The Toronto-born centre-back signs with the NSL's AFC Toronto after back-to-back U Sports championships with the UBC Thunderbirds
By Eli Silverstone
Photos provided by Sarah Rollins
Sarah Rollins is about to walk out of the locker room with her University of British Columbia (UBC) teammates to compete for her first U Sports national soccer championship. Little did she know, one year later she’d find herself in the same spot.
The second-year centre-back woke up that morning the same way she had for the past five days, with exactly eight hours of sleep before heading down to the hotel breakfast to grab a peppermint tea and breakfast sandwich. Today represents an emblem and checkpoint on one of the most successful, yet challenging years of Rollins' life.
Rollins and her Thunderbirds teammates have already gone on their gameday walk, this time down to the water outside of their Kingston, Ont. hotel. They gameplan and discuss their mentality headed into the gold medal match, their third game in four days.
One hour before game time Rollins takes a little time to herself. She relaxes in her hotel room, opens her computer and faces a decision—schoolwork or watching film. With a game this important, schoolwork never had a chance. She flicks on the tape of her Trinity Western Spartan opponents before she heads to the field.
The bronze medal match is wrapping up on a cold five degree day at Richardson Memorial Stadium. Inside, Rollins lets “Sum 2 Prove” by Lil Baby stream through her headphones, despite the speaker present in the locker room.
To some, she may have already proved herself. As a freshman that season, Rollins won U Sports Rookie of the Year, Canada West Defensive Player of the Year and was a first team All-Canadian. Her teammates can attest that these awards are a byproduct of Rollins’ team-centered mentality.
“Honestly, I have never met someone that is so passionate about the game and so invested in winning no matter what it is that we're doing,” said Maddy Norman, a second-year striker on UBC.
While stoic on the pitch, Rollins dealt with initial homesickness after moving from Toronto to British Columbia.
“I’m such a Toronto person and I just love the people there and how everything works. Things work quite differently out here,” she said. Unbeknownst at the time, her dreams of playing professionally in her hometown would soon come true.
Rollins' sister, Claire, who already had a year at UBC under her belt noticed a hesitancy to Sarah’s first weeks around the team.
“I remember her telling me that she’s just gonna hang back, figure out the vibe of everyone and how this team works,” said Claire, “Which is kind of the opposite to how she is once she’s in an environment that she feels comfortable in.”
A huge boost to her confidence level came from Norman. The teammates quickly became friends when Rollins stayed at Norman’s house for training camp.
“She flew from Toronto, and I picked her up from the airport, not knowing much about her at all,” said Norman. “It was about an hour drive back to my house, and honestly, in that one hour, it was like I had been friends with her for so long.”
With a growing support system and confidence building, Rollins ended up playing the full 90 minutes in every single match that year, except one. In that one match, she was removed in the 84th minute after scoring the eventual game-winning goal.
As far as Rollins’ role on defence, the 2023 national championship match went exactly to plan. Rollins and her teammates held their opponents scoreless in the 1-0 win, a regularity after only allowing six goals in 21 games that season. A difference in this game compared to the rest: when Rollins looked up into the stands she saw her family.
“I know it really did mean a lot to her,” said Claire. “Having your family out there to support, knowing that this is important to you, but it's also important to them.”
When the 2024 national championship rolled around, Sarah's support system knew they wanted to be in attendance again. Claire, never one to miss a UBC home game, hopped on a plane with Sarah headed to Halifax as UBC looked to defend their U Sports crown.
And defend they did. The Thunderbirds put together a perfect 21-0 season, only allowing four goals all year en route to back-to-back national championships. Since Rollins put on a UBC jersey, she has captured two national titles, a Canada West title, and a sparkling 40-2 record with a 125-10 goal differential.
The recognition Rollins received through her two years at UBC provided a lot of credibility and self-belief in her soccer skills. While that confidence grew, so too did a belief that she could turn professional after university and join the growing crop of professional women's soccer leagues. As it turns out, AFC Toronto of the Northern Super League (NSL)---a new league coming to Canada this April—agreed. Rollins officially signed a two-year contract with the team on Jan. 23
“All these players want to play pro, but you never have that chance in Canada. It’s pretty awesome, especially like on a team like Toronto where I know I want to be,” said Rollins.
Rollins first started playing soccer when she was three years old. As she grew older, she continued to enjoy the sport but with a lack of female professional soccer leagues and a lack of coverage, she struggled to see a future in the sport.
“My main thought as a kid was that I couldn’t do anything with soccer,” she said. “Like, I’m not going to go pro, and I didn’t even see the [National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL)] that much.”
The Women's United Soccer Association was the first North American league to pay female soccer players as professionals. The league lasted from 2001 to 2003 before folding. The next solid attempt at a league in North America would be Women's Professional Soccer, which lasted from 2009 to 2012 before folding. Female athletes growing up in this era such as Rollins and Norman had never seen a successful women's soccer league on their side of the globe.
“Trying to find somewhere in Europe to go, that was what worried me, because I didn't want to be that far from home,” Norman said “But now, especially with all these opportunities coming to Canada, it's definitely a goal to try and find somewhere in Canada or at least the states to play.”
In 2012, the NWSL was established in the United States and has slowly grown in popularity. According to their website, attendance has increased 42% year over year and national broadcast viewership is up 95% since 2023.
This growth—which Rollins attributes to a generational shift—hasn’t come because all of a sudden women are better at soccer. It’s because viewers of the sport watch it differently.
“I think women being able to show passion for their sport really draws people to it,” said Rollins “These girls are actually able to show emotion which is what men do all the time, girls would just get called hysterical for it.”
While the NWSL grows in the U.S., the NSL will look to capture the same popularity in Canada. Not only does the NSL provide a viable option for Rollins and many other female Canadian soccer players, it provides Rollins the opportunity to return to her hometown and still be a pro.
Rollins takes her hands off her desk and leans back in her chair. Her artwork brings life to the otherwise bland dorm walls surrounding her. She takes a deep breath as a smile starts to form. She speaks about the growth of women’s soccer in Canada like a proud parent, but a wise one who knows this wasn’t always the case.
She now gets to experience it. The dedication and determination that defined her journey at UBC now empower her to achieve her full potential as a pro with AFC Toronto.
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