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Vanessa Gilles’ unique journey to the top of soccer in Canada

Vanessa Gilles battles for the ball during Canada’s friendly against New Zealand on Saturday. (Sean Burges/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Olympic gold medalist Vanessa Gilles was 20 years old when she watched the Canadian women’s national soccer team play Brazil at TD Place in her hometown of Ottawa, Ont. in 2016. Janine Beckie scored a goal in added time to give Canada a 1-0 victory in the friendly match.

During a press conference on Tuesday, Gilles smiled as she recalled being in the stands that day.

“I remember sitting in TD Place, watching Canada play Brazil and saying to myself and my teammates at the time as well, ‘Crap, I want to be on that field. I want to wear that jersey. I want to celebrate with them,'” Gilles says.

Five years later, she was back at TD Place, this time as a player celebrating Canada’s 5-1 win over New Zealand on Saturday in the first match of their Celebration Tour. Gilles, now 25, was a part of Canada’s historic run to a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in August, scoring the game-winning penalty kick in the quarterfinals against Brazil and playing a key role on defense throughout the tournament.

Gilles’ path to the top of her sport in Canada, from intrepid teenager to future star, has been fast but not exactly conventional.

‘I don’t want to play tennis anymore’

Gilles didn’t start playing soccer until she was 16 years old.

In fact, her first sport was tennis. She picked up a racket while her family was living in Shanghai and continued to play after they moved to Canada when she was 12, eventually making it all the way to nationals.

“She did quite well, but right after the nationals she told me, ‘I don’t want to play tennis anymore,’” recalls her mother, Josie Castelli-Gilles.

“Why don’t you want to play?” Castelli-Gilles asked her daughter at the time.

“I hate it,” Gilles responded.

Having enrolled Gilles in a sports study program at Louis-Riel high school, where the tennis coach had already designed an entire training program for her, Castelli-Gilles tried to discourage her daughter from quitting.

“I told her to just try it for at least three months, like ‘til Christmas, and she didn’t really want to but I kind of forced her to do it,” she says.

Gilles became “very disruptive” in the tennis group and was benched, her mother says. Eventually, the coach told Castelli-Gilles that Gilles didn’t want to be a part of the program.

“So I said, ‘OK, let’s save our money and our time,’” Castelli-Gilles says. “I pulled her out and she wanted to play soccer. I told her, ‘You do it on your own. I did everything for tennis. You do this on your own.’”

‘This girl could be on the provincial team. Like, now.’

Entering the 10th grade, Gilles had never touched a soccer ball in her life. She told the high school soccer coach, Joé Fournier, she wanted to join the team to be with her friends. Fournier was hesitant at first not because of Gilles’ lack of soccer experience, but because he was worried she would show up only for the social aspect and would distract the other players.

He finally offered her a tryout as a goalkeeper, which Gilles accepted.

By the end of her trial, everyone was dumbfounded.

“She was phenomenal,” Fournier says. “Like, unbelievable.”

The goalkeeper coach at that point was working with Ontario’s provincial program. After two weeks of training Gilles with Louis-Riel, the coach told Fournier, “This girl could be on the provincial team. Like, now.”

It was exciting for the team to suddenly fill a void in their lineup with a talented player straight off the tennis court.

The following week, however, Gilles admitted she wasn’t happy in net and was only playing there because she believed that’s what everyone else expected of her. What she really wanted were more touches on the ball.

Fournier obliged, assigning her to center back. The position suited her because of her physicality, but she had a lot of catching up to do in terms of her technical skills on the ball.

“She couldn’t pass even if her life depended on it,” Fournier says.

Fellow center back Alexie Morin-Holland, who went on to play university soccer for the Ottawa Gee-Gees, took Gilles under her wing and helped her learn the position. Years later, when Gilles came back to visit Louis Riel after making the national team, a student asked her to name her role model. Gilles’ answer was Morin-Holland.

“She knew what her place was on the team,” Fournier says. “Even though she was an unbelievable athlete, she knew she wasn’t at the same standards as those girls at that point. … She grew and she learned from those girls so much.”

Gilles’ natural athletic talent was obvious, but it was her ability to learn quickly and not take soccer too seriously that helped her take off.

“She was extremely focused, but it wasn’t a question of do or die,” he said. “Vanessa just enjoys life. Like, she’s a big joker, like a goof. But at the same time she’s extremely respectful, so she was a good listener, a quick learner because she put into practice what we were trying to help her with. I think that’s why she progressed.”

In her first year of organized soccer, Gilles helped Louis-Riel to the high school provincial championship. Within the next two years, she won a league title with her club team, captured a bronze medal with Team Ontario at the 2013 Canada Summer Games, received a full ride to the University of Cincinnati and, eventually, turned professional.

