Soccer coach's petition seeks Northern Super League franchise for Edmonton

A petition for a Northern Super League women's professional soccer franchise in Edmonton has surpassed 1,200 signatures, following a model that worked in Winnipeg.

Marni Devlin Moses, a high-level elite youth girls soccer coach, started the petition in August. The NSL, Canada's first and only professional women's soccer league, launched last year with seven teams in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and Halifax. Winnipeg was awarded a franchise for the 2027 season after organizers there launched a similar petition.

Moses said the city has a huge soccer community and the league represents a critical gap for players. "Girls work hard every day, and once in university there's no professional pathway," Moses said. "Canada finally has a league." She noted that having a professional option in her own backyard would have been exciting as a young player, and Calgary's team makes sense for Edmonton to have one too—it would create a great rivalry.

Women's soccer is growing in Edmonton, with more girls' teams and players engaging at high levels each year. Players ask where they can get noticed and where to go next. "This would be the next career path in pro sports that hasn't been an option for women in soccer in Canada for a long time," Moses said.

The NSL said it is aware of the Edmonton petition but has made no formal expansion decisions. "Hearing such a strong demand for professional women's soccer is incredibly encouraging as we build our inaugural season," the league said. Edmonton is a major sports city—the 2015 Women's World Cup here drew massive crowds, and warm-up games drew huge crowds even in the rain.