and culture, it's a lot, it's very important, but fans love players. We love the game and we love the talent on the field what excites you most about this canadian national team player pool i think the blend of like the experienced players that have got so many caps it's unreal you know you think about jesse fleming and her age and how many caps she's got and i think then the pathway you know i've looked at some of the 20s and 17s and that's

really exciting there's some real young talent coming through and being able to kind of blend them in with the experience I think there's some pace in the team there's some players with a little bit more freedom that can create there's some fantastic young players at the back as well you know you look at Jade Rose and she came in and worked with us in Wave last summer and I was super excited about her so and also the opportunity to work with us in Wave last summer and I was super excited about her so and also the opportunity to work with Kaylin again was a big plus you know her character and what she's about and I think she's one of the best in the world if she's put in the right circumstances so I think it was there's some some real excitement about how we can play the way we

want to play and what we can do with this team. I've heard that you had a call with the players on the weekend as the news came out. I assume Kaylin was pretty loud on that call. She does not seem like one who's pretty quiet. To be fair, she didn't say much. It was more like, obviously, because it leaked before we wanted it to. So I wanted to get on with the players as soon as possible and talk to them and just introduce myself introduce like what i was going to be doing um set the standard from the off of what we're working towards and yeah usually on a zoom call it was like tumbleweed but um i got some really you know good messages after from the players so i'm just excited to get to meet them in person get out watch them in their games before we have our first camp in february and get to work. Let's talk about your style a little because it was distinct with San Diego and it was successful. You're making

the jump now to international so less contact with the players, different setups. What's your idea about your methodology of how long it takes and how much of that style with San Diego we expect to see come into the Canadian national team? Well, I think with San Diego, it's very much the same with Manchester United. You're building from nothing. You have nothing in place. Your players, especially at San Diego, are coming from an expansion draft. So you haven't necessarily recruited all of them. And that's very similar to national team.

But I'm working with world-class players, working with players at the very top of their game. So they'll be able to take messages on very quickly they'll be able to understand tactical information and the way we want to play we want to play progressive football we want to create chances we want to score goals I think we showed that in year one and year two in San Diego we were an expansion team and we were I think within the top two top three goal scorers so we want to do the same with canada uh i'll always fit the style to the players that i've got and make sure that it's a style that we can be successful with we want to entertain because we're in an entertainment business but we want to do that with the ball you know we want to be able

to maintain possession progress the ball into the right areas and get our best players on the ball you know we want to be able to maintain possession progress the ball into the right areas and get our best players on the ball school goals i think exciting news and words to hear for a lot of canada fans trying to see the next progression of this program when we talk about style though it has to be asked the jackets canada national team feels like a good fit for you from a style on the sideline point of view yeah i won't change what I do on the sidelines. I think that's just me and that's part of my identity as a head coach. So yeah, maybe I need to invest in a red blazer now. It's a good look.

It's a good color. I think it will be exciting for a lot of people. Let's talk about what the last few months have been like for you though. As you've looked back on San Diego and sort of processed what went down, what's your feelings about what that experience was and where you sit now? Well, it took me a couple of months to be able to, if I'm honest. It was like a bit of a shock to me at first and obviously impacted my family massively.

So we had to kind of first priority sort our lives out because it was difficult for us and then once i moved forward from that anger if i'm honest um i was able to look back and learn and take the learnings from it and and actually be really proud of what i achieved like it's not easy to be an expansion team we we reached a semi-final of a playoff and finished third in our first season ever you know that's never been done before we won the league in the second year we won a cup and so I'm extremely proud of what we were able to put together as a program I felt the culture that we built was was strong really strong and the players really bought into it and the staff that existed at the time were fantastic supporting me and supporting the players.

