Mariam Kourabi, Guest Contributor

Having made history on the pitch as a two-time Olympic bronze medalist and one of Canada’s most recognizable soccer players during an international career that spanned from 2003 til 2020, Diana Matheson co-founded the Northern Super League to fill the void in Canadian soccer. Her motivation was to create new opportunities for Canadian players to write their own professional stories at home in Canada’s first-ever professional women’s league.

Born and raised in Oakville, Ontario, Matheson graced the game as one of the best midfielders during her time on the international stage and across clubs in Norway and the United States. With two decades of memories with Les Rouges, Matheson played an unforgettable role, scoring the winning goal to help Canada win the bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics. Now, she’s created a league to create more professional Canadian soccer stories.

The midfielder went on to represent her nation in multiple FIFA Women's World Cup tournaments and at the 2016 Rio Olympics, where Canada won another bronze medal. However, since first playing college soccer at Princeton University in 2004, Matheson built her entire career abroad because there was no option of playing professional soccer at home. With aspirations to change the game for future Canadian women’s players, the Northern Super League started to become a reality. 

“I wanted a job in Canada. We as soccer players spend our whole careers abroad. We leave university, and then we go play abroad after that, and essentially don't come back until retirement,” says Matheson. “For me and my generation of players, a lot of us chose to stay in sport because there were actually opportunities for us.

“A lot of my peer group left again to go coach internationally and go coach professionally abroad so everyone was leaving the country again. Part of the goal with the NSL is so former players still involved in the game don't have to move again.” 

Like in many other professional industries where the best Canadians leave for opportunities elsewhere, Matheson knows that keeping some of Canada’s most talented soccer players and minds in Canada will have tremendous benefits.

“I get to bring with me the lived experience of being in women's high-performance sports for the better parts of two decades, and seeing what that looked like internationally across the USA and Europe.”. 

Known for her vision on the field and leadership qualities Matheson continued to mould her toolbox off the pitch. The Canada Soccer Hall of Famer earned her MBA from The Smith School of Business at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario during the COVID-19 pandemic. If not for that decision, the NSL might still be just an idea.

“I got to learn what was going on in the women’s sports market internationally and in Canada for 18 months. Timing is everything, and it was so clear that there was a huge opportunity right now to build a professional women’s soccer league in Canada,” says Matheson. 

“The blinking light was three years ago, because beforehand we did not have the data that we needed. In three to five years' time, we would have missed the opportunity where the whole market’s got too big where we can't even get in and compete. The opportunity in Canada to build a league for women by women was now, and I couldn’t not do it.”

Matheson has widened her knowledge by joining different sports organisations that impact and shape player experiences in soccer. She spent four years as an Athlete Commission member with the Canadian Olympic Committee before becoming a part of FIFPRO’s Global Player Council in 2020, and was also one of the founders of the Canadian Women's National Soccer Team Players' Association, which had to fight for recognition when it launched in 2016.

“A lot of players from my generation lived at a time where women's professional sports were being run in a way that didn't believe in women's professional sports, and it was a really tough culture and market to operate in. That learning and experience certainly shaped what I'm doing now with the NSL,” says Matheson. “We got to learn from so much of the good and the bad that's been in sport, and now we try to bring the good things in sport. We try to build systems and processes that keep out some of the challenges, keeping in mind what we know the vision and potential of the league can be and making sure we're always making decisions that are in line with that.” 

With the appointment of Christina Litz as the first-ever Northern Super League president at the start of July, Matheson transitioned into her new role as NSL Chief Growth Officer and primary spokesperson and ambassador at the start of July. This new position enables Matheson to focus on her passion for growing women’s soccer in Canada, where she will focus on developing further League opportunities and valued connections with fans, partners and investors. 

“I’ll continue doing a lot of the communication and PR work for the league, which includes a lot of public-facing work and basically going wherever I’m needed. I moved into conversations where clubs are still raising capital, depending what their plans are. We're beginning to look at expansion club conversations as well.”

The initial hope for the league was to launch with eight clubs. With six clubs spanning from Vancouver to Halifax in year one, there’s still pockets for the NSL to quickly establish itself in new markets..

 “Adding Christina to the mix as president has made such an impact and was a huge milestone for us with the league. Christina has started to build out the rest of the team really quickly, and it's been incredible to have such experienced and passionate people join the league. The growth in such a short time has been amazing.” 

Litz spent five successful years with the Canadian Football League (CFL), serving as chief marketing, digital and strategy officer, VP of marketing and content as well as VP of broadcast and assets. 

Matheson and her team continue their hard work as the NSL prepares to kick off in April of 2025. With day one quickly approaching  Matheson recognizes the importance of taking the time to  step back and celebrate the achievements amidst the chaos of building a new league.  

“That opening day with all those folks in the stands and whoever’s on the field, sidelines, in whatever market it is going to be, is what I think about the most. I want to try and go to every opening game so hopefully I can replicate this feeling six times and enjoy them. 

“The three things I would tell 10-year-old Diana is, one: get a better haircut. Two; eventually they will make jerseys that fit you. And lastly,  if there's something you want to do and you feel like you're the right person for the job, go do it. There are a lot of stats out there that women don't always do that, but if not you, then who, if not now, than when?”

For Canadian women’s soccer, the time is most certainly now.