Montreal screening of ‘The Pitch’ spotlights women’s pro soccer

Montreal played host to a screening that proved to be a real game-changer Tuesday night.

Emmy-nominated filmmaker Michèle Hozer and Olympic soccer legend Diana Matheson teamed up to present “The Pitch” at Cinéma du Musée. The documentary shines a light on the creation of Canada’s first professional women’s soccer league.

The film gave audiences a front-row seat to the birth of the Northern Super League (NSL), and to a movement that’s rewriting the playbook for gender equality in Canadian sport.

“When we first started, there was all this turmoil in sports in Canada as if sports was having its reckoning and the spotlight was on soccer,” said Michèle Hozer, emmy-nominated filmmaker & director of The Pitch. “And you realize how badly they were being treated, these women.”

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From scoring goals to building a league

Directed by Montreal’s own Hozer, “The Pitch” followed Matheson as she transitioned from the soccer pitch to the boardroom. The Olympic medallist and co-founder of the NSL took on one of her toughest challenges yet: launching a national women’s soccer league from the ground up.

“My good friend Natalie Cook from high school recruited me on the project,” said Hozier. “And when I thought, okay, someone’s making a sports league here in Canada, women’s sports league, I thought, oh, there’s gonna be tons of money involved until I met Diana Matheson. I thought, why is a former player the one in charge of starting a league here in Canada? And that was the pursuit of the film.”

“We were so lucky to have Michelle on board,” said Diana Matheson, founder & chief growth officer at NSL and Olympic medallist. “She ended up telling the story of the building of the league and she ended up telling the story of Canadian women’s soccer and the journey that the women have gone through to try and build the game in this country.”

With icons like Christine Sinclair by her side, Matheson’s mission to level the playing field became a powerful story of determination, teamwork and lasting change.

The Northern Super League was officially inaugurated this April with six founding clubs, including Montreal’s own Roses FC.

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Discussion focused on women’s soccer and equality

Following the screening, Hozer and Matheson joined a panel discussion that explored the challenges and opportunities in launching a professional women’s soccer league in Canada.

“It’s a powerful watch, it’s an emotional watch, it was really emotional the first time I watched it but it’s also cathartic I think and it’s a gift in a lot of ways to have the last three and a half years of my life which have been the most challenging, the hardest, the most stressful but also the most rewarding, saved in this way and catalogued forever,” said Matheson.

They were joined by Marinette Pichon, sporting director of the Montreal Roses FC, and Amy Walsh, Olympian and soccer analyst, who moderated the conversation. The panel highlighted how “The Pitch” aims to inspire change both on and off the field, emphasizing equity, access and the growing support for women’s sport across the country.

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A national tour with a purpose

The Montreal stop was part of a six-city national tour, with screenings in Calgary, Vancouver, Ottawa, Halifax and Toronto.

The documentary also appeared at film festivals across North America, including the Windsor International Film Festival, QDoc in Portland, Ore., and the Calgary Justice Film Festival.

“The one message is follow your dreams,” said Hozier. “You see Diana Matheson, she, there were a lot of naysayers. A lot of people say, you can’t do this. People don’t watch women’s sports and she just turned herself against these naysayers and found those people who believed in her. And anyone who has a dream, just do that. Find those people who believe in you and it is possible.”