Dayna Spiring named 1st president of Winnipeg's Northern Super League soccer club

Winnipeg's Northern Super League team has yet to get a name, but it now has a president.

The soccer club announced Dayna Spiring on Tuesday as the first person to head its executive team, ahead of its inaugural 2027 season.

"Today's a pretty big day, and I'm thrilled," Spring told CBC Manitoba Information Radio host Marcy Markusa in a Tuesday interview.

"Through the NSL and this team in Winnipeg, a whole generation of Canadian girls are going to be able to see themselves playing professional sports. It feels pretty great to be a part of that."

Spiring, who was born in Brandon and raised in Winnipeg, has deep experience across many organizations as former chief strategy officer and general counsel of the Canadian Wheat Board, a former director of Manitoba Hydro, former president and CEO of Economic Development Winnipeg and current vice-chair of CancerCare Manitoba Foundation.

In 2019, she became the first woman to serve as chair of the Winnipeg Football Club board of directors and later that year became the first woman to have her name engraved on the Grey Cup.

"I stepped down from my CEO role [with Economic Development Winnipeg] a couple of years ago and I knew it was going to take something pretty incredible to bring me back to a full-time role. And this is it," Spiring said.

"This just seemed like that next big leap for me."

Winnipeg expansion team, led by Desiree Scott, set to become NSL's 7th franchise

The Northern Super League launched in 2025 with six teams: Calgary Wild FC, Halifax Tides FC, Montreal Roses FC, Ottawa Rapid FC, AFC Toronto and Vancouver Rise FC.

Winnipeg was officially announced as the seventh franchise — and first expansion team — on July 14.

The team was co-founded by Winnipeg's Desiree Scott, a