Montreal’s lesbo-queer soccer league takes the field
The JUKE Collective aims to connect soccer and queerness
Parc Saint-Michel in the Plateau is lively on a gloomy Sunday evening. This is where around 30 lesbo-queer women, transgender folks and non-binary people come to play pick-up soccer every week. While the turnout is a bit smaller this time around because of the pre-match rain, the energy is still electric, both on and off the field.
The weekly pickup games are part of JUKE, a lesbo-queer and trans inclusive soccer collective established in 2022 in Montreal. Based on the values of equity, inclusivity, collaboration, safety and respect, the volunteer-run league creates a space for beginners and experienced players in the 2SLGBTQI+ community to play “the beautiful game.”
“I used to play soccer when I was a kid, and I tried to play when I moved to Montreal. I played maybe once or twice in co-ed leagues, and it wasn’t great, so I just stopped playing altogether,” Cath Lafortune says, reflecting on their own experience playing in traditional co-ed soccer leagues and underlining the importance of spaces like JUKE.
Laf, one of the organizers of the weekly recreational leagues, echoes this sentiment.
“Oftentimes, playing sports in mixed teams, it’s just a different vibe. You don’t get as many passes, and the spirit is harsher,” they said.
They shared how important it is to create inclusive spaces where the queer community can build connections through sports such as soccer. This is not limited to the field, as friends and family come to cheer the players on while building a community of their own on the sidelines.
The players, also known as Jukies, drop in for weekly games or sign up for a season pass, with a discounted rate for Black, Indigenous and racialized players. Funds raised through season passes and drop-ins cover costs such as renting the field and purchasing pinnies and equipment. In the summer, players are divided into teams when they arrive on the pitch, while teams are created ahead of time for the indoor fall and winter seasons.
Last fall, after responding to community demands to play at a more advanced level, JUKE launched Montreal’s first competitive lesbo-queer soccer league, which follows a championship format.
Charlotte Carl is the captain of her team in the competitive league.
“Despite my queer identity, I think it’s a thing of pride that you can still play despite who you are because soccer can be very cis-men-centric sometimes,” Carl said.
Carl has followed her passion for soccer for 25 years in India, the United Kingdom and Canada. She said she is grateful for the opportunity to continue playing the sport through JUKE over the last two years.
“I feel really happy that a place like JUKE exists where trans, non-binary and even gender-fluid people can play,” Carl said.
She highlighted the importance of such inclusive spaces to build companionship, community and support systems for queer people.
For Lafortune, JUKE creates a space to reconnect with the sport while navigating their queerness.
“I guess I came into my queerness at the same time as I started coming to JUKE. So this was me coming back to the sport I love,” Lafortune said, who has been playing in the JUKE leagues for four years.
They also shared how co-ed leagues emphasize gender, namely by requiring teams to have two female players on the field at all times. Lafortune said players are perceived through their gender before they even step onto the field, as teammates express their surprise that they are “good for a girl” or are simply looking to meet the gender quota to play.
JUKE forgoes such rules.
“It’s a space where you don’t have to think about your gender on the field. It’s not part of the interaction," Lafortune said. "For me, I’m finding a way back to a sport without having to think about gender, without having to justify who I am.”
While the weekly soccer collective is an introductory space to queerness, Lafortune also said their relationship with JUKE is constantly evolving as they navigate their own queer journey.
The collective is also a space for new players to learn and enjoy soccer. Riley Dupuis, who never played the sport before, was introduced to the weekly matches through a friend. Now, three years later, they are one of the collective’s organizers.
JUKE is engaged in various social and political causes here in Montreal. During the summer, the collective organized a Queer World Cup as part of Wild Pride. The tournament brought together 60 players to celebrate pride through soccer.
In December 2023, JUKE hosted a solidarity match for Palestine before a protest. Their Instagram account affirmed that “as a queer and trans soccer collective, JUKE firmly supports Palestinian liberation, opposes Zionist occupation and condemns so-called Canada’s complicity in Israel’s ongoing genocide.”
JUKE is also registered as a non-profit organization in Quebec and has a board of members to oversee the collective. Dupuis emphasizes the importance of not only having a transparent board, but also one that is decentralized and allows players to provide feedback, discuss suggestions and voice their concerns.
As people come in and out of the collective, Dupuis also shared the challenge of knowledge retention, which is necessary to ensure JUKE is sustainable.
“One thing we want to work on is to pass on more knowledge to the next generation to take over what we worked on this season,” Dupuis said.
To do this, organizers document behind-the-scenes efforts that go into running JUKE smoothly, from logistics to scheduling.
The collective hopes more Jukies will play in their recreational and competitive leagues in the upcoming year. The summer season wraps up on Sept. 27, with a short break before the fall leagues start in October.
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