Northern Super League and team officials hold two days of meetings in Toronto

By Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press on December 3, 2024.

A Northern Super League logo is seen in an undated handout image. Northern Super League and team officials kick off two days of meetings Wednesday in Toronto. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Northern Super League, *MANDATORY CREDIT*

TORONTO – Northern Super League and team officials kick off two days of meetings Wednesday in Toronto.

While those behind the new women’s pro soccer league met in September in Halifax, the Toronto gathering marks the first time that team owners, presidents and sporting directors have come together in advance of the April kickoff of the six-team circuit.

“This is one of the major (meetings),” said NSL president Christina Litz. “We meet as a board regularly and you can imagine as we’re setting up all of the details of a league, we’ve been meeting with the owners quite frequently. I would say this will be our largest get-together in person with both the sporting side and the business side coming together.

“We’re discussing and making decision about some very important areas of our business.”

The agenda includes finalizing league competition rules, prioritizing safe-sport initiatives and reviewing the league’s 2025 business plan.

The closed meetings will include an address by Kevin Blue, Canada Soccer’s chief executive officer and general secretary, as well as a visit to the FIFA’s 2026 World Cup office in Toronto on Thursday to get an update on tournament plans.

The gathering comes 133 days before the league’s kickoff, said Litz.

Representatives from the NSL teams will take a break from their agenda Wednesday morning to take part in a separate panel discussion hosted by Sponsorship Marketing Council Canada.

The meetings will include Portugal’s Jose Maria Celestino da Costa, the NSL’s head of soccer operations who landed in Canada this week. He arrives from Estoril Praia, a men’s top-tier club in Portugal, and the Portuguese Soccer Federation, helping establish the women’s league there.

New board chair Mark Cohon, who served as CFL commissioner from 2007 to January 2015, will also be on hand.

The Northern Super League will kick off with teams in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa and Halifax.