HALIFAX, N.S. – When we took to the pitch this spring, we weren’t just launching a soccer club – we were opening pathways that hadn’t existed for generations.
As one of six founding clubs in the Northern Super League, we brought professional women’s soccer to Atlantic Canada for the first time. A milestone our players and supporters say was long overdue.
For decades, women were told they couldn’t or shouldn’t play soccer. In the early 20th century, doctors and governing bodies claimed the game was too dangerous for women’s “delicate health,” citing menstruation and fertility as reasons to keep them off the field. Those myths weren’t based on science, but on sexism. Despite bans and barriers, women kept playing, proving that strength, endurance, and passion aren’t defined by biology.
Our inaugural season has been about more than what happens on the pitch. With the IWK Foundation as our front-of-jersey partner, we’ve had a platform to highlight women’s health – a subject that, like women’s sport, has long been overlooked.
Through its Fifth Wave podcast, the IWK Foundation explores how medical research has historically centred on men, leaving critical gaps in understanding women’s bodies and treatment needs. These inequities mirror the barriers women have faced in sport: being underrepresented, underfunded, and undervalued.
On October 9, 2025, the IWK Foundation released findings from 27,317 women across the Maritimes in The Voice of Maritime Women: The Unspoken Burden of Women’s Health, shedding light on how women experience gaps in care and often feel unheard within the healthcare system.
“The survey makes clear that women’s health is shaped by more than clinical symptoms,” the report notes. “Social pressures, caregiving roles, financial strain, and knowledge gaps all converge to create invisible barriers to wellness.”
That momentum for change is visible in Halifax. While women and girls have played soccer informally for decades, organized leagues in Nova Scotia were long limited to men and boys, with formal men’s competitions dating back to the early 1900s. It wasn’t until 1984 that the Nova Scotia Soccer League introduced official girls’ and women’s divisions – a turning point that laid the groundwork for today’s professional game.
Now, thousands of fans fill the stands at Wanderers Grounds to watch professional women play in their city’s backyard. For many young girls, it’s the first time they can picture themselves on that same field.
“When you see women and gender-diverse people out there leading and enjoying the game, it plants a seed of possibility,” said our assistant coach Katie Barrott. “It tells them this space is for them too. The more visible those role models are, the more our game grows – not just in numbers, but in belief. That’s what will shape the next generation.”
As we close out our first season, we know it’s been about more than goals or standings. It’s been about creating space in medicine, in sport, and in culture where women once had little.
This first season is a statement. It shows what’s possible for women’s sport here, and it shows our community is ready to support it.
In partnership with the IWK Foundation, we support The Fifth Wave podcast, a platform driving conversations about equity in healthcare. Featuring leaders, changemakers, and stories from across the region, The Fifth Wave explores how to build a more inclusive and equitable future in health.
It’s history in real time, and it feels like just the beginning.
The Fifth Wave podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Read the full Voice of Maritime Women: The Unspoken Burden of Women’s Health, survey summary here.