TORONTO — Kaela Hansen and Emma Regan have been friends for ever. Now they are teammates again, this time with AFC Toronto of the new Northern Super League.
"We literally started soccer together … and we basically played on every single team together up until high school," said Hansen.
They started playing together at six or seven, graduating to the Vancouver Whitecaps Girls Elite team before Hansen went to the University of Kansas and Regan to the University of Texas, both Big 12 schools at that time.
"She's an amazing player," Regan said of Hansen. "Just very fearless, A ruthless defender. Very very smart going forward as well. She's the type of player that you don't want to play against. When you see her lining up across from you, you should have a bit in fear in you.
"So I'm excited that I'm getting to do this with her and not against her."
Hansen is equally complimentary towards Regan, calling her a "natural-born leader.".
"She's very reliable and dependable, very consistent on and off the ball. She's a hard worker, very aggressive. Just a bull. And very technical too. She's very good on the ball. She's very composed."
Hansen says she started texting her bestie after AFC Toronto coach Marko Milanovic and sporting director Billy Wilson, while recruiting her, had mentioned they were also interested in Regan.
"It was already solidified that we wanted to go there, but I feel that was the cherry on top being able to play together as well," said Hansen.
Hansen, a centre back, arrives from Finland where she helped KuPS finish second in the league. Before that, she won the Serbia Super Women's Super League and League Cup with ZFK Spartak Subotica.
Regan, a midfielder with solid defensive chops who doesn't mind going forward when the time is right, arrives from Denmark where she won the league title with HB Koge.
The two are the sixth and seventh signings for AFC Toronto, joining fellow Canadians Cloey Uddenberg, Jade Kovacevic and Leah Pais and American Croix Soto and former Japanese youth international Aoi Kizaki.
The six-team women's pro league is scheduled to kick off in April.
Regan and Hansen rose up the Canadian youth ranks and started together against Cameroon at the 2016 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in Jordan. Regan has gone on to win four senior caps and played the full 90 minutes in Canada's 5-1 win over South Korea earlier this month in Spain.
Regan and her agent started reviewing their options a few months back with her contract in Denmark set to expire.
"Toronto had come to the table and they were really really encouraging from the start," said the 24-year-old from Burnaby, B.C.
"And just playing in Canada is an amazing opportunity," she added. "So I'm really happy to be there, regardless of the city. Even though I'm not in Vancouver, I think Toronto is a very cool city, a very cool place to live."
Regan enjoyed her time in Denmark, both on and off the field. Koge is just 30 minutes south from Copenhagen which she calls "an amazing city."
"Coming out of college, I just wanted a place to play and I didn't really take into account much off the field," she said. "But I got super-lucky. I hit the jackpot with this club."
Hansen enjoyed her time in Finland, although she says the language barrier was a little frustrating to start in Serbia. She worked on her language skills, which helped matters.
On the field, she got to play in the Champions League with both teams.
But like Regan, the lure of playing at home was too much to resist.
"For me it was a no-brainer," said the 24-year-old from Vancouver. "As soon as I got that opportunity to be able to come home and the NSL showed interest in me, I hopped on that right away.
"I wanted to be part of the startup of this new league. I feel like it's going to have such a big impact, not only on the players but people watching it as well."
And like Regan, Hansen says Milanovic and Wilson sold her with their values and vision of the team.
"I really bought into what they're trying to build."
Added Regan: "The vision of the entire league is something that I want to be a part of."
Both players excelled at their U.S. colleges.
Hansen finished her Kansas career as the all-time program leader in minutes played (8,302) with a school-record 98 consecutive starts. She was named to Academic All-Big 12 First Team four times.
Regan was also a four-time Academic All-Big 12 First Team selection and was named the Big 12 Conference Soccer Co-Scholar Athlete of the Year in 2022. She completed her collegiate career riding a streak of 80 consecutive starts dating back to 2018, finishing in the Longhorns' top 10 for career matches played (tied for fourth with 90) and starts (third with 89).
Regan roomed with fellow Canadian international Julia Grosso at Texas, where they played under Canada Soccer Hall of Famer Angela Kelly.
Hansen graduated with a major in sports management and a minor in business. Regan's degree was in business.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 12, 2024.
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press