As Halifax prepares for April kickoff, city embracing 1st pro women's sports team

Inside a Halifax edifice ballroom connected a acold nighttime successful aboriginal February, kids and adults lined up for a accidental to instrumentality a representation with a shark.

As the Northern Super League (NSL) prepares to statesman its inaugural play this spring, Halifax Tides FC welcomed its season-ticket holders to the edifice to conscionable their caller team.

In summation to gathering Jawslyn, the fabulous teal scarf-wearing shark who is the Tides' mascot, anyone could onslaught up a speech with squad absorption oregon a player. Many kids brought their shot balls to get signed by the team.

The Tides haven't played a crippled yet — that volition travel connected April 26, erstwhile the squad hosts Calgary Wild FC astatine the Wanderers Grounds successful downtown Halifax — but from the fashionable mascot to the team's teal merchandise, the Tides already person a beingness successful this eastbound seashore city. 

Halifax is location to men's soccer, lacrosse, hoops and large inferior hockey teams. But the Maritime provinces person ne'er had a women's nonrecreational sports team. The Tides volition beryllium the first, and the fans astatine the archetypal squad lawsuit were anxious to amusement their support.

For some, it was thing they've waited decades to see.

When Meredith Higgins played shot increasing up, playing professionally seemed acold extracurricular the realm of possibility.

As an adult, the season-ticket holder is excited to ticker her favourite player, Erin McLeod, who is simply a keeper conscionable similar Higgins. It's adjacent much important, she said, for young girls to spot what is possible.

"It's demonstrating implicit and implicit again that determination is simply a marketplace for us," Higgins said astir the fans successful Halifax. "We supported the Mooseheads [QMJHL team] for specified a agelong clip and the players that person travel done and the satellite juniors that person travel through. I think it's yet clip for the women to shine."

Other season-ticket holders, similar Katie Malone, are caller to the sport. When the NSL was announced, she instantly hoped Halifax would person a team. When the squad was confirmed, Malone became a shot fan.

"I bask going to immoderate unrecorded sporting crippled and if women are playing, I'm adjacent much excited astir it," Malone said.

Moving crossed the Atlantic

The NSL has teams from coast-to-coast, from the Tides successful the eastbound to Vancouver Rise FC successful the west. In the mediate is Montreal Roses FC, Ottawa Rapid FC, AFC Toronto and Calgary Wild FC.

The Tides were calved past June, erstwhile the sanction and logo were officially unveiled. The vessel is steered by nine CEO and co-founder, Courtney Sherlock, and president, Val Malone.

But for many, the infinitesimal the Tides truly started to instrumentality signifier was successful the fall, erstwhile the squad announced McLeod arsenic its archetypal subordinate signing. The erstwhile Canadian nationalist squad goalkeeper, who owns Olympic golden and bronze medals, had astir precocious played professionally successful Iceland.

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She started past play successful Iceland thinking she'd beryllium doing much coaching than playing, but recovered herself backmost successful extremity erstwhile the team's 2 keepers went to assemblage successful the United States.

Her sister's household visited her and McLeod loved having the accidental to play successful beforehand of the kids. Now, she's enactment status connected the backmost burner to play person to home. Her sister, brother-in-law and 3 kids each unrecorded successful the Halifax area.

The determination crossed the Atlantic wasn't conscionable meaningful for McLeod. Her wife, Icelandic midfielder Gunnhildur "Gunny" Yrsa Jónsdóttir, besides has ties successful Halifax. Her precocious aunt, Gunn Baldursson, was a talented shot subordinate and pupil astatine Acadia University erstwhile she died successful a car mishap successful 1987.

Baldursson's bequest is inactive felt successful the assemblage astir 4 decades later, including done an yearly shot tourney called the Gunn Baldursson Memorial Tournament.

Jónsdóttir has besides signed to play with the Tides this season, lone a fewer months aft giving commencement to their son.

Putting a puzzle together

A fewer days into grooming camp, and the time aft the season-ticket holder event, euphony blasted from the team's grooming installation arsenic players tackled aesculapian and fittingness testing. McLeod and Jónsdóttir's lad joined them, taking shifts with each of his parents.

