A native of Mississauga who has enjoyed soccer connections in Oakville, Etobicoke, Richmond Hill and Cambridge – not to mention her playing days with the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold of the OUA – Emily Porteous made her way north roughly a week ago, recently named as the new head coach of the Laurentian Voyageurs women’s soccer team.

Just 27 years old but with a wealth of experience in all sorts of facets of soccer – her playing days stops included stints with Canisius College in Buffalo as well as the University of West Alabama before she ventured over to tackle the technical women’s soccer development directorship in both Richmond Hill and Cambridge – Porteous makes the leap to her new gig after also working as a support staff with the TMU women’s team in recent years.

“Being young, I want to take in everything I can and learn from everyone I know,” she said, highlighting the guidance received from the likes of Natalie Bukovec and John Yacou. “I’ve also had experiences and a few coaches in my career that were not my favourite, to be frank. I think I have learned a lot about who I want to be, as a coach, and who I don’t – and those will be big pieces that I bring in here, for sure.”

Still, there are things one can learn as a player and things one needs to learn once the table is turned. Handling all things technical on the women's side of the ledger for the Richmond Hill Soccer Club and given a U13 team to tackle on her own, the young woman of Scottish ancestry added a whole other layer to her base of knowledge.

"That experience was fantastic," said Porteous. "It got me into the periodization side, understanding the game. I had a lot of freedom there - and that was where I really started to blossom."

Despite her relative youth, Porteous speaks with a self-assuredness that exudes a comfortable level of confidence, striking that wonderful balance that sits between understanding that the expertise you possess is valuable and can be passed along, all while recognizing that there is still plenty to learn.

This candid belief in her convictions is evident as we discuss the start of a training camp that she has had mere weeks to prepare for. “The very first thing that I want to do when the girls arrive is to develop an identity on the pitch,” said Porteous. “This is our style of play, this is our game model, we have this down and we’re organized.”

“In terms of results, we’re not going to have them right away. They’re going to take time, they’re going to take practice, there is going to be repetition.”

A 3-0 TMU win over Laurentian last October provided a very slight amount of insight of the team that she will inherit, with Porteous fully cognizant of the need for her to get quickly up to speed with exactly the talent that she will have to work with in year one at L.U.

“My first few days, my plan is to just watch them,” she said. “I want to see the standard they are at. Everyone will have an equal opportunity on the field; everyone will have a chance to show what they can do. That way, we can see what the standard is and set expectations from there.”

“The playoffs and such will come,” she added. “If we make it this year, brilliant. If we don’t, we’re going to be okay.”