At a fan-owned club, a 'band of optimists' reflects Canada's soccer moment

VANCOUVER, July 1 : As fans descend on Vancouver's BC Place for World Cup matches, TSS Rovers, a supporter-owned semi-professional club from nearby Richmond, offer a reminder that Canada's soccer rise has been driven not only by elite investment but also by grassroots ambition.

Founded in 2017 out of the TSS Academy, which dates back to 1997, the club was created to provide a pathway for Canadian players to reach the professional ranks and, ultimately, the national team.

That vision has already produced notable success stories.

Men's national team defender Joel Waterman, a member of the Rovers' inaugural side, was selected for Canada for the 2022 and 2026 World Cups, although he is yet to play at the tournament. Julia Grosso, another former Rover, scored the winning penalty in Canada's Olympic gold-medal triumph in Tokyo.

"If you had told us in 2017 that within five years we would have a player that played for us, that went on, developed himself in the other levels of the Canadian game and then showed up on the national team, we would have told you you were being optimistic," Chris Corrigan, one of the club's three majority shareholders, told Reuters.

"But we're a band of optimists, so we kind of began with that in mind. To see it happen feels like a dream come true."

Competing in the British Columbia Premier League, the third tier in Canadian soccer, Rovers have also become pioneers off the pitch.

In 2021, they became Canada's first supporter-owned soccer club, a move Corrigan said was aimed at securing long-term sustainability.

Since then, more than 450 community shareholders have bought into the project. Their supporters, known as the "Swanguardians", follow both the men's and women's teams home and away, creating an