Canadian Olympic hero Diana Matheson, along with former teammate and advisor Christine Sinclair, announced plans last month to launch an eight-team domestic professional women’s league in 2025. And support is growing.

“One of the real strengths of this project is it’s not very hard to get people excited about it,” Matheson told Neil Davidson of the Canadian Press. “We’ve found just so many people want to help and so many people want to make this happen.”

Matheson and her business partner Thomas Gilbert are the co-founders of Project 8, the driving force behind the league.

“It’s a Canadian league and it’s going to be Canadians across the country that are helping build this. And we’ve seen that so far… It’s really cool.”

The Vancouver Whitecaps and Calgary Foothills had already committed pre-announcement to be founding clubs, which leaves Project 8 in search of six more owners.

Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, owners of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Raptors, Argonauts, and Toronto FC, have expressed interest in women’s soccer in the past.

“I think it will be interesting to see if they decide to turn their talk into action on this one,” added Matheson.

Air Canada and CIBC are listed as founding business partners which puts Project 8 in a different echelon than previous professional Canadian soccer league proposals.

Angel City FC, of the exclusively American-based National Women’s Soccer League clubs, have a star-studded and predominately female ownership group that includes Natalie Portman, Serena Williams, Eva Longoria, and Mia Hamm, amongst others.

Putting women in strong leadership positions is a key priority for Matheson.

“What they’ve shown is how big this product, women’s professional soccer, can be when there’s a strong business model there. It’s women-led. It’s community focused. It’s player-focused. And we absolutely believe that can be built in Canadian markets as well.”

What Matheson’s role will be when the league kicks off is yet to be determined.

“I think I’ll go where I’m most needed,” said Matheson, who is the CEO of Project 8.

Providing more opportunities for Canadian players is something Matheson has been calling for since before the CanWNT’s gold medal triumph in Tokyo. This week’s NWSL Draft was proof that not enough are getting them south of the border, where Canadians count as international players. NWSL clubs are allowed to carry just four, while Matheson’s league model would limit rosters to seven foreign players.

Defender Sydney Collins was the only Canadian selected in the draft, taken eighth overall by the North Carolina Courage. 13 Canadian players went undrafted.