So I can look back now and say, like, we did a good job. We did a really good job. And it taught me a lot, taught me a lot about the players, taught me a lot about the culture. And it'll only make me a better head coach moving forward. When you do this process, let's say in 15 years, let's be really positive about Canada. What do you want to think back on? What do you want people to say? Like, what do you want the MO of your Canadian women's national team to be? I want people, I want the fans to be proud. I want the fans to be really, really proud of the identity that we play, the culture that we create,

the people that we are, and the impression that we make on world football you know and everybody's trying to win a world cup we're going to try and do the same it doesn't guarantee that we're going to be able to do it but you know we're going to try and and people will see that we are really trying and we're putting everything in to try and be successful and also impact the entire canadian soccer landscape because i think if you have success at the top level, it drips down. And if we can influence the pathway, that will have an impact up as well. Speaking of that environment, that pathway, we spoke with Jesse Mars last week,

and he talked about his need to have an impact on the game just outside of the national team in Canada. How do you see your role in affecting just the sport and the sport and the women's landscape in the country outside of just coaching the team? It's one of the reasons I took the job because I am a day-to-day person. I need the day-to-day. So having an impact on the entire landscape is really important. It's about influencing the pathway in terms of the clubs, the coaching, also supporting female coaches because and and

canadian coaches because one day this job should be held by a canadian coach um and being able to support them being able to support the nsl you know and i think diana's done a fantastic job of getting that off the ground and being able to be visible there and support those clubs and and be a really open space for people to come and, and be part of the journey that we're going on. Yeah. I wanted to bring up the NSL. It's obviously a huge level of excitement with a league coming and you've talked about expansion and new projects. This is as big as it gets.

How do you see your role there and sort of what's your background already with the people involved with NSL? I think I can use my experiences. I was part of the process when the wsl kicked off in england you know i saw that that whole process start so i can use my experiences i can support the clubs i can you know support the coaches where they want it and need it um i can be visible at games which is really important and you know i think it gives another platform for players to play you know i spoke in my media yesterday about, the day before,

about young players sitting on benches. There's no need for that. This is a space where young players can come and compete and play. And also senior players. You've seen Desi Scott sign in now. So it's going to be a league where people want to play, want to come. And also it gives Canadians an opportunity to be home and play at home if they want to one of the things that comes up a lot i know when i talk to fans of the canadian national team is access to the national team more games in canada

and more games spread out across canada was that part of your conversation at all or your plans it will be moving forward that's something that you know we'll be speaking about the games program obviously we want to play and compete against the best teams because we're preparing to qualify for a World Cup and then preparing for a World Cup. So we want that, but we want to make sure that this game is spread across the country, that it's accessible to all.

And make sure that that's a unique part of the women's game is that, you know, players can relate to fans and fans can relate to players and i think we need to keep that um and nwsl you know over the last few years has had its ups and downs from a point of view of how it affects national teams i think coming out of the 23 world cup for us fans it was maybe seen as a negative and maybe that shifted a lot i'm curious your view on the spine of this canadian team is very NWSL heavy of your players now as a national team coach playing in that league and how it prepares them for the biggest stages like the World Cup. I think when I first went to coach in NWSL, one of the things I realized is it's probably the same pace as international football because it's so fast.

It is so transitional, which i tried to change a little bit but it does prepare you you know if you're a defender and you're playing in the nbso you're going to get exposed to 1v1 defending in big spaces frequently which is you know massive for you when you're preparing for the international football so i think it it only aids the players um i think the coaching is improved in the end of us all as well. So tactically players are getting better and that will only help our players in terms of the next year, two years. Nice.

One last one for you. Fans going to tune in for the first time, the Pintar Cup in Spain, your first opportunity to coach. We don't know who it's against yet. What are sort of the things you want fans to look for first like what should be the expectations in just this first camp of okay this is casey stoney's team and sort of this is her fingerprints on this group well obviously it will very much depend on who's available as well we've got players coming out of a english season

we've got players probably two and a half three weeks weeks into pre-season, the end of a sale, but I think you'll see a team that's progressive, a team that wants to play forward, that wants to get attacking players on the ball, that wants to create chances. Whilst being defensively sound underneath, I think, you know, defensive structure is there so you can attack

and we want to be a team that attacks more than they defend. So, yeah, obviously based on the players we'll have available, I think you'll start to see the style of play unfold. We haven't got a lot of time to prep. I'm not going to change too much too soon because that would be naive of me to do that. But we're going to start to embed things slowly as we go.

