Shannon Woeller grew up sitting in the stands at Swangard Stadium cheering on her hometown Vancouver Whitecaps.
In just a few months, the Canadian defender will be a player on his local pitch and inspiring the next generation of soccer stars.
Vancouver Rise announced Woeller on Monday as the first signed player in club history.
Returning to Vancouver and playing in the newly created Northern Super League “means everything” to the 34-year-old athlete.
“It’s really special for me to have the opportunity to come home and be with my friends and family and help advance women’s soccer in Canada,” she said.
Sinead King, President of Rise, said Woeller was an intelligent and proven leader who would set the tone for the team.
“It’s not just her professionalism, her leadership, her athletic ability, but it’s also her homegrown talent,” she said.
The Rise announced last month that Anja Heiner-Moller would become the team’s head coach. Hainer-Moller, currently head coach of the Denmark U-19 women’s team, served as an academy coach at Vancouver Whitecaps FC and North Shore Girls Soccer Club from 2018 to 2020, while her husband, Kenneth Hainer-Moeller, was head coach of the Canadian women’s team. .
‘Very easy decision’
Woeller played for Kenneth Heiner-Moller on the national team. She made 21 appearances for the Canadian women’s national team, including the 2019 Women’s World Cup loss to Sweden in the round of 16 in France.
She also played alongside former Canadian goalkeeper Stephanie Labbé, who is now Rise’s sporting director.
The pair began talking about a new club and Woeller was keen to jump at the opportunity.
“Once I realized this was an opportunity, I couldn’t get it out of my head,” she said. “Obviously there’s a big history of soccer in Vancouver and the way the organization is built all impressed me, so it was a pretty easy decision for me.”
Woeller began his professional career in 2008 playing for the semi-pro Vancouver Whitecaps of the USL W-League, and later played for the Seattle Sounders of the same league. When the league was suspended in 2012, Woeller took his talents overseas, fitting out for clubs in Norway, Iceland, Germany, Spain and Sweden.
Each stop offered another lesson.
“What’s really cool about having different opportunities is that you get to learn something different as you go to the league, so I think that’s really helped me,” Woeller said.
“When I was in Germany, they were really good tactically. In Spain, technically they could obviously play in two inches of space. And Sweden were quite physical, but they also had good combinations tactically.” So I think it’s good to bring all those experiences together. “Because you can help people in so many different ways.”
However, pursuing a soccer career abroad can be difficult. Players may miss their families and have a hard time adjusting to a completely new language and culture.
“Playing overseas is a huge opportunity, but it’s also not easy,” Wooler said. “It’s hard to be away from home for so long. And when you’re there, you see the girls, they have families, they have lives, and it’s hard not to be a little jealous. That.”
She added that the newly created Northern Super League (scheduled to begin its first season in April) offers options for Canadian players.
“It took a really long time, and I think there were a lot of years where I never thought this would happen.”
Now the veteran defender is looking forward to giving the girls an opportunity that she was denied growing up: to watch professional women’s soccer on a regular basis in Vancouver.
“I would have loved it. I would have begged my parents to go every day,” she said. “I mean, I grew up watching Whitecaps games in Swangard and I loved it. Now that girls can go to women’s games all the time, I think it’s going to be really great.”
