Carlsberg Moments of the Month — March 2024

Adriana Leon and Olivia Smith earn awards from W Gold Cup

CANWNT Forwards Adriana Leon and Olivia Smith saw their tremendous Concacaf W Gold Cup performances rewarded with prestigious tournament accolades. Leon was presented the tournament’s Golden Boot award, scoring six times in Canada’s five matches. Leon scintillated with world-class finishes and timely markers throughout the tournament.

Olivia Smith captured the tournament’s Best Young Player award, scoring twice and assisting as many times, appearing in four matches. The 19-year-old phenom has asserted herself as an important piece of the CANWNT’s and present and future. 

International Women’s Day

Women have played an integral role in shaping the landscape of our sport across Canada. In celebration of International Women’s Day, we celebrated some of the remarkable achievements of women who have represented our organization on and off the pitch.

In addition, March saw the launch of Canada Soccer’s AccelerateHER coaching program, a strategic initiative to foster gender equity within Canada Soccer’s Advanced Coaching landscape. The AccelerateHER program will train 85 coaches seeking their Coaching Diplomas at A, B, C, Children’s, or Goalkeeper levels.

Dwayne De Rosario and Robyn Gayle inducted into Canada Soccer Hall of Fame

Former international stars Dwayne De Rosario and Robyn Gayle were inducted as honoured members as part of the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame’s Class of 2024.

Dwayne De Rosario was a Concacaf champion, FIFA Confederations Cup participant and a former international goals record holder with the CANMNT. The four-time Canada Soccer Player of the Year was a two-time Canadian Championship winner, four-time MLS Cup winner, MLS Supporters’ Shield winner, and US Open Cup winner. In addition to team success, DeRo was also awarded the MLS Most Valuable Player award, MLS Cup MVP honours twice, and the George Gross Memorial Trophy as the MVP of the Canadian Championship twice. 

Robyn Gayle was an Olympic Bronze Medal winner, Concacaf champion, Pan American Games champion and three-time FIFA World Cup participant with the CANWNT. At the club level, Gayle won Canada Soccer’s National Championships and reached the USL W-League Championship Final three times. She was a two-time USL W-League Division winner and an All-Eastern Team defender.

Canada Soccer National Referee Camp

Canada Soccer gathered its top referees for the annual National Camp in Ottawa, ON from 15-16 March. The National Camp signals the start of the season and offers an opportunity to measure referees’ physical fitness while also preparing the referees with the goals and expectations of the Program.

A feature of the Camp was the awards banquet where Canada Soccer celebrated milestones and achievements from 2023. Of note, new FIFA match officials Pierre-Luc Lauzière (VMO), Filip Dujic (referee) and Gérard-Kader Lebuis (assistant referee) were recognized. Domestically, Canada Soccer awarded National badges to Twayne Anderson, Sheila Couture, Brad Doubrough, Isabelle Duclos, Sebastian Noshinravani, and Camille Raymond.

New look from Nike

The new Canada Soccer 2024 National Team Home and Away Match Kits were unveiled as part of Nike’s global Federation launch. The 2024 Canada kits are ‘Inspired by Tomorrow’ while featuring a heritage Canada wordmark inside the collar in honour of Canadian football’s icons of the past.

Canada’s 2024 Home kit celebrates a nation united for more success in a game that sparks a new era in the country’s sporting DNA. The shirt features a two-tone red to make a bold statement, with a street-style Swoosh bringing back branding made famous on Canadian jerseys of the past.

The 2024 Away kit celebrates the nation’s diversity and honours the pioneers of the game to drive a new generation to make every moment matter more. This kit reimagines a classic style of the past, by featuring 13 red stripes on the centre of the shirt to represent the 10 Provinces and three Territories of the country coming together as one.

CANMNT Qualify for 2024 Copa América

By defeating Trinidad and Tobago 2-0 in the Copa America qualifying play-offs, Canada qualified as one of six Concacaf guest nations for the 16-nation tournament. This marks the first time Canada will compete in CONMEBOL’s Copa América. The 2024 edition of Copa América will run from 20 June to 14 July in the United States. 

Drawn into Group A, Canada will face Argentina on Thursday 20 June in Atlanta, GA, Peru on Tuesday 25 June in Kansas, KS, and wrap up group play against Chile on Saturday 29 June in Orlando, FL.