And we've got a year to do that. I think I saw one fan on social say it's the best day of their life when you were announced two days ago. So a lot of ago so a lot of excitement a lot of energy we appreciate you taking the time to come join us can't wait to continue watching from afar and hopefully have you on again to talk all about it thanks David appreciate it thank you really awesome to hear from Casey Stoney there thank you once again to the CSA for helping put that together but I want to dig in even more on both this historic

announcement and her appointment as well as the sport in canada and there's no one i'd rather talk about it with than someone i've known for a long time uh we have amy walsh here former canadian women's national team player herself you can hear her multiple times a week on footy prime with some of the biggest names in canadian soccer talking the sport in North America, similar to what we do here, as well as an advisor with the Montreal Roses, one of what is going to be one of the inaugural teams in NSL. Amy, did I leave anything out? No, it's quite the mouthful. That was perfect. Thanks for having me. It's great to be here. It's great to have you. I've loved talking soccer with

you. We've talked CF Montreal a ton in the past, as well as Canadian national team, both on the men's and women's side. You obviously have deep roots in that program, a long time playing for the program and even longer caring about it. And so I wanted to have you on because I wanted to ask you this question first, which was, what is the last 72 hours been like for you? What is what is the process in your experience been of now finally finding out that it will be Casey Stoney and that the Canadian women's national team is taking the next step forward? I think you have to go back to the Olympics and Paris and everything that this team was up against what they had to navigate through

how their own character and integrity was questioned with the unethical decisions made by Bev Priestman and some members of the staff, and then feeling maybe a little bit untethered, myself included, but especially that player group and that team over the course of the fall, tying the world champs in Spain. One match they were able to book in the October window and then finishing off the year emphatically with a 5-1 win against south korea um seeing new players get blooded um faces that were not really represented or valued um in the previous reign come to the fore to to score important goals um so i've been feeling kind of heartened by the decision i think it's a big name it's what the program needed but it's the person i think that the program needed and i'm just

thankful that now they can feel like they've got their bearings a little bit as they move forward um you know in a year which there's not gonna they're not gonna have a major competition um casey stoney has talked about having almost carte blanche and she feels it's like a blessing so she's able to get to know the player pool they will get to know her um you'll see who kind of expresses themselves she wants players to be playing in environments where they're getting valuable minutes so as a next member of the national team and somebody who's cared about this program for a really long time i think now you have this talent, this core group of veterans who are renowned worldwide will be shepherded by somebody I think who's in the right place in her own career. She transitions out of the club game to the international game, finds her footing. But I think in a right place to kind of take that next step, because I think that's what this program needs to do.

I think, you know, the chip on your shoulder, we don't get the respect worldwide. Well, they haven't gotten the respect worldwide because they haven't done it at a World Cup where it's traditionally more difficult to get more European teams and more top teams worldwide competing. And they've done it at the Olympics. So it's now it's time now to turn the page on that and to set their sights on on making some noise in Brazil 2027. What has been sort of the conversation in the alumni pool? Like what is, obviously you're working with many people in the NSL project as well as having on Footy Prime. So what's sort of been the buzz around the group? Well, I don't know if you noticed,

but like the Diana Matheson, not only spearheading Project 8 and then now Northern Super League and continues to be at five foot barely one chief growth officer of the league. Diana, Steph Labbe, Erin McLeod, Melissa Tancredi who's been involved. She's Dr. Melissa Tancredi. She's a chiropractor involved in coaching and in strikers. They were really important voices in an advisory committee to help Kevin Blue select Casey Stoney. So I'm sure that from Stoney's perspective, maybe some reticence coming into

the process, making the leap from club to international football, but then also everything that, I mean, let's be honest, has been a moving dumpster fire when you talk about Canada soccer and all the blows that they continue to be dealt. but you may say it's self-inflicted but new leadership with kevin blue he appoints jesse marsh as as head coach of the men's program immediately they are taken to new heights so i think the hope now is that casey stoney will do the same thing for this women's program um But the feeling amongst the alumni and those players that I mentioned and a slew of others, I think is just pride. Obviously, when you think about Carmelina Moscato and Rhian Wilkinson, who are applying

