Calgary Wild Announce First Player Signing of NHL Club Investor Muhtaj Morrissey

Calgary Wild FC named Afghan-Canadian midfielder Farkhunda Muhtaj as their first player and also announced Winnipeg Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey as an investor in the soccer club.

Wild FC is one of six teams from the Northern Super League that will begin play in 2025 in a Canadian professional soccer league.

Muhtaj, 26, captained Afghanistan’s women’s soccer team when they played internationally and also played Canadian college soccer at York, where she was also captain.

Her parents immigrated from Afghanistan to Toronto when she was two years old.

From her home in Canada, she helped evacuate the girls’ youth team and their families from Afghanistan in 2021 after the Taliban took over the country, where women and girls were no longer allowed to play sports.

In a mission called Operation Soccer Balls, it was Muhtaj who was in contact with the girls and their families and helped get them safely from Afghanistan to Portugal.

Having also played professionally in Turkey and the Netherlands, Muhtaj says he signed with Calgary because of the club’s mission on and off the court.

“We knew they were going to be fierce competitors on the field and have that winning mentality, but off the field they wanted to make sure that the purpose and the intent and the social impact and the community initiatives were at the forefront and really enabled access. newcomers, women and girls and ensuring they are empowered for life through sport,” she said at a news conference in downtown Calgary on Friday.

Morrissey, who is from Calgary, and his wife Margot joined the club’s founding investor group.

Morrissey, 29, entered his 10th season with the Winnipeg Jets and was in Calgary ahead of Saturday’s game against the Flames.

“With the success that our Canadian women’s national team has had internationally in recent years, it’s crazy to think that we don’t have a professional league in Canada,” Morrissey said.

“Since my wife and I both spend our off-seasons here in Calgary, it’s a natural fit.”

Muhtaj, whose name is pronounced FARK’-hoon-da MOO’-taj, continues to use sports to support refugee settlement in Canada through the Scarborough Simbas recreational soccer team and by founding Ayenda FC, which is the unofficial soccer organization for Afghan youth. The team in 2021.

“We often dehumanize individuals who are going through difficult situations, and especially in regards to the Middle East or war, because we feel like that’s been normalized for too long,” she said.

“What I hope to do is help individuals realize the humanity behind all the obstacles and difficulties, but also the resilience that comes with that, the determination to get out of those situations and then also when they heal through it, how can I use sport to be a catalyst for change.”

Morrissey says signing Muhtaj was a big first for a team he now owns.

“I got to hear his story and it’s just incredible,” he said. “That’s something that I think this league is really going to do for amazing athletes, is give them a platform in Canada to tell their stories, stories like Far’s, which are amazing.

“For Calgary FC here, to have someone like her come into the fold is really a big plus not only on the field but off the field and what she can add to the community and how she can tell her story it is inspiring. .”

Professional women’s soccer teams in Calgary, Halifax, Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver are scheduled to begin play in April 2025.

The NSL was founded by former Team Canada player and two-time Olympic bronze medalist Diana Matheson.

Canadian soccer star Christine Sinclair is on board as co-owner of Vancouver Rise.

The Wild introduced Lara Murphy as the club’s chief executive and Lisa Oldridge as its finance and operations director earlier this week. The team will play at McMahon Stadium.

Murphy pointed out that Muhtaj could have chosen to sign with AFC Toronto of the NSL.

“Monumental for the player’s first announcement, community activism, who she is as a person on and off the field,” Murphy said.

“It speaks volumes about what we’re doing and what the province will enjoy.”

Given the profile of NHL players in Canada, the CEO calls Morrissey’s involvement significant.

“It’s incredible that Josh has stepped forward because it just paves the way for other investments and how we can support men in sport and men can support women in sport,” Murphy said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on October 25, 2024.