‘She did a lot on her own’

After playing her last college game, capping a highly accomplished career that included the 2017 American Athletic Conference Co-Defender of the Year award, Gilles came home for the holidays and had a conversation with her mother about the next chapter. That exchange, according to Castelli-Gilles, went something along the lines of:

“I’m going to Cyprus,” said Gilles, who had signed with Apollon Ladies FC of the Cypriot First Division.

“How did you get that?” asked her mother.

“My agent.”

“What agent?”

“I have an agent now,” Gilles said.

“Oh my god,” Castelli-Gilles said in disbelief.

Getting the agent to sign on required a few calls and some nudging from Gilles. But if Gilles has proved anything during her athletic career, it’s that she knows how to get something she sets her mind to.

In 2018, Gilles made 11 appearances with Apollon and scored 10 goals. Later that year, she joined FC Girondins de Bordeaux of D1 Féminine, where she’s since scored three goals in 59 games.

“For soccer, she did a lot on her own,” Castelli-Gilles says.

‘Vanessa is an absolute legend in Ottawa’

Gilles played her first game with the Canadian national team on Nov. 10, 2019 in a 3-0 win over New Zealand at the 2019 Yongchuan International Tournament.

Since then, she’s made 11 appearances, none more notable than in the quarterfinals of the Olympics. Gilles converted Canada’s fifth and final penalty kick against Brazil to set them on the path to gold.

The Canadians celebrated that win just as they had after defeating Brazil in 2016, when Gilles was watching from the stands. This time, she was the reason they had won.

“I think what we’re quickly learning is Vanessa is an absolute legend in Ottawa,” says Canada head coach Bev Priestman. “This city is so, so proud of Vanessa’s achievements … She’s an absolute legend and will do anything to keep a clean sheet and do whatever it takes to win, and I think they’re attributes loved by all Canadians.”

On Saturday, Canada played New Zealand, the opponent for Gilles’ first international cap at TD Place, where she first realized how badly she wanted to play for the national team.

“Now me being able to play on that field, doing exactly what I wanted to do is kind of full circle for me,” Gilles says. “But at the same time, I think about that moment (the celebration of Beckie’s goal in 2016) and I think about other girls sitting in the seats I was watching us play.

“My number one thing that’s important to me is inspiring the youth, having that impact on the players who are sitting in those seats … I can’t stress enough the impact that had on my career and my ambitions, and seeing other people and players in that position is really cool.”

Fournier surprised his 6-year-old daughter, Nève, with tickets to Saturday’s game. Her favorite players are Gilles and Beckie.

He also plans to bring Nève to Montréal for the second game of the Celebration Tour.

Gilles was born in Montréal, meaning Tuesday will offer yet another full-circle moment.

Jessa Braun is an editorial intern at Just Women’s Sports. She is also the Head of North American Content for the Women’s Sports Alliance. You can follow her on Twitter @jessabraun.

USC’s Aaliyah Gayles Opens Up About Her Journey Back to Basketball

USC Basketball - Aaliyah Gayles

As part of our 1-v-1 video series, USC’s India Otto sat down to interview her teammate Aaliyah Gayles. Here are five things to know from our conversation with the redshirt freshman guard from Las Vegas.

#1 Aaliyah suffered from a near-death act of violence in 2022.

The incident taught her a lot about herself and the support around her. “[USC] Coach Lindsay [Gottlieb] was one of the first people to fly out there and come see me. That means a lot to me off the court.” 

#2 Her favorite USC memory is when she surprised her teammates after getting out of the hospital.

She left her walker at the door to show she was on the road to returning to the court. “That was my favorite memory because it was family. It was my first time being able to walk to you guys and see you practice.”

#3 There's a reason she wears #3.

#3 was her grandpa’s favorite number and a golden number in her life. Plus, AG3 has a nice ring to it. 

#4 She has a list of basketball GOAT’s:

Candace Parker, Magic Johnson, Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant, and Cason Wallace.

#5 There have been many celebrity appearances at USC’s games over the years, especially this season.

Aaliyah’s favorites include Will Ferrell, Kehlani, and Saweetie. And she hopes Lil Durk will come to watch a game soon.

Watch the full conversation on the Just Women’s Sports YouTube channel.

Gotham, USWNT forward Midge Purce out with ACL tear

(Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports)

Midge Purce announced on Wednesday that she has torn her ACL. 

The Gotham FC and USWNT forward went down with the injury on Sunday during Gotham’s 1-0 win after tweaking it earlier in the game. Gotham coach Juan Carlos Amorós did not have any immediate updates following the match, with further evaluation revealing the tear. 

“It’s a reality I’m still struggling with and has left me with not too much to say,” Purce wrote in a statement on social media. “I’m heartbroken to no longer be available for my season with Gotham FC or for Olympic selection with the USWNT – know I’m rooting for you both all year long. 

“Though you may not see it, I’ll be doing everything I can to get back on the field.”

