“We are thrilled to announce that the development of a Canadian professional women’s soccer league is well underway,” said Matheson, CEO of Project 8. “Much work has gone on behind the scenes to get to today, and we want to extend our thanks to our founding partners, CIBC and Air Canada, and Vancouver Whitecaps FC and Calgary Foothills, who have shown leadership in creating equal opportunity and recognizing the importance of bringing professional women’s soccer to Canada.” 

Foothills WFC has been actively supporting women’s soccer including a team in the United Women’s Soccer league (‘UWS’), which is a U.S. based pro-am league. Foothills WFC is a three-time conference champion and two-time national finalists, as well as being awarded franchise of the year and winning coach of the year twice. The UWS has hosted many well-known players including Canadian Women’s national team players Stephanie Labbé (Calgary Foothills WFC), Lauren Sesselmann (Santa Clarita Blue Heat) and Zoe Burns (Santa Clarita Blue Heat). Foothills WFC players have also found success outside of Canada including Talia White (Australia), Tori Martyn (Sweden), Maggie Zacsko (Sweden), Alex Lamontagne (France), Emily Burns (France) and Sarah Kinzner (Hungary). Foothills WFC program has sent young players to team Canada including Sarah Kinzner (U23), Mya Jones (U20) as well as Anna Hauer and Isabel Monck (U17). 

“Calgary Foothills WFC is truly excited to be one of the founding teams behind a professional women’s soccer league in Canada.” said Deanna Zumwalt, Calgary Foothills WFC Director of Women’s Soccer “The club has been a pioneer in women’s soccer showcasing Canada’s talent through its participation in the United Women’s Soccer League which has involved multiple divisional championships and being two-time league finalists. We are excited to continue offering and growing the opportunities available in Canada for women in soccer as players, coaches, managers and investors. We support the female leaders behind this project, and we are excited to work with all those involved to advance equal opportunity in sport by making women’s professional soccer a reality in Canada.” 

Foothills Girls Academy Manager & UWS Head Coach Lee Tucker added; 

“The Club has always been opportunity focused and driven to create a positive impact within the local community, becoming one of the founding franchises for a women’s professional league in Canada enables us to strive towards our vision of changing the landscape for Canadian Soccer. We are excited to provide a home in Calgary for Professional women’s soccer. We are incredibly grateful to Diana and Project 8 for taking on this bold initiative and progressing women’s soccer.” 

Foothills WFC will be hosting a press conference Friday December 16th at 10:00am MST, at our MACRON Performance Centre (111 Exploration Ave SE, Calgary AB) as well as online via Zoom/dial-in. Deanna Zumwalt, our Director of Women’s Soccer will be speaking as well as comments from Diana Matheson, Mike Mikuska a key sponsor and supporter as well as Lee Tucker, Foothills Girls Academy Manager & UWS Head Coach. To RSVP to the event please email julia@gofoothills.ca

Foothills Soccer Club was established in 1972 and just celebrated 50 years of developing players through their youth program which has a world-class training facility boasting a full size indoor 11v11 field, on-site fully equipped gym and a video analysis suite. The program is home to over 3,000 players from across southern Alberta at the Grassroots level through to the adult program which has been crucial in creating a full pathway to pro in Calgary including being the official affiliate to the Cavalry Football Club in the Canadian Premier League. The Cavalry FC head coach is the former Foothills Technical Director, Tommy Wheeldon Jr and he is assisted by Leon Hapgood who was also the Club’s Technical Director prior to taking up his role earlier this year. Foothills are excited to build on their existing pathway to the professional game with the introduction of the Canadian Women’s Professional League in 2025.  

For additional information please email our Marketing Lead Julia Massie, at julia@gofoothills.ca