At 1 point, Jónsdóttir pushed a babe stroller, jogged laps astir the turf and recorded a dependable enactment astatine the aforesaid time.

McLeod, who said Jónsdóttir crushed her successful fittingness testing, has been inspired by her wife's instrumentality to play.

"Secretly, my bosom was hoping that she would determine to play, but I ne'er wanted to enactment immoderate unit connected her and I'll enactment her nary substance what," McLeod said.

"I cognize it's cheesy to say, but she's a Viking successful each consciousness of the word. And she's my champion friend. She's been truthful supportive to me. This was precise overmuch a household determination and I'm conscionable arrogant to ticker her travel back."

McLeod expects Jónsdóttir to travel backmost stronger, but with much intent than ever before. Becoming parents has redefined what emotion is for some of them.

Elsewhere connected the field, caput manager Lewis Page was successful the process of getting to cognize his players. After talking to each of them implicit zoom, Page was capable to commencement to spot his roster travel to life.

A longtime manager with the University of Prince Edward Island, the Tides occupation has brought Page person to home. He spent overmuch of his younker successful Chester connected Nova Scotia's southbound shore.

His occupation with the Tides officially started successful November astatine the extremity of the assemblage shot season. But a batch of enactment went connected earlier that alongside sporting manager Amit Batra and the remainder of the nine to commencement gathering a squad from the crushed up.

"We've spent each autumn and November, December truly gathering the subordinate exemplary that we wanted, the playing benignant that we wanted, and past uncovering the players to acceptable those pieces," Page said. "And past spending clip trying to physique the operation astir the team, truthful each the sports subject enactment and the relationships with facilities and each that. 

"It's not similar walking into a assemblage situation wherever everything, from that standpoint, is already there. We had to enactment each those pieces together."

A motion of ambition

Another cardinal portion came unneurotic successful January erstwhile the squad announced it was bringing successful New Zealand guardant Milly Clegg connected indebtedness from the NWSL's Racing Louisville FC.

The quality merchandise from the nine connected Clegg's signing promised her "pace, powerfulness and skill" would thrill fans.

It was besides a motion of the nine and league's ambition.

"We're going aft the apical players and she's 1 of the apical young players successful the satellite close now," Page said.

The Tides volition besides diagnostic section Nova Scotia endowment including Sarah Taylor (Bridgewater), Saorla Miller (Halifax) and Syd Kennedy (Fletchers Lake).

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"We would person signed them if they weren't Nova Scotians due to the fact that they're prime players," Page said. "I deliberation the added bonus is that they are section players that grew up here, that radical cognize and retrieve arsenic young players and tin usage arsenic an illustration to different young players present to say, look, these players came done our system. They developed present from Nova Scotia."

For Kennedy, who volition observe her 24th day connected Sunday, the extremity was ever to travel location aft finishing her collegiate vocation astatine the University of Florida.

As soon arsenic she heard astir the Tides, she knew she had to find a mode to beryllium portion of it. It was her passion, competitiveness and enthusiasm that stood retired for the team, Page said.

"I privation to people goals," Kennedy said. "I privation to make goals and I'm going to enactment my butt off. I don't privation anyone to outwork me."

'The vigor is building'

Behind the scenes, sporting operations manager Tom Hall has helped marque things travel to life. 

That includes helping players get to Halifax and find a spot to unrecorded and assisting planetary players with enactment permits, but besides doing things similar moving with a nutritionist to marque definite players are fed what they request to perform.

Hall grew up playing shot successful Dartmouth, N.S., earlier focusing connected sprint canoe, wherever helium earned medals astatine the Canada Games and Pan American Games and competed successful 4 satellite championships.

Before joining the Tides, helium managed operations for canoe sprint and Para canoe astatine the 2024 Olympics successful Paris. Now, helium gets to physique thing caller wherever helium grew up.

"It's truthful exciting," Hall said. "I deliberation we person an accidental to physique a squad successful the representation of Halifax and and physique it astir the assemblage that's here. The vigor is gathering each day."