PLAYER PROFILE – Emma Regan, the AFC Toronto BC defender/midfielder, will play for her second professional soccer team this year. The 5 ft 6+1⁄2-inch player played in British Columbia in her youth career before moving overseas. She was born in Northern Vancouver but grew up in Burnaby, British Columbia.
AFC Toronto Signs CANWNT International Player: Emma Regan
Emma Regan: Growing Up
Growing up, Emma Regan was born to a sports family as both her father and mother played sports. Regan herself played soccer, swimming, and lacrosse. Some favourite players she idolized growing up included Christine Sinclair and Sidney Crosby, with teams she supported including FC Barcelona and the Seattle Seahawks. Regan first played at six years old with the Burnaby Girls SC and then played with the Mountain United FC and the Vancouver Whitecaps REX program. Regan talked about playing sports growing up (Source: SHE scores bangers YouTube Account):
Some of her notable youth achievements were carrying the British Columbia flag in the 2017 Canada Games opening ceremony as well as winning a Concacaf 2014 gold U-15 and a Concacaf 2015 silver U-20 competition. She would also win the CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Championship in Honduras. This is what Regan said about what it means to be the flagbearer of British Columbia (Source: Burnaby Now):
“It’s definitely up there, to represent Canada. To be a flagbearer and represent Team B.C. is also a huge honour for me,” said the Burnaby Central student. “This is, like, my first games where it’s going to be multi-sports, athletes from all over B.C. and from all different sports competing together.
Regan participated in the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Jordan 2016 competition, the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Papua New Guinea 2016, and the 2020 Concacaf Women’s Under-20 Championship in Dominican Republic.
Source: Canada Soccer
Emma Regan: Texas Longhorns
Emma Regan travelled away from home for the first time when she started to play for the Texas Longhorns, which is a sports team of the University of Texas. This is why Regan chose Texas for her collegiate career (Source: Texas Longhorns YouTube Account):
As a freshman, Regan appeared in 14 matches and started in 13 of those games. This also included playing every minute of the Big 12 Championship. Despite being a full-back, she also contributed offensively, drawing a penalty against Kansas in her Big 12 debut on October 19. Other noteworthy moments included earning two assists, including her first-ever assist to Cyera Hintzen’s goal in a 2-1 overtime win over UCF on August 24. In that year, Regan made the 2018 Top Drawer Soccer National Preseason Best XI Freshman Team.
In Regan’s rookie year, Nicole Curry had a lot of positives to say about Regan as she said this (Source: Texas Longhorns YouTube Account on September 21, 2018):
In her sophomore year, Regan took a step up, starting all 20 matches and playing the second-most minutes on the team. She had two assists that year, including a 30-yard pass past the back line to Cyera Hintzen for the game-winning goal against Kansas on September 26. She made the 2019 Preseason All-Big 12 Conference Team and the 2019 All-Big 12 Conference Second Team that year.
Then, in her junior year, which happened during COVID-19, she started all 12 games and led the team in minutes played. In that year, Regan scored her first-ever collegiate goal (and also an assist) against Kansas State on October 9, 2020. She also dished out another assist to Mackenzie McFarland’s goal in the 3-0 win over the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on March 26, 2021. Then in her senior year, she continued playing valuable minutes as she started in all 22 games for her collegiate team. In that year, she was most known for breaking a new program record with a shutout streak of 552:56 that went from Sept. 30 against No. 10 TCU to Oct. 24 against Oklahoma State.
Another thing to note was that with the Texas Longhorns, Regan has also developed into a midfielder, meaning she can play both the defender and midfielder positions.
Source for the information above: Texas Longhorns Website
Emma Regan – Club Career
Regan’s club career started with the TSS FC Rovers in 2018 and Varsity FC in 2022, scoring two goals for each club. In fact, with Varsity FC, she helped the team win the championship. This helped Regan get a signed contract with HB Køge Women of the Danish First Division.
HB Køge (2023-24)
Emma Regan scored the first of two goals scored by HB Køge Women’s team against Kolding on May 5, 2023, as seen above. Regan would score three goals in all for her Danish club. She also helped HB Køge, win the title in 2023. This is what HB Køge Director, Dennis Bauer, said about Regan as she got ready for her departure from the team (Source: HB Køge):
“Emma has been a leading figure on our team in recent years, where she has taken on a lot of responsibility. She has developed greatly with us and has become a permanent fixture around the strong Canadian national team, so we can be proud of that. The decision is Emma’s and we fully respect it. A new exciting adventure awaits her and we wish her all the best,” says sports director at HB Køge Dennis Bauer.
It was already revealed in that same article that Regan has worn the captain’s armband on many different occasions, which shows how important she was to the club.
AFC Toronto (2025-Present)
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Regan will now play for her second professional soccer team. However, now for the first time, she will play for a club in Ontario with AFC Toronto. This is what Regan said about signing with AFC Toronto and why she signed with the team (Source: John Molinaro of TFC Republic):
“I just started kind of thinking about what was next and thinking about my next steps. AFC Toronto reached out and was showing interest, and I was really encouraged by all of our talks with the coaching staff and the sporting director. I think their values, their vision for the club is something that I really want to be a part of,” Regan explained.
There are some noteworthy head coaches and athletes who like Regan’s game. This is what former Vancouver Whitecaps Girls Elite team, and now AFC Toronto teammate, Kaela Hansen, said about her:
Finally, this is what AFC Toronto head coach, Marko Milanovic, said about Regan (Source: AFC Toronto Press Release Statement):
“Emma exemplifies the ambition, hunger and leadership we look for in a player. She’s a natural leader who has excelled across national team programs and has continued to rise with a determination to play at the highest level,” said Milanovic, Head Coach of AFC Toronto. “Her versatility in midfield, strong fundamentals, and relentless drive to develop make her a perfect fit for our club’s vision.”
It was a big steal for AFC to get Regan, especially considering that she is from British Columbia and that the Vancouver Rise FC might have tried to lure her back to her home province. Regan also has some experience with the CANWNT, which is a big plus for a new league just getting started.
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CANWNT (2018-Present)
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Regan made her debut with the senior national team at just 18 years old. This was in June 2018 in a FIFA friendly against Germany. She was called up for the national team again in the 2018 Concacaf Women’s Championship, where Regan played against Cuba. She was then given a chance again to play for the national team for the first time in five years in 2023. This is what Regan said and also thanked her teammates at HB Køge:
With the Northern Super League/Super Ligue du Nord now in Canada, expect Regan and other Canadian athletes to get a lot more looks and coverage from the new CANWNT head coach, Casey Stoney as she said when she was asked about the NSL/SLN:
“Yeah, I think it’ll only give credibility to the league. It’ll give credibility to Canadian soccer. I think for me, it’s going to be a league that continues to grow, and it fully has my support. You know, I think Diana Matheson has done a fantastic job, and what she’s put in place so far, I can’t wait to support her to make sure this league continues to grow into what it fully can be.”
This quote seen above shows how much Stoney believes in the NSL/SLN and will likely look at the league for future players. Regan is also one of two NSL/SLN players to make the February CANWNT roster.
AFC Toronto Gets Ready for Their Inaugural Season
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While no schedule has been released yet (one will be released on February 20), On February 3, AFC Toronto had their first-ever training session with all smiles as they get ready for the inaugural season for the club, with at least most of the games being played at York Lions Stadium. Games will be shown nationally live on TSN/RDS as well as CBC/Ici Radio-Canada Télé.
Photo Credit: AFC Toronto on December 12, 2024.
