Historic Day for Canadian soccer as Charmaine Crooks elected President and Project 8 approved as League in Membership

It has been a landmark day for Canada Soccer with the unanimous election of Project 8 as the nation’s new women’s professional football league. Scheduled to begin play in 2025, the league was officially approved as a Canada Soccer League in Membership.
 
Canada Soccer’s 103rd Annual Meeting of the Members also featured the election of Charmaine Crooks as Canada Soccer President. Crooks serves as Canada Soccer’s 36th President and she stands as the first woman and the first person of colour to lead the organisation in the 111-year history of Canadian soccer.
 
“We are excited for the opportunity to bring unity to Canadian soccer so that we can continue to grow the game, build on the success of our National Teams, and maximise the potential of the professional game in both women’s and men’s soccer,” said Charmaine Crooks, Canada Soccer President. “We have brought a fresh vision to how we can listen and collaborate and have already begun to do the work with all of our members and partners to build better pathways for players, coaches, referees, administrators and volunteers from the grassroots through to the professional game to the benefit of sport in Canada.”
 
Canada Soccer’s 2023 Annual Meeting of the Members took place in Saint John, New Brunswick on Saturday 6 May. Alongside President Crooks, other officers appointed or elected to the Board of Directors were: Paul-Claude Bérubé as Vice-President; Orest Konowalchuk for Director, Alberta & Northwest Territories; Don Story for Director, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Nunavut; Dino Rossi for Director, Ontario; and both Kelly Brown and Dominique Grégoire as Independent Directors.
 
Led by Canadian soccer hero Diana Matheson and business partner Thomas Gilbert, Project 8 has already announced three markets in which the new league will operate: Vancouver, British Columbia (Vancouver Whitecaps FC); Calgary, Alberta (Calgary Foothills SC); and Toronto, Ontario (AFC Toronto).
 
In light of the admission of Project 8 as a Voting Member and recognising that the Members desire a voting structure that is equitable and that provides newly admitted members with a prescribed vote in the future, the Canada Soccer Board of Directors will proactively call a Special General Meeting, no later than 30 November 2023, for the purpose of adopting a new membership voting structure that provides equality of voting in Men’s and Women’s National Leagues and a greater voice for our Women’s and Men’s National Team Players.
 
As part of the Annual Meeting, both Head Coaches Bev Priestman and John Herdman spoke to the Membership, with notably Priestman highlighting the Women’s National Team’s road to the upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023™. Alongside the addition of Project 8 as a League in Membership, new Canadian Premier League side Vancouver FC was officially approved as a Member Professional Club.
 
Canada Soccer, in partnership with its membership and its partners, provides leadership in the pursuit of excellence in soccer, both at the national and international levels. Canada Soccer not only strives to lead Canada to victory, but also encourages Canadians to a life-long passion for soccer.