Quinn excited by Northern Soccer League opportunity, says 'sky is the limit' for Canadian talent
National women's team midfielder recently joined Vancouver Rise FC
When Quinn was a young and aspiring soccer player, they would scour the local newspaper to clock the next time the Canadian women's soccer team would play in Toronto.
"Growing up, there weren't many opportunities to watch professional sports for women," Quinn told CBC Sports. "I was obviously really excited whenever the national team came into town, came into Toronto, and I got to watch. I absolutely begged my parents."
Years later, Quinn has spent more than a decade on the CanWNT, winning two Olympic medals in the process and making history as the first-ever openly transgender and nonbinary athlete to medal at the Games.
But now, they're knocking off one more bucket list item: playing professionally in Canada, for the inaugural Northern Super League (NSL) season.
"I've always wanted to be in Vancouver. So it's exciting to see that finally come to fruition," they said following their signing announcement with Vancouver FC Rise. "I'm so excited to go to Toronto, beat Toronto, and then be able to go and have dinner with my family … having them come and watch me … that's just something that I wasn't sure I was ever going to see in my lifetime."
WATCH | Quinn joins CBC Sports to describe excitement of NSL launch:
The launch of the NSL in April will make history as the first Canadian pro soccer league for women — a milestone Quinn feels is long overdue.
Despite this, they call the launch of the NSL the turning of a "new leaf" for soccer in Canada and are excited for what it will do for the younger generation of footballers.
"It's inspiring the younger generation to see that's something that they can achieve when they're older. That's such a cool thing, to give them another pathway of following their dreams," Quinn said.
"The sky's the limit for the talent that we can bring through this country."
League welcomes national players
Other recent NSL signees include national team midfielder Emma Regan and forward Latifah Abdu, plus former national players like Desiree Scott, Erin McLeod, and Christabel Oduro.
"As a national team, we've always talked about what we want the league to look like," said Quinn. "To have national team players joining the league is just proving that this is a league that we want to get at the highest level. We want to compete with the top leagues in the world, and we want to bring the best talent through Canada."
The tournament in Spain will be the first time the squad is led by Casey Stoney, the team's newly hired head coach after predecessor Bev Priestman was dismissed for her role in the drone-spying scandal.
"There's been a lot of excitement and support around Casey Stoney being the new head coach," Quinn said. "It's definitely a new chapter with the new cycle coming up, and I think it will really give us a head start looking towards our major tournaments coming up in the future, and kind of setting that ground work."
And with recent national team player retirements including Desiree Scott, Sophie Schmidt, and Chrisine Sinclair, Quinn is ready to step up as a veteran.
"Understanding that we're the veterans now is a really exciting thing in welcoming that new generation of athletes," they said, "There's just so much incredible talent that's coming through with Simi, with Jade,…it's going to be a new team."
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