their trade outside the confines of Canada, which is a shame. They've had to go elsewhere, perhaps to get that respect or to find success I think one day it'll be time for those guys to come home and and hopefully we'll have a Canadian leading Canadians but I think right now Casey Stoney the feeling amongst alumni and amongst kind of the Canadian footballing people the small wonderful world that we live in up to the north here where it's a lovely small community is is that it's the right fit. You know, you talk about the style that she espouses, what's gotten Canada's success in the past,

that rock-solid defending, the clean sheets, the world-class goalkeeping. Where the goal is going to come from, though, continues to be the question. With Christine Sinclair retiring. But I think you have the upstarts.ine sinclair retiring um but i think you have the you have the upstarts you have the bright talent and i think you also see a shift i think in in casey stoney where you know that she's going to have an organized defense you know that she's going to want to press and hit you on a counter transitional attacks um but i think there's an evolution that's going to take place in the way that she's coaching and who she's coaching.

So again, to this year, getting to know this new emerging talent in Canada, the NSL will contribute to expanding and deepening that player pool. I just think that the promise of what Canadian soccer will look like with Casey Stoney at the helm is really, really exciting, and I think that's the feeling that that alumni like myself are feeling right now with this appointment and also quite frankly relief that these players can finally just settle you know in their respective club environments but then when they come back together at the next window um you know whatever friendlies

are booked wherever I mean it's important to get home games too in Canada, but wherever they might find themselves in order to get really important opponents is that they can kind of feel like they have their bearings and they can just worry about performance because that's been a luxury in the past. I don't think they've ever been at a point, even talking about my generation, where you just have to worry about performance.

So I really wish it for this player pool and for this Canadian women's national team a lot to be excited about and I was excited but I wanted to check in like from the inside and make sure that the excitement was valued there and I think you said it at the beginning you said the right appointment on and off the field and she has talked all week about her values her morals and how they don't change and I think that was her way of sort of saying, one, I'm different, so I don't need to answer for the problems that occurred. But like, this is me setting in stone right now from day one that stuff like that's not going to happen again, whether it's the drone stuff or what we've heard about some of the

backroom issues of like just pure culture off the field in the coaching staffs and with some of the players. I think that's really important. I think that's really important I think that's really valuable and you're talking about someone who was captain of the England national team someone who helped start a league and then helped start a club and so understands what leadership means and how to build it but when I spoke with her just now and one of the comments she made about on the field stuff that really excited me was the base defensive base is built so that you can have possession and that you can create. And I think with Canada, it felt like, OK, we are a small program.

We're a small country. How can we be competitive? We'll have this strong defensive base. We'll sit in our block. We'll be competitive. We'll stay in games. And then we'll have a Sinclair up top who can win us a match or we'll have an Ashley Lawrence who can break out. And we've seen a number of great players. What's the progression for the Canadian national team and the things Casey Stoney did

at San Diego and the things she's talking about, that feels like what the progression should be. So for me, it's really exciting that she got this job because it feels like an acknowledgement from everyone that while you're rebuilding things you're also trying to build it even higher than it's ever been yeah do you think set in stone given that her name is casey stoney that should be her trademark right probably yeah we should have that t-shirts made we we should start she's been appointed let's get the t-shirts printed it'll be our gift yeah exactly um We'll have a gas and Walsh just at the bottom, a little asterisk. No, for sure. And I think when you look at the talent and I mentioned it off the top with

players who for a long time, whether it was alumni or it was, you know, these, these rabid Canadian women's national team fans, or even the casuals, people were plugged into the fact that they were players that were cast aside. They were players that weren't given legitimate shots. And names that come to mind are the Mary Yasmin Alidous, Mimi Alidou, who is prolific scorer at Benfica. And you have even like a Chloe Lacasse, who came as a unique profile, came to the program really late

because she, again, was scoring at Benfica. Bev didn't value the Portuguese game or the league, so she wasn't given a shot until she moved to Arsenal, and then she wasn't really getting valuable minutes. And then she goes to Utah, does her ACL, so she'll be working to get back in it. But these players are emblematic. I even mentioned Olivia Smith, who's ripping it up in WSL at Liverpool.

