Pandas athletes are still on the same team after 20 years

Twenty years after stepping onto the soccer pitch together, Janelle Janis, Keshia Weatherald (née Wallin) and Lyndsay Stewart are still teammates. Since graduating from the Alberta School of Business, they’ve built careers in sport, accounting, business and leadership. They’ve pursued further education, raised families, navigated career changes and celebrated milestones together. Through it all, one thing has remained constant: they’ve continued showing up for each other.

For Janis, ‘09 BCom, ‘21 MBA, who is the Executive Director of Event Attraction & Sponsorship at Explore Edmonton, one of the biggest lessons learned from playing Pandas soccer came from understanding what it meant to be part of a team where everyone was talented. Growing up, she had often been one of the strongest players on the field, but varsity sport challenged her to think differently.

"When you get to that level, everyone is phenomenal," she says. "Eventually, you stop worrying about being the number one player and start asking how you can make the team better. That's a mindset that's stayed with me throughout my career."

The same lesson has also stayed with Stewart, ‘09 BCom, ‘24 MBA, who is now an Executive Advisor with the Government of Alberta. Being a good teammate, she says, is about supporting the team, contributing where you’re needed and helping everyone succeed, even if you do not fully agree with the decision sometimes. 

Weatherald, BCom ’11, is a Chartered Accountