VANCOUVER — Anja Heiner-Moller has made a conscious habit of saying yes to opportunities over her long soccer career.
Now the Danish coach is seizing a big one as she becomes the first head coach of Vancouver Rise FC — and she's creating chances for others in the process.
“This is about opportunity to create role models and leaders," Heiner-Moller said on a video call Thursday. "So we have a huge opportunity to inspire a lot of girls and boys and youth in Vancouver with this team. And I’m really looking forward to that.”
Heiner-Moller, 46, joins the Northern Super League club following two years as head coach of Denmark's U-19 national women's team.
Despite a nine-hour time difference between Denmark and Vancouver, she's been following the development of Canada's first professional women's league closely over the past three years.
"For Canada to have this league, it’s just a huge deal," she said. "I just feel the joy for these girls to have a women’s team to look up to.”
Heiner-Moller knows what it's like to have limited options as a player.
She played in more than 250 games for Danish clubs Brondby IF, Odense Boldklub and Hillerod G & I, and represented Denmark in 44 national team games before having to choose between playing and her studies in her mid-20s.
“I jumped directly into coaching and I haven’t been out of it since," said the UEFA Pro licensed coach who also has a master's degree in sports science.
Before taking over Denmark's U-19 squad, Heiner-Moller coached in the Danish women's league. She also spent three years as an academy coach with Vancouver Whitecaps FC and North Shore Girls Soccer Club between 2018 to 2020 when her husband Kenneth Heiner-Moller was head coach of the Canadian women's team.
The Heiner-Moller family — which includes two teenage daughters — has long wanted to return to Vancouver, Anja Heiner-Moller said.
“People are open-minded, it’s a multicultural place, people are respectful," she said. "I love the mountains, I love the outdoor life, the ocean is there, the forest. I don’t know what you don’t have, actually.”
There will be many flights in the family's future, however. Earlier this month, Kenneth Heiner-Moller was announced as technical director of Major League Soccer's San Diego FC ahead of the expansion club's first season.
"We had huge decisions to make at the same time and we decided these are two careers. We didn’t want to say no to any of these (opportunities)," Anja Heiner-Moller said. "We wanted to say two yeses, so that’s what we’ve done.”
Rise sporting director Stephanie Labbé is glad they did.
The club had "a ton of interest" in the head coach job, she said, and Heiner-Moller was a candidate who quickly stood out.
“From the first interview we did with Anja, I could see that our vision and goals really aligned well, along with playing style," Labbé said.
Heiner-Moller's plan for a possession-based, attack-focused team fit with what Rise wanted, she added. The club also liked the tactical knowledge and attention to detail she brings, as well as the way she spoke about working with young players.
“(We liked) Anja’s character and her passion for wanting to help athletes not just grow as athletes but as individuals and as humans," Labbé said.
With just months to go before the inaugural NSL kicks off in April 2025, Labbé, Heiner-Moller and the rest of the club still have ample work to do.
More announcements about additions to the team will come soon, Labbé said, noting that she's been working on building the roster for months.
Rise wants to sign top-quality players in order to build a team that can compete not only in the NSL, but in tournaments such as the CONCACAF Champions Cup, she said.
“First and foremost, we’re looking to bring in players with professional experience," the sporting director said. "I think that’s the key, to make sure we have leaders in the locker room, that we have players who’ve been through a professional year, professional season and they can help bring that professionalism to help teach as well.”
Heiner-Moller isn't deterred by the challenge ahead.
“Women’s soccer is growing so fast. It’s crazy to look back and see how much it’s improved in years," she said. "I just feel joy about the under 19s I’m coaching now that their value as a soccer player is growing, it’s exploding. And all the opportunities are just open for them.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 21, 2024.
Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press