Doesn't get named to that Paris 2024 roster. So just all of these players who aren't given like a fair shake, a fair shot, I think under Casey Stoney, and again, this year that she has now at her disposal, it allows these players to express themselves finally, kind of shackles off. Maybe the enthusiasm is ratcheted up a little bit because you want to make a good impression. But then it also allows other players to kind of come out of the woodwork. Players that have yet to be discovered who, you know, are in the image and the likeness of these players that i

just described and they're all offensive weapons so canada needs to layer on to what you just talked about like really well organized um strong defensively cohesive um and may might hit you on the break and you have like the one talisman is going to finish it for you we don't have that player anymore we have a variety of players who can do it but can we hurt you on a regular basis um and do we have a number of weapons you know me it might not be the triple espresso up top but it might be olivia smith and we have evelyn vienne playing at roma player of the year um again scoring bags of goals can she do it can she prove herself on the international level we saw her school score big goals in paris so it's i think the promise of something so can stoney unlock that and make it tangible make it kind of come to fruition on the pitch against these big opponents which is where canada has

faltered in the past whether it's at a tournament like world cup i mentioned it early on or is it just in against the likes of of the englands against the germanies against the spains can they do it on a regular against the us's you know um i i get you know and maybe not brazil because we continue to book uh friendlies against brazil kind of banging my head against the wall can we get other opponents i mean i think nations league makes it difficult but yeah like can we can we book somelies? Can we test this group and can we see what emerges? Cause again, I think I'm hopeful. Um, I think it's, uh, it's, it's, it's good for, for me, it's good for the program. It's good for the fans to be excited about something. And I think, uh, the appointment

of Casey Stonely really sort of unlocks that. There are a lot of parallels with Jesse Marsh and what his appointment meant and what he's done. And I think both those parallels, you have to give credit to John Herman for what he built on both sides and the resources he pulled into the program, which were higher than we'd ever seen before, but not enough. And I think Jesse Marsh has demanded more and expected more and was promised more. And we've seen it. And you mentioned it. I mean, even just scheduling the U.S. in friendlies on the men's side and then getting those performances

and getting the country behind the team and getting the excitement around it. It feels like direct parallels that the women's program can follow or the women's program can take advantage of as well, which I think is really exciting for fans as you take the next step forward. Casey Stoney talked a lot over the last week

about the World Cup and like everyone's going to try and win it, but it should be genuine. Is that sort of the expectation? Like, should that be the feeling that it's a two-year program right now to win the 2027 World Cup? Yeah, I think that's what you're saying. You know, Kevin Blue and everybody, the leadership of Canada Soccer with this type of appointment is that it's not just we want to make

it through to knockouts we want to come out of our group it's we can legitimately win this thing and I don't think that's brash I don't I think that this team can can completely back that up but it's about putting together a string of performances and can they kind of be ahead of the curve the way the men's team was with Jesse Marsh you know you started off real with some really difficult almost a trial by fire against the likes of the Netherlands and and France and um important and challenging opponents where you you expected them to falter you expected to see the growing pains and in a way that you you did but they but they surprised so I don't know if you see a similar thing with,

with Casey Stoney, but she talked about conversations with, with Jesse Marsh about, about growing the game and her enthusiasm for, for understanding the grassroots program about what NSL is going to lend to her job and her experience and getting to know the, the other coaches of the you know the six franchises across nsl i think she talked about being impressed already with those nominees with this with the footballing minds that are kind of at the helm there um and that and the buzz in this country so that like 2026 even like canada being a co-host that can't be singular like it really does have to be um a movement not just a moment and that think is, is something that the women's game and NSL has kind of taken on

and really this, this wave of, of support and kind of the enthusiasm around the women's game, whether we're talking about WNBA or we're talking about NWSL and how it's exploded or the PWHL and the hockey, like, like what women's sport is doing. I think NSL will absolutely capitalize on that. But yeah, in terms of what Casey Stoney is going to do for this program, I think the future is bright. But yeah, they're going to have to put together the results when it matters. But they're absolutely capable. I mean, we have to remember 2024, they were undefeated in normal time.

