Words Kelly Finerty
Photos Marissa Cameron
Paving the way for women champions of the beautiful game.
Something is changing on the turf fields of BC Soccer and Soccer Canada. Girls and women are dominating, and the 2026/27 Saanich Fusion FC Girls’ U15 Division 1 team and their women leadership, Millie Bradley (Head Coach), Marissa Cameron (Assistant Coach) and Stephanie Kittleson (Assistant Coach) are in top form not only on the Island, but provincially.
The team had a stellar end to the 2026 season as silver medal winners, competing for the first time at the top of their game as Division 1 in the 2026 BC Soccer Provincial A-cup Championship, where approximately 40 teams from across B.C.’s U14-U18 compete annually since 1987. The team only lost 4-3 during a tie-breaking penalty shootout versus Okanagan FC after a regulation time 1-1 score. In the previous year, the Girls’ U14 team won gold at the Provincial B-cup Championship for Division 2, with approximately 80 teams competing across the U14-U18 divisions.
The 2027 year is already shaping up nicely, with a new appointment for the team’s head coach, Millie Bradley, as Technical Director for the Saanich Fusion FC Girls’ Program. “Girls need to see women in leadership positions in their clubs,” relays Assistant Coach Marissa Cameron, where the leadership team has thankfully seen the model as players themselves. Marissa Cameron played for the UVIC Vikes Women’s Soccer team, led by Canada Soccer Hall of Fame recipient, Tracy David, the Vikes’ Head Coach since 2002. Stephanie Kittleson plays for Castaways FC Over-30A Division with the Lower Island Women’s Soccer Association (LIWSA) that recently competed at the Masters A National Championship with Canada Soccer.
The feeling of belonging is a large part of the Saanich Fusion team’s ethos. “We have girls joining Division 1 soccer with Saanich Fusion from other areas of the South Island, with many players from the Peninsula. We welcome everyone,” says Marissa. “The girls are really connected to one another and love hanging out together. It’s important not to lose the fun of the sport,” she highlights. “There is an epidemic of girls leaving the sport in the U14-U18 divisions for a multitude of reasons,” she adds, and statistics collected in a 2025 report, Advancing Girls Soccer
Initiative by Vancouver United FC, one of the largest clubs in Western Canada, agrees. According to BC Soccer, the gender split is roughly 50/50 boys to girls each year within the approximately 58,000 to 100,000 participants registered across the Province in non-competitive divisions up to U13, but for the competitive loops in U14-U18 divisions, that split drops to 35% registration for girls. Why? Well, the reasons are multi-factorial.
“This gender gap in participation points to a complex issue influenced by a range of factors, from limited access to female mentors and role models to a lack of tailored programming and coaching that meets girls’ specific needs and interests,” outlines the Vancouver United FC report; however, it does appear that the trajectory of girls’ youth soccer on the Island is combating this very issue head-on. Already, out of approximately 15 to 20 Youth Soccer Technical Directors occupying positions on the Island, two of them are women: Millie Bradley with Saanich Fusion FC, and Ashley Stultz with Cowichan Valley. “Diverse women leaders in sport are critical in creating a welcoming and safe space for girls in sport,” notes Canada Soccer, and these Island appointments show that the opportunities for women in soccer leadership are out there. “We also have a lot of support from Steph Steiner, the Sporting Director, at Saanich Fusion FC. He encourages us as leaders in coaching, and the decisions we make for our team,” shares Marissa, “celebrating the girls’ wins and hard work is important in retaining and growing players, and the older girls love to help coach the younger players.”
It’s inspiring to see Saanich Fusion FC organically implementing strategies to retain girls in the sport on and off the pitch in real time, with the hope that it will make a difference. The Vancouver United FC report concluded with 50 recommendations, some of which stood out as fairly universal for the sport as a whole in Canada. Recommendation #43 outlined that to improve the outcomes and advance girls in soccer, the club was to “create a mentoring program for older girls to mentor younger girls,” Recommendation #35 noted to “create and maintain a database of women in the club who are coaching or interested in coaching,” and Recommendation #30 is to “assign a Girls’ Retention Officer to meet with girls who are considering leaving the club or leaving the sport, discuss reasons for departure, and offer retention support.” This succession planning for girls and women on track to professional play comes at an ideal time, with much clearer pathways from youth soccer to the Northern Super League (NSL), the top tier of women’s professional soccer in Canada. The future is bright for girls’ soccer on the Island, and
the Saanich Fusion FC Girls’ U15 Division 1 team is leading the way.
saanichfusionfc.ca
