Queen’s Women’s Soccer star keeper Kirstin Tynan, ArtSci ’24, was able to fulfill a childhood dream last Wednesday, g with the Vancouver Rise FC of the newly founded Northern Super League (NSL).
For Tynan, this isn’t just the culmination of a lifelong journey of hard work, including five years with the Gaels from 2019-20 to 2024-25. It’s also a chance to play for her hometown team at the Canadian top level.
“Definitely a match made in heaven. I grew up in North Vancouver. […] I was excited about the opportunity to come home and play in front of my family and friends but to also have that network closer,” Tynan said in an interview with The Journal.
The NSL is a recently created league, cofounded by Diana Matheson with Thomas Gilbert, a classmate she met while both were pursuing a Master of Business istration here at Queen’s.
Serving as the top level of women’s soccer in Canada, the NSL fills a void in the country’s player development, with players often having to travel abroad to find professional opportunities.
As the NSL was finding its feet, Tynan was in England training with Everton FC during a third-year exchange semester.
“That was when I kind of really figured out that this is something I love to do, and this is something I really want to do when I graduate,” Tynan emphasized.
Realizing her ion led her to pursue her goal, meeting with teams in the NSL and finding her place in the league.
“I actually thought I was going to go to Halifax […] But in December, all of a sudden, I got a phone call from my agent, saying Vancouver would like to meet with you,” she said.
From that point, things moved quickly leading her to sign in late December. Since then, the team’s made their best effort to get Tynan acquainted with the teammates as early as this past offseason.
“Wednesday night, I got invited to the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) game between the Montreal Victor and the Toronto Sceptres that was in Vancouver and so, I got to go to that with a couple of my teammates, Shannon Woeller and Ariel Young,” she added.
“I was speechless at it, the emotions of everybody in the building, […] with these incredible female athletes, it was really inspiring for Shannon, Ariel, and I.”
The success that the PWHL has enjoyed in its inaugural years has laid the groundwork for other professional leagues, such as the NSL, to open opportunities to Canadian athletes that weren’t previously available.
For Tynan, the magnitude of her opportunity hasn’t been lost. A moment that she’ll get to share with Christie Gray, Comm ’22, who signed with Calgary Wild FC.
“It’s an incredible privilege that I don’t take lightly, and I know I have Queen’s teammates that have gone on to play professionally in various countries and didn’t have this opportunity right out of school,” she said.
She also hopes that it’ll be the start of U SPORTS players getting more opportunities and respect from professional teams.
“There’s been the narrative that National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) professional, that’s the cream of the crop. I think for U SPORTS, it’s super important that it’s a well-respected league.”
Tynan will be sure to have in Kingston and back home as she and NSL begin their journey into the professional space this season.
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