Gilles feels right at home in the NWSL

For many players, there is an adjustment period when they first join the National Women’s Soccer League. It’s a faster, more physical game than many are used to.

But not Canadian defender Vanessa Gilles, who was immediately in her comfort zone.

“I think coming into the NWSL, I knew it was more my style of play, if I'm being honest,” Gilles said. “In terms of physicality, defending, reading plays – I think that's something that is my DNA and my bread and butter when I'm playing.”

Gilles is in her first season in the NWSL with expansion club Angel City FC, which is based out of Los Angeles. The centre back from Ottawa made the move after playing for four seasons with Bordeaux in France’s top league.

But making the jump from Europe to the NWSL hasn’t been as big a transition for Gilles as some may have expected.

She has found immediate success, starting in the first seven games of the regular season before joining the Canadian national team for international duty late last month, and was named to the NWSL Best XI for May.

“The NWSL is a very transitional game, and you're exposed more than you are in any other league,” Gilles told TSN last month. “Speed of play, you're pressed for 90 minutes from the other team, making decisions quicker – that’s all something that I think is going to help my game tremendously, and that's also a reason why I decided to come here.”

Bev Priestman, head coach of Canada’s women’s team, believes Gilles made the right decision.

“I think it was a great move for her. I think she needed it,” Priestman told TSN. “I think the nature of that league actually lends itself to Vanessa, probably bringing in her best attributes, which is emergency defending, putting her body on the line.”

Despite the expansion club tag, Angel City currently finds itself sixth in the table, holding on to a playoff spot. The team already has a loyal fanbase, averaging approximately 18,000 in attendance at Banc of California Stadium.

“They get a massive following, week in week out, which is dealing with pressure, which for someone so, I guess you could say, new in their international career – that's only going to help her in the long run,” Priestman said.

Gilles, 26, is not only relatively new in her international career, with 19 appearances for Canada, but to the sport in general. She didn’t start playing soccer until she was 16, and despite her remarkable success over the past decade, including earning Olympic gold last summer, she acknowledges that there are still shortcomings to her game.

“I think I'm not a very technical player. I've never outwardly said that. It's definitely something that I've been working on, day in and day out,” she said. “Having started soccer so late in my career, obviously I have a lot of catching up to do.”

Despite the game in Europe usually being more focused on technical play, Gilles admits she thought she would be playing her club soccer overseas for much longer.

“I think in terms of European soccer, I will be going back at some point in my career, for sure. I think Champions League is the best tournament that you could ever compete in and play in,” she said. “But I think an opportunity like Angel City only presents itself maybe once in a lifetime, being part of a club and being the first to do it.”

Speaking of firsts, Gilles quickly etched her name in Angel City’s history books, scoring the first regular-season goal in franchise history just over two minutes into the season opener. But Gilles is quick to shrug off the accomplishment.

“I think that's just a stat,” she said. “For me, it's more so at the end of the season, looking back and seeing the impact that we've had on the community and the standard that we've been able to set as an expansion team is what's really going to make the most to me.”

That standard is part of the reason Gilles was drawn to Angel City. She admits she had reservations about the NWSL, especially after the league was rocked by multiple allegations of abuse and misconduct from various coaches and others in power over the past year.

But she believed the new expansion club stood for change. Angel City was founded by several prominent women, including actor and activist Natalie Portman, media and gaming entrepreneur Julie Uhrman, and Kara Nortman, a managing partner at Upfront Ventures. Several more renowned women have joined the club as investors, including Serena Williams and former U.S. national team star Abby Wambach.

“I think when Angel City came to me and presented this project to me, it was all about women empowerment, equal pay, a safe place to play, a safe place to speak, a safe place to be yourself, and to represent something more than just soccer,” Gilles said.

“I think that was huge for me in coming here. It wasn't just about the soccer aspect. It was about sticking up for what's right and being a part of a project that wants to change the status quo.”

Gilles also credits head coach Freya Coombe for creating an inclusive and safe environment.

“She won't scream at you for trying to pass. She won't punish you for making a mistake. That's something that I respect,” she said. “One of her best qualities as a coach is the trust that she has in players. Bev with Canada has a similar attitude in terms of trusting the players to do their job and not trying to micromanage.”

Gilles and Canada are currently in Monterrey, Mexico for the CONCACAF W Championship, which serves as qualifiers for both the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup and the 2024 Paris Olympics. Canada kicks off the tournament on Tuesday against Trinidad and Tobago.

While the team is fighting for qualification to two major tournaments on the field, off of it, the players are embroiled in negotiations with Canada Soccer for equal pay.

“It's been a long road to get even to this point of where we're at in the negotiations,” Gilles said. “I think Canada Soccer, the fact that they're willing to negotiate is already a good first step. I think we're headed in the right direction. We're not there yet. But we know what we were fighting for, and we know what we'll accept.”

Gilles points to her Angel City teammate Christen Press as an invaluable resource as Canadian players strive for equality. Press, a long-time member of the U.S. national team, was a key figure in the American players’ fight for equal pay, an agreement that was finally reached in May with U.S. Soccer after years of strife between the two sides.

“Having people like Christen Press kind of opened my eyes and let me know we do deserve the best,” she said. “I think Christen is an incredible advocate for women's rights. And I think any opportunity she can take to stick up for women, stick up for equal pay, and stick up for equality – she'll take.”

Gilles believes conversations the two have had over the current situations with their respective federations have been monumental in helping to shape her own views.

“She's the first to kind of gawk and be like, ‘You need to do something.’ Having that kind of push has been tremendous,” she said.

“I think we can, as team, as a country, come to the point that [the U.S. has] reached. I just hope that it doesn't take the same amount of years of fighting with the federation to get to that point.”