TORONTO — Stephanie Labbe remembers arriving at a new club abroad and having to start from the ground up in building a home.
"So many times when I was an athlete and I was playing in Sweden or in the U.S. or France, you're showing up to this apartment that doesn't really feel like home," said the former Canadian international goalkeeper who is now sporting director of the Northern Super League's Vancouver Rise. "It feels like you're living in someone else's space."
Canadian Tire is giving players in the new NSL a helping hand on that score.
With a multi-year, multimillion-dollar partnership announced Wednesday, the company will support players as they settle into their new environments with "funding and resources."
The Home Field Advantage program will also help the NSL's six clubs "optimize facilities as they prepare for the season ahead."
Canadian Tire was one of the first corporations to jump on board when former Canadian international Diana Matheson and business partner Thomas Gilbert announced Project 8, the precursor to the new league that is set to kick off in April.
The new sponsorship deal was announced at an NSL panel discussion Wednesday, part of a Sports Marketing Canada Council event. It will also see Canadian Tire displayed at stadiums and on broadcasts with the company's red triangle logo displayed on the left sleeve of every club jersey.
The panel featured Labbe, Helena Ruken (AFC Toronto), Isabele Chevalier (Montreal Roses), Gilbert (Ottawa Rapid), Courtney Sherlock (Halifax Tide) and Deanna Zumwalt (Calgary Wild) with Canadian Tire's Ashley Curran, Canadian Tire's associate vice-president, community Impact and sport partnerships, serving as moderator.
"I would say everybody that's involved really believes this is about elevating a generation of female leaders on and off the pitch," Zumwalt told the audience. "We know that one per cent may go on to play pro soccer but that other 99 per cent, if we can draw them into sport, keep them involved in sport, they go on to incredible things. We know that."
For Labbe, the NSL will also offer Canadian players a chance to build their own brand at home. In the past, the women had to leave Canada to find a pro team, thus missing out on domestic sponsorship deals.
"One of the hardest things I had as an athlete was to really try to build those partnerships," she said in an interview. "It's one thing to be here once a year do a photo shoot and 'Hurray this is awesome.' But to actually build something over time and have brands be able to actually access these athletes consistently, as well as for these athletes to build that relationship and connection to community, it's a fantastic experience for them. And they are so excited for that opportunity"
And Labbe suggested that Canada could actually benefit from being one of the last of the women's elite soccer powers to create a domestic league, having learned from others.
"We get to start in a much better place and build a much better foundation so that we can grow and catch up to them in a much faster way," she told the audience. "And hopefully avoid a lot of the mistakes that they made over the years."
The NSL and team officials were in town for two days of separate meetings, marking the first the that club owners, presidents and sporting directors have come together in advance of the six-team circuit's startup.
The agenda includes finalizing league competition rules, prioritizing safe-sport initiatives and reviewing the league’s 2025 business plan.
The closed meetings will include an address by Kevin Blue, Canada Soccer's chief executive officer and general secretary, as well as a visit to FIFA's 2026 World Cup office in Toronto on Thursday to get an update on tournament plans.
Wednesday's panel came 132 days before the league's kickoff, said NSL president Christina Litz.
The meetings include Portugal's Jose Maria Celestino da Costa, the NSL's head of soccer operations who landed in Canada this week. He arrives from Estoril Praia, a men's top-tier club in Portugal, and the Portuguese Soccer Federation, helping establish the women's league there.
New board chair Mark Cohon, who served as CFL commissioner from 2007 to January 2015, is also on hand.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 4, 2024
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
