Soccer legend Marinette Pichon ready for next challenge with NSL's Montreal Roses

Marinette Pichon has never shied away from a challenge.

Widely regarded as the first French female soccer star, Pichon also made a difference off the field by championing women's and LGBTQ rights throughout her playing career in the 1990s and 2000s.

Now she's helping make history in Canada as sporting director for the Northern Super League's Montreal Roses FC.

"A chance to write a new story, a unique one, starting your own legacy in Canada," Pichon said. "It was a very big challenge to say, 'You know what? Start from nowhere. Just a clean sheet."'

The long-awaited Canadian women's pro league launched Wednesday with a match between Vancouver Rise FC and Calgary Wild FC. The Roses begin their inaugural season Saturday at AFC Toronto before hosting their home opener May 3 against Ottawa Rapid FC.

It's a new chapter for the 49-year-old Pichon, whose storied legacy in France inspired books and films.

Her accomplishments include 81 goals in 112 international appearances that set a national team standard until Eugenie Le Sommer broke her scoring record in 2020.

Pichon also led France to its first Women's World Cup in 2003, scoring the country's first-ever goal at the tournament. She became the first French female soccer player to sign a professional contract the previous year, flying overseas to join the Philadelphia Charge of the now-defunct Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA).

All this after a traumatic childhood, where playing soccer offered an escape from a difficult home life.

Pichon has described her father as a violent alcoholic — the "devil incarnate" when intoxicated. When she was a young adult, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for sexually assaulting her grandmother.

Despite that difficult upbringing, she