I mean, yeah, they didn't get past uh and katrin burger um who is unbelievable in in penalties they kind of just ran out of gas which can be expected because they were must have been so mentally uh this is pun fully intended gassed david gas um after what what they were thrown at or what was thrown at them in in uh in the paris olympics um so there's a lot to a lot to build on it is uh we i don't want to dig into it because it's past but it is ridiculous that the team was docked six points and got out of the group and like i we talked about it at the time we were doing an olympic show here with casey white who um had played with the u.s and and we had all these conversations and it's just like it almost happened in a way in which it was like

you forgot about the points being docked, and it just occurred. And there was just so much else going on around it that it was hard to celebrate it, I think, from a soccer point of view, because there was just so much unknown. We didn't know how deep the drone scandal was. We didn't know who was involved. You didn't know what was going on. But it's absolutely absurd that the team in a three game group stage setup with six

points docked which means you're basically negative two games they were able to get out of the group um i want to talk nsl though yeah because you're rolling in your connection to it and i think it's key to a quote that i spoke with jesse marsh last week at the MLS Media Marketing Tour and then Casey Stoney today. And they both said separately that their hope is a Canadian one day is there. Then Jesse Marsh said that he told the CSA, you should hire the Canadian Jesse Marsh. It doesn't exist yet, but he believes that it should be a Canadian. And Casey Stoney said the same, like, I hope in the future. And NSL is a huge part of that to have the structure to have and I talked about this all the time on the show, soccer jobs, not just players, but athletic trainers, and people that work in media and people that work in ticket sales and coaching to have more people around the game all the time. Tell us a little bit about the project

because you're so close to it. And so connected to what Diana Matheson is building and what this league is going to look like in year one yeah it's really exciting I don't know if you saw that Desiree Scott the destroyer herself signed with Ottawa Rapid FC so as an advisor for the Montreal Roses I wish that she would have come to Montreal she's from Winnipeg just come a little bit further east Desi but I think it's just going to be good for the league like yes there's going to be that the the rivalries there's going to be that competition um every team is going to want to be that inaugural uh winner um at the end of this of this first season but i think signings like

the desiree scotts signings like aaron mcleod for the halifax tides the they're going to be the touchstones for to link the the casual football fan theides, they're going to be the touchstones to link the casual football fan, the women's national team fan, to link them with this league and what it means in these individual markets. But you're going to go and you're going to mine a different kind of fan. And the loyalty that you see with women's sports fans is unlike the loyalty in the traditional male sports. So it's going to be exciting to me to look out into the crowd look out into these stadiums and to see what a typical nsl fan looks like but it's going to be inclusive it's going to be about connection it's going to be about storytelling but it's going to be about that can we swear on this show you can do whatever

you want it's going to be with the fucking great talent on the pitch as well so and i think there's going to be a range of talent at the beginning you know the the unknowns the youthful upstarts the the the veterans and the well-known players like the ones that i already mentioned but vancouver rise who's pulling players from nwsl and seattle rain um so i think unexpected for a lot of people where they thought okay what what is the makeup of these rosters going to look like um year one and year two and i think the challenge initially for the sporting directors and the people involved at the clubs is is kind of extracting players from existing contracts overseas um where you want to go see them i I talked about Carmelina, Moscato and Rene Wilkinson going elsewhere,

where you have to outsource our Canadian talent. And that's what many of our players have been forced to do because there's been no domestic league. So you don't want to pull those guys back. You want to see them have success. But at the same time, there's something so powerful about a player who can maybe go to the NCAA or play youth sports, play Canadian University and remain here and play professionally in their own backyard. So I think you're going to see players start to arrive, kind of be parachuted in from other leagues once they see what's happening and like the word of mouth the kind of product and what it's going

