NSL's Calgary Wild look to build on old communities and create new ones for women's soccer

Shireen Ahmed · CBC Sports

· Posted: Feb 24, 2025 8:05 AM EST | Last Updated: February 24

Canada is simply a shot nation. More specifically, Canada is simply a women's shot nation. As the debut of the Northern Super League draws near, we are getting an accidental to research antithetic regions and antithetic cultures of women's shot wrong Canada.

AFC Toronto is firmly planting itself as a prestigious nine successful the biggest metropolis wherever the existing marketplace is the largest; Halifax Tides person arguably the champion mascot, Jawslyn, who has already generated online buzz. 

One of Canada's beloved cities that screams stampede but not needfully women's shot is Calgary. The Calgary Wild is 1 of the six inaugural teams that volition statesman play successful April. I went to Calgary to find retired however the Wild are gathering up a civilization of women's sports. At the precise instauration is construction. They brought successful a leader, nine president Lara Murphy, from the operation manufacture to physique it. 

In Phil and Sebastian Coffee Roasters, a section java company, I sat with caput manager Lydia Bedford (first pistillate to manager successful the English Premier League), Murphy, and Chris Dornan, the caput of the team's media and communications department. 

WATCH | Calgary Wild cogwheel up for inaugural season:

Over level whites and a batch of Maritimes banter — Murphy is primitively from New Brunswick — we talked astir however they volition capable the stands of McMahon Stadium (home of the CFL Stampeders), however they are assembling a team, and what their hopes are. 

"Calgary is the 3rd astir divers metropolis successful Canada," Murphy said. "And [we tin usage this] successful a mode successful which we tin make a consciousness of belonging. That's each immoderate of america want. Whether we're high-performance athletes, we're penning stories, we're starring a team, we're selling tickets, immoderate the lawsuit is, we jwant that consciousness of belonging and and it's inspiring." 

Construction of a civilization relies heavy connected connections and understanding. Beford, who grew up successful Guilford, England, admits the Canadian shot scenery is caller for her. 

"I inactive deliberation I've got a batch to learn," Bedford said. "But I think that comes with clip and gathering radical and listening. A batch of listening that I'm going to beryllium doing implicit the adjacent fewer weeks; to the players that are section and the radical that I conscionable trying to portion unneurotic what it each means."

There are immoderate moments for Bedford wherever determination is simply a blessed coincidence. Guilford has a hockey squad and they are called the Guilford Flames. In a erstwhile interrogation with CBC Sports, Bedford was asked if she was looking guardant to going to spot the Calgary Flames.

"And I was like, bent on! What's the Calgary squad called? Is it like, Flames? Destiny," Bedford said with a smile.

WATCH | Bedford makes history: 

The squad has signed section players, including a brace of 17-year aged twins, but their archetypal signing was Farkhunda Muhtaj, a seasoned subordinate who has a heavy past of advocacy enactment successful sports. 

That operation of section and planetary endowment whitethorn beryllium the winning look for a metropolis similar Calgary that boasts galore palmy athletes, though mostly successful wintertime sports. 

The powerfulness of relatability and familiarity successful sports shouldn't beryllium underestimated and tin beryllium important erstwhile you're gathering — thing that Bedford thinks she is drawn to. Coming from an acquisition background, her archetypal full-time coaching occupation was arsenic an planetary younker coach. Beyond lineups, Bedford is reasoning astir semipermanent maturation of the team. 

"One of the things I accidental to [the players] consistently is everything astir what we bash has large intentions down it," Bedford said. "You're coming to a nine wherever we program to effort and look aft you and bash things the close way, but astatine the aforesaid time, you're coming to a startup. So there's going to beryllium an constituent wherever it isn't going to beryllium perfect, but the intentions down however we'll interact with you and what we'll enactment successful spot volition beryllium arsenic bully arsenic we tin marque them." 

Ensuring that the Wild players are meshing good with the squad arsenic a whole, and their identities and personalities link is indispensable to the signifier of belonging. Bedford has studied New Zealand manager Owen Eastwood's enactment from Māori contented that focuses connected belonging. It is rooted successful a consciousness of communal acceptance and belonging based connected genealogy. But this rule tin beryllium applied to sports teams and immoderate high-achieving radical of people. It's besides astir connecting arsenic a community, thing that the enactment squad astatine the Wild seems to person arsenic a practice. 

Building connected aged communities and creating caller ones for women's shot is precisely however the squad is readying to physique up its ain protagonist base. 

"The multicultural constituent of Calgary is going to beryllium huge," Dornan said. "Calgary is simply a large metropolis with a tiny metropolis mentality that's built connected community. And I deliberation astatine the halfway of each of this is people."

Dornan said the team's announcements astir its players person focused connected their stories. 

"They're quality involvement stories," helium said. "So it's each astir people's stories, and that's what's going to link with the community."

Although Calgary has a tiny municipality feel, it doesn't mean it isn't looking for winning and fierce contention with the different teams successful the NSL. 

Murphy asserts that the league has beardown leaders and though determination is competition, determination is besides enactment among the antithetic teams arsenic they build. She says that the league, and league president Christina Litz, person acceptable a code of collaboration successful which teams tin stock accusation astir sponsorship, ticketing, website traffic, and investments.

Murphy and Dornan judge that Calgarians volition clasp a caller women's shot team, that the assemblage volition privation to spot section players who person caller opportunities. Calgary has a robust country of assemblage and assemblage women's teams and besides a competitory League 1 women's league. But arsenic successful the lawsuit of different cities crossed Canada, having a nonrecreational women's squad volition bring it to the adjacent level. 

But the value of gathering thing up nationally and each squad having their ain portion to play successful that greater ecosystem is an important portion of sports past successful Canada.

As the country's epicentre for wintertime sports development, Calgary could precise good besides beryllium fuelling immoderate of the champion women's shot successful Canada.