Purce is just the latest women's soccer star to tear her ACL, and joins USWNT teammate Mia Fishel in having torn her ACL in the last couple of months. Other notable players include Catarina Macario and Christen Press, with Macario only just returning to the USWNT lineup after tearing hers in 2022. 

International stars such as Alexia Putellas, Beth Mead, Vivianne Miedema and Leah Williamson have also suffered ACL tears. 

Purce’s injury caused Amorós to call out the international schedule, which has been a growing point of concern as more players fall victim to injuries and the playing schedule becomes more packed. Kansas City’s Debinha suffered a hamstring injury in the team’s opening game, while both Lynn Williams and Rose Lavelle have yet to play for Gotham due to injuries picked up during the W Gold Cup. 

“We lost Midge during the game which for me is a bittersweet flavor,” Amorós told reporters after Sunday’s game. “By the way, it’s another player that came from the Gold Cup. Last week, it was Debinha. We are paying the consequences of a tournament that shouldn’t have happened.”

“We’re talking about protecting the players, [who shouldn’t] go to play an international competition after one week of preseason,” Amorós continued. “We’ve seen the consequences now. We’ve got Rose, Lynn, last week it was Debinha in Kansas [City] and now we have Midge. From my experience, the clubs are going to keep paying for that competition."

In her statement, Purce said that “so many friends, teammates and even players I’ve only ever competed against” reached out to offer support. 

“I am so blessed,” she wrote. “Your messages have meant so much to me throughout this process, you have consoled what, for a moment, felt inconsolable. Thank you for reminding me that our football world is not only full with incredibly talent but also, incredible kindness.”

Lauren Jackson included on Australia Olympics roster

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - OCTOBER 01: Lauren Jackson of Australia celebrates with team mates after playing her final Opals game during the 2022 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 3rd place match between Canada and Australia at Sydney Superdome, on October 01, 2022, in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Kelly Defina/Getty Images)

Lauren Jackson has come out of retirement once again to compete for a spot on Australia’s Olympic roster. 

Jackson was included on the 26-player roster named by coach Sandy Brondello on Tuesday that will take part in training camps, tours and games in the lead-up to the Paris Olympics. The roster will eventually be whittled down to just 12 players selected from the 26 named on Tuesday.

Jackson helped Australia qualify for the Olympics with a win over Germany in February. After that, she announced her retirement, revealing that she struggled to spend so much time away from her two young children. 

The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper reported that Jackson and the basketball federation had come to an agreement in which they would help cover costs for her children to travel with the team for training camps and the Olympics. 

She’s largely expected to make the Opals’ Olympic roster. 

"It's always an exciting time to announce an Olympic squad and I congratulate all the athletes," Opals coach Sandy Brondello said. "They all know what it means to play for Australia and they all want the opportunity to represent their country at an Olympics. Our squad is full of exceptional talent and they will make the decision to pick a final 12 very difficult."

At the 2022 FIBA World Cup, Jackson helped Australia win a bronze medal with 30 points against Canada. She had previously retired in 2016 due to knee injuries, but slowly made a return in a domestic Australian league the last few years.

Jackson has won four Olympic medals, including three consecutive silver medals starting with Sydney in 2000 when she was a teenager. 

First two rounds of NCAA tournament boast record attendance, viewership

(David K Purdy/Getty Images)

The first two rounds of the women’s NCAA tournament broke attendance and viewership records set just last year – and it wasn’t even close. 

The NCAA announced on Tuesday that attendance for the first two rounds of the tournament was more than 292,000 – up from last year’s record, when almost 232,000 fans attended the first two rounds.

Among the host sites, Iowa had the biggest crowds with nearly 29,000 fans packing Carver-Hawkeye Arena in the first and second rounds. 

"We expected the historic success and quality of play and high level of competition from the regular season would carry through into March Madness. Our championship is again delivering," NCAA vice president of women's basketball Lynn Holzman said in a statement. "Record crowds, ratings, incredible performances and evolving storylines will continue to make the next two weeks a must-see for fans across the world."

And for those that couldn’t attend the sold-out Iowa games, they watched on television. Monday’s matchup between Iowa and West Virginia drew 4.9 million viewers, setting a record for a women’s D-I tournament game prior to the Final Four. 

It is also the third most watched tournament game in the last 20 years, behind last year’s national championship between LSU and Iowa (9.92 million) and Iowa’s Final Four win over South Carolina (5.6 million).

Iowa’s game against Holy Cross in the first round drew 3.23 million viewers. 

But it wasn’t just Iowa drawing big viewership. ESPN’s five games on Monday averaged 2.25 million viewers. UConn and Syracuse drew 2.05 million viewers while LSU and Middle Tennessee on ABC drew 2.01 million viewers on Sunday. 

The full, 16-game slate for the second round averaged 1.4 million viewers – a 121% increase from last year and the highest average ever for the second round.

The full tournament so far is averaging 812,000 viewers per game, a 108% increase from last year.

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