T
he NSL’s Montreal Roses will be the third pro team 24-year-old Tanya Boychuk has suited up for, after stints in Iceland and Sweden. Last season, the Edmonton-born striker was her team’s leading scorer in the Swedish Damallsvenskan, a league considered among the best in the world. Boychuk lived in the little town of Vittsjo, home to some 1,800 people. “I loved it — I loved my team, I loved the little village I lived in. Everyone comes out and supports, so it’s a very special community,” she says.

Boychuk and her teammates were local celebrities, and she figures it was due to the small population, which included many retirees. “Everyone would show up to games, and they would bring me cookies — they loved to bake things,” she says. “After training, there would be four or five different fans watching and they’d come with pastries, cinnamon buns, cookies, muffins, you name it. Three times a week.

“It was a problem, okay?” Boychuk adds, laughing. “We’re like, ‘You’ve gotta stop. What’s the occasion?’ They’re like, ‘It’s Wednesday.’”

Boychuk couldn’t resist the chocolate muffins. “She called it a muffin…but it was definitely a cupcake,” she says, with a grin.