$30 million investment<\/a> from APEX, an international sports investment firm, that puts the league in a strong position in its sophomore year.<\/p>\nLeague president Christina Litz says that the expansion team is right on schedule, and important to fans, players and competition.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are doing what we set out to do,\u201d Litz told CBC Sports.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want eight clubs by 2028. We know what impact having a pro women’s team has on inspiring the next-gen players and we have said from the beginning that we want our league to be a catalyst for Canadian talent across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
From ‘Destroyer’ to builder<\/p>\n
After retiring from the NWSL, Scott, a self-described \u201cproud Winnippegger\u201d played in the NSL’s inaugural season with the Ottawa Rapid \u2014 but helping to bring an expansion team was on her mind.<\/p>\n
Scott was known as a midfield \u201cDestroyer\u201d\u00a0and is shifting roles to become a builder with the new team as a co-founder and vice president of community and player experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving played in it, I saw the value in this league and where they wanted to go and what they wanted to build and what an opportunity [it is] for Manitoba,\u201d she told CBC Sports.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs soon as my time playing was done, I said, \u2018How can we now get this opportunity for women and girls right here in the province I love so much?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1784033050_596_default.jpg\")
Desiree Scott, seen in 2025, bid farewell to the pitch last year after retiring as a member of the NSL’s Ottawa Rapid. (The Canadian Press)<\/p>\n
Scott was already connected with Gale, and after she retired from the NSL they set the wheels in motion.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said, \u2018I’m retiring now. Let’s make this happen. We need to get this done. Are you still interested? Do you want to get involved?\u2019\u201d Gale recalls. \u201cAnd I’m like, \u2018It’s Winnipeg. It’s our hometown. Let’s do this!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Scott says when she knew this was going to be her foreseeable future, she shared the news with some of her family and best friends who she has played with for 20 years.<\/p>\n
She also called former teammate Steph Labb\u00e9, the current GM of Vancouver Rise, who offered advice, and for Scott to shadow her to learn as much as possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing able to tap into my fellow teammates … I think it’s incredible to be able to have that,\u201d Scott said.<\/p>\n
Gale has built a new club before and says that the support from the league has been “absolutely first class.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe other supporting directors have reached out to me,\u201d he said. \u201cChristina [Litz], Diana [Matheson], all the way along. You know, although it’s just been Desi and I up until this point.\u201d Gale said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gale added they are in the process of interviewing for the role of president.<\/p>\n
A project close to home<\/p>\n
Manitoba may not be considered hub for soccer in Canada like Vancouver, Toronto or Montreal, but Scott and Gale feel that it has a history and \u2014 more importantly \u2014 potential.<\/p>\n
Gale says he decided that Winnipeg was home in 2006 when he became technical director of Manitoba Soccer. When he first arrived, there were no indoor facilities, nor a men\u2019s player on the national team in over 20 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe needed a lot of work and development,\u201d he explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While Scott was playing abroad because there was no option to play professionally in Canada, Gale says he found \u201clike-minded and growth-minded people\u201d and from there opportunities to grow the game in Manitoba were created.<\/p>\n
While excited to further cement her soccer legacy, Scott is feeling the pressure to create something that will last the test of time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think there’s a lot that people don’t know about it. There’s the untapped potential,\u201d she said. “There’s kind of a negative sort of vibe about Winnipeg, and for me, it makes me a little bit nervous about how we’re going to recruit, how we’re going to get people to love the city just as much as I do,” Scott said.<\/p>\n
“This project is close to home. I want it to be successful.\u201d<\/p>\n
Winnipeg a ‘snapshot’ of Canada<\/p>\n
Gale believes that there are features that can draw world-class talent to Friendly Manitoba. He says that the support from the community will love the top athletes and they will feel appreciated and embraced by the whole province.<\/p>\n
An advantage to Manitoba, Gale says, is that it is a province of one major city; 90 per cent of the population is within one hour of Winnipeg making it more advantageous for fans than Edmonton, Calgary or Vancouver.<\/p>\n
There is also a better cost of living, and the fact that the players would be considered heroes in Winnipeg. Gale describes Winnipeg as a vibrant, multi-cultural and welcoming society.<\/p>\n
\u201cWinnipeg is a great snapshot of Canada as a whole,\u201d he said. \u201cWe’ve got an underdog-chip on-our-shoulder mentality for soccer,” Gale said.<\/p>\n
For her part, Scott has proudly repped Winnipeg her whole career and believes the city has what it takes to be a mainstay in the women\u2019s soccer ecosystem.<\/p>\n
“I think we’re going to shine light on our province for people who maybe have never visited, who have never seen what our city is about,” Scott said. “It’s going to be a way to showcase our city, show the community who and what we’re about.\u201d<\/p>\n
The team has already started working on branding, the name and colours. Gale admits that \u201cThe Winnipeg Destroyers\u201d was suggested many times but Scott is too humble to accept a team name in her honour.<\/p>\n
Much like the league was a dream of Diana Matheson, who pushed to make it happen, Scott has not only manifested this dream but is building it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s a great story for Des,\u201d Gale said. \u201cI think it’s so important for us to celebrate and honour that generation of women that really carried soccer and the country on their back for so many years, and this league is doing a great job of bringing them back into the fold and giving them the next stage of their careers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scott says that this being the next chapter of her career and her time is sport is beyond what she could have ever imagined.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo still be able to have some impact and be a positive role model and help the game grow,\u201d she adds, \u201cI couldn’t have asked for anything more.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Northern Super League has announced that its seventh team in the women\u2019s league will be situated in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":801290,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[49,48,561,82],"class_list":["post-801289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=801289"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801289\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/801290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=801289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=801289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=801289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}