to do is not only going to unearth fans and bring people to the experience and what like the the game experience is going to be in nsl and how it's going to be unique to every market and it's going to express the players on the pitch but also the communities but who it's going to you know what whose interest is it going to peak kind of worldwide in the more established leagues worldwide and your point about the about the ecosystem like i am i am proof that um you know jobs are created and yes i covered cf montreal um yes i cover the the women's national team the men's national team but but now i'm an advisor with the roses but I can I can be a voice for this league and it's going to create more media jobs for more women more leaders more visible strong women in leadership roles whether that's executives or referees or an administration or an ops like it's

that is what I'm most excited about is that yeah of course the on pitch of course because that didn't exist um in in the twilight of my career I played in the WSA off the back of the U.S. winning in 99 and packing the Rose Bowl um and and all of that and I got to benefit from that but it was short-lived and then I played different iterations of of W League and semi-pro leagues. I had to retire because I chose to have my son in 2010 want to come back to the game, and they didn't have the support or the resources to do that. So now you have a league that has high standards, is going to protect mothers, going to protect their athletes, going to protect their players, to do so in in in an environment where they can thrive and where you can create that pathway where you can retire and stay in the game if you want to

that option exists for you that opportunity exists so that it's not going to be enough for this league to just exist it's going to have to evolve it's going to have to grow and that means in in in the eyeballs on it in the broadcast deals and the rights and the sponsorships um but but also in everything that it that it's uh that it means on the pitch for for the talent and that can we compete i think we can be top five um probably within five years i really feel strongly about that that was going to be my question by the way i love how canadian it was that you asked swear, but then still had the same effect and strength when you finally did it. Yes.

That was going to be my question, which is in five years, would you like to look at the league and say, one of the things we see CPL wise is like, there's a hard cap on, you have to play young Canadian players X amount of minutes. Is that more important or is it more important to look at it? And I've already looked at some of the signings and you look at players coming from the French league and it more important to look at it? And I've already looked at some of the signings and you look at players coming from the French league and coming from Germany to look at it and say, it's this top five league in the world, or it's the best league in

the world. What's maybe most important in terms of having that guiding light as you build it? Yeah, I think there's going to be developmental contracts and again, making that pathway and that pipeline, making that clear so that players feel like they have a viable option at home to do it and they're going to be given a fair chance and a fair opportunity to do so. But then also with seven international players, you kind of have that kind of existing standard of play that you can, and maybe token names that are more well-known that can give you that credibility, that can give you that heft,

that can give you that draw and make a big splash with a big name in a market. And so you can balance that. I don't know if you need to push one over the other at the expense of the other. I think you can do both. But I mean, talking like, you know, just in the development of the league and Diana bringing me on and working with Rian Wilkinson,

who is now at the helm for Wales and historically brought them, they're going to be at the Euros this summer, their first major tournament. Rian was kind of head of football for NSL, or Project 8 before it was given the NSL name and working on like competitions manual and like what we wanted to push. And like early on, I thought it was really important that we did have that development arc or that development kind of bias because it's a league for Canadians by Canadians. But again, I think you can do both. I don't think you have to choose one over the other. I think it's really important to make sure that, um, you know, if you're not a Jordan Heidema and

you're signing directly at a high school to PSG, um, or an Olivia Smith who did it going from, it was meant to go down to the NCAA, but she signed at sporting instead. Um instead those are going to be your outliers but I think we can really make a or establish a pathway to pro for your elite Canadian player and I think it's really important that that is is the focus of the league but then you also have kind of the other angle which is maybe a big name player in twilight of the career or bringing home canadian women's national team players that everybody knows and then they're able to have a place where they can play at maybe a slightly lower level than where they were competing whether it's wsl or nwsl or any other league worldwide but as i said i think it's important that you push both so that the overall standard

of play is still there but you you're still developing the Canadian player. I cannot wait for next year, CONCACAF competition between NWSL and NSL and League MX Feminal and what they've built. I can say from my little experience, seeing huge nights in Halifax, seeing big nights out in Vancouver. And of course,

