Diana Matheson, EMBA ’23, spent nearly two decades building Canadian soccer’s legacy on the field—now, she’s reshaping its future from the sidelines.
After retiring from professional soccer in 2021, Matheson set out to fill what she saw as a glaring gap in Canadian sports: the lack of a professional women’s soccer league. With 206 appearances as a mainstay on the Canadian national women’s soccer team, two bronze medals at the Olympic Games, and a club career spanning three countries, she saw something missing at home. Now, she’s working to build the country’s first domestic league, aiming to provide Canadian players with the opportunities she never had.
Inspired by the gap in Canada’s soccer landscape, Matheson co-founded Project 8 alongside Thomas Gilbert, EMBA ’23. Project 8 produced the Northern Super League (NSL)—the first professional league for female soccer players in Canada. The league launched in April with teams in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Halifax, and Calgary.
According to the NSL, the league aims to create a homegrown pathway for the next generation of Canadian players while growing the sport at the grassroots level. As president of the NSL, Matheson is at the forefront of a project that could redefine the future of soccer in Canada.
Between retiring and founding Canada’s only professional women’s soccer league, Matheson turned to Queen’s to gain the skills to become a trailblazer. Through a partnership between the Smith School of Business and the Canadian Olympic Committee called “Game Plan,” she took part in the 18-month Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) program. The program introduced Matheson to Project 8 co-founder Gilbert, who has since taken charge of the NSL’s Ottawa Rapids FC.
The two battled through adversity to make the league a reality. “It was a lot of long days and long months. Lots of uncertainty, and weight on our shoulders, and a lot of rejection,” Matheson said in an interview with The Journal. In the end, the pair assembled the required support en route to the league’s highly successful debut.
“It was truly everything I was hoping it would be,” Matheson said. She praised the extensive fan support the league had in its first year, highlighted when 14,000 fans attended Vancouver’s inaugural match. Matheson and her staff were happy, but not surprised by the appetite for women’s soccer in Canada.
She pointed to Canada’s women’s soccer player pool, which she says is the third largest in the world. Additionally, she explained that Canada’s top-tier women’s national team consistently drew significant Canadian viewership at the Summer Olympics.
“We had all this data already to show Canada is a world-class women’s soccer market and women’s sport market,” Matheson said. “We just hadn’t tried [to build a league] yet. The people are there, and we just have to get this in front of them, and the market will show up.”
By founding the NSL, Matheson opened the door for U Sports stars to continue their careers at home. Gaels standouts Kirstin Tynan, ArtSci ’24, and Christie Gray, Comm ’22, have both returned from brief spells abroad to play domestically in Vancouver and Calgary, respectively.
Growing up, Matheson remembers watching women play soccer at the FIFA Women’s World Cup every four years, but she had no indication that she could build a career in the sport. “Now, that is fundamentally different,” Matheson said, referring to the women’s soccer landscape. “Kids will grow up, whether they are boys or girls, and they get to work towards being a professional athlete in Canada and representing their hometown.”
Additionally, Matheson explained that the league isn’t just for players, but it will also open doors for women pursuing careers in other aspects of the sport. “This was always about more than being just another sport league,” she said. “It is about providing the choice and the opportunity to players, coaches, referees, women that work in sport business, media, and sports science.”
When talking about the NSL, she makes it clear that this is just the start, as she talks about the future in decades, not years. “We’re still at the forefront of this thing and we expect to keep growing over the next number of decades,” Matheson explained. “[Women’s sports] are growing much faster than men’s sports, so we have to keep growing too.”
Matheson had advice for Gaels aspiring to make a difference, just as she has with the NSL. “One person can move mountains,” she said. “If you see a problem, a gap, or an opportunity out there, one person can make a difference and go after it. You are in the right place to chase whatever dream you want.”
For Gaels soccer fans, the emergence of this league is the perfect opportunity to watch Tricolour standouts pursue their dreams at home. The NSL season runs until Nov. 15, when the top two teams face off at Toronto’s BMO Field for the league’s inaugural championship.
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