By Canadian Press

Wild FC signs 17-year-old Calgary twins Keelyn and Taegan Stewart

Jan 27, 2025 | 4:21 PM

CALGARY — Twin sisters Keelyn and Taegan Stewart always know where the other is on the soccer pitch.

The 17-year-old siblings from Calgary became the youngest players to sign with their hometown Wild FC as the women’s pro club prepares for the Northern Super League launch in April.

“Some people say we read each other’s minds,” Keelyn said Monday

“Doesn’t happen, but we can just read where we’re going to play and we can see where the space is and where we should be moving into, which helps us deliver a pass and play together.”

Added Taegan: “We really started playing together when we were three years old. We connect really well on the field. Some people call it unfair, but if you play with someone as long as we have, you can’t really complain.”

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As of Monday, the Stewarts were the youngest player signees announced in the NSL, which will include clubs in Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax.

The Stewarts made their Canadian international debuts at age 14 in the 2022 Concacaf girls’ under-15 championship in Tampa, Fla.

Taegan scored a goal set up by Keelyn in a 5-0 win over Jamaica to start the tournament. Canada reached the final and lost 4-1 to host United States.

The midfielders also played for Wales last year in a pair of under-19 friendlies against Portugal.

They were members of the Vancouver Whitecaps FC Girls’ Elite Academy in 2022.

The Stewarts spent the last year and a half travelling back and forth to Germany where they trained with Freiburg FC’s developmental women’s teams

They’d signed a contract to play for Freiburg’s under-20 women in 2025, but changed course after a recent conversation with Wild sporting director Alix Bruch and head coach Lydia Bedford newly hired from England.

“We met with the coach, Lydia, and she has a very experienced background with developing youth players, and that was a big part in our decision on staying, to develop over the next couple years under her and the coaching staff as well,” Keelyn said.

Their father Darren said his daughters have talked of playing professionally since they were 10 years old when they trained with boys at Barca Academy in Barcelona. They returned the following year to play on an all-boys team in the academy’s World Cup.

The Stewarts will play with and against women a decade or more older than them in the NSL, which is why they chose that option.

“It’s not really intimidating,” Taegan said. “If you’re good enough, you’re old enough. That’s actually what Lydia told us. She said she’ll give us a chance if we’re good enough.”

Darren and his wife Rhian expected to log more miles in the air following their well-travelled daughters — until the Wild came calling.

“It’s a bit of a surprise, but it’s a nice surprise,” Darren said. “We’ve been planning for them to move to Germany in six months, and now they’re going to be staying home.

“They’re the youngest and they’re playing against, I think the league average is around 27, so they’re playing against ladies that are very experienced. Lydia has a phenomenal background in coaching high-performance youth in England, and she’s been very clear with what the path is for Taegan and Keelyn.

“After speaking with her and having the chance to ask all our questions, we feel really confident this is the right thing for them, but it’s going to be a progression. They’re going to have a lot to learn in this environment.”

Keelyn says her sister is more creative on the ball and further along using both feet to attack. Taegan calls her sibling versatile.

“She likes to score goals but also set up her teammates. She’s not a selfish player,” Taegan said. “She likes to drive forward, take people on and she’s not afraid to to make a tackle if she has to on defence. She does her job in the box and she does the job in our box too.”

The twins have a few more years to decide which country they’ll represent internationally. Their mother Rhian has a Welsh background.

“We’re going to wait and see,” Taegan said. “We applied for British citizenship to see if Wales wants us, then we have that option, but if Canada comes along, we’ll keep our doors open.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan, 27.

Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press

<!– Photo: 7c398770bbb359b58154dda24d5f46fd6063ac424b4878e33d3c6abf1a2c6524.jpg, Caption:

Taegan, left, and Keelyn Stewart, twin teenage soccer stars do drills at practice, they will now be playing for the Calgary Wild FC in Calgary, Alta., Monday, Jan. 27, 2025.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Todd Korol

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