Montreal, the soccer culture that's there, like those are special atmospheres those are special environments and we saw when christine sinclair was celebrated out in halifax like the vibe the energy i cannot imagine if you bring uh portland thorns or club america into that atmosphere as well like it's going to be pretty cool it's going to be pretty special uh and we're going to continue to cover it here on a soccer wise but amy appreciate you taking the time to join us uh you can listen to her uh all the time if you want on footy prime

and hopefully coming back on this show more often and uh congrats because it's a very big week and i think you sort of gave voice to a lot of what i was thinking which is there should be a lot of excitement for canadian women's national team fans yep We're buzzing up here north of the border. Gotta stay warm somehow. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, we vibrate. That's how we keep warm below zero. Yeah.

It's a good time to do it. Thanks again. Yeah, thank you. Well, thank you once again to Amy. And thank you most of all to CSA and to Casey Stoney for taking the time to talk to us. I think a lot of really interesting tidbits inside of the interview with Casey. I think her comments about her time in San Diego and the way it ended were fascinating. I think she used the term anger in leaving

and her processing everything that went down. And I think that's similar to what a lot of fans feel and a lot of us felt on the outside, the confusion about what went down. But it feels like, as me and Amy mentioned, it is the right person at the right time in the right role for Canada. And the potential for this Canadian women's national team program to be one that when they step on the field, they dictate terms. And they dictate performances. And they can dominate against teams or force teams to be

uncomfortable, which is something we've really never seen, even in 2015, hosting that World Cup and the success they had under John Herman and even at the 2020 Olympics, of course, in 2021, in which they won a gold medal, but did so really through defensive play and penalty kick shootouts. The talent is there. Amy did keep mentioning that center forward position, of course. Christine Sinclair retiring. There are question marks there. But I think if you have the right cohesive system that pieces can feel,

that players can feel confident in, that they can feel like they are a piece and a part of something bigger, I think that's where goal scoring becomes easier. I think that's where confidence comes for finishers. And there is so much potential, both for the Canadian women's national team, as well as for NSL and what the sport can be in Canada. It's only six teams to start. But the idea that you could have six strong built with the proper training setups, the proper training facility support, that is a huge selling point. When you go out and you talk to players around the world, as Amy talked about with the big international spots that you could bring in to boost the league. And then what a huge opportunity

to put Canadian players in training every single day with world elite players, with international experienced players, with high level professionals. There is no quicker way to catch up or accelerate a player and a development path than that injection of talent and experience that all of these players, as well as these soccer people will be around. We talked about coaches. We talked about all the opportunities, all the jobs that this will create. The hope is that you can start to solidify and build a Canadian soccer culture on its own that can stand strong against the rest of the world.

And I think that the potential is there. I think the moves are being made. I think the correct moves are being made. You heard Kevin Blue mentioned a number of times the new director of Canadian soccer who was able to go out and get outside funding from the MLS teams to put together a contract for Jesse Marsh and has done so once again with Casey Stoney. He mentioned philanthropic avenues, maybe private families that have donated themselves money to be able to build that program up. And that then trickles into everything, which is the ability to schedule more camps to schedule a January camp or a futures

camp, like we see with the US Women's National Team to schedule better opponents to bring opponents to Canada and pay them to come play you and pay for their travel, which is what often happens rather than having to go travel yourself, just for the opportunity to get games or not having games at all. So a lot to follow with the Canadian game. I'm really glad we did this episode. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. If you enjoy talking Canada soccer and you haven't already subscribed to our Patreon, do so,

because inside our Discord, we have a Canada-only channel. If you enjoy talking women's soccer and you haven't subscribed to our Patreon, do so. Because inside our Discord, we have a Canada-only channel. If you enjoy talking women's soccer and you haven't subscribed to our Patreon, do so. Because we have an NWSL channel in there as well where we're talking all things women's soccer. If you enjoy talking soccer in general or talking to other nice, friendly, cool people who like soccer, subscribe to our Patreon.

Get access to our Discord. You get access to our depth charts as well and some other stuff that we're going to be developing as this year goes along. So I hope you all enjoyed this episode. Thank you once again to our two guests. And we'll talk to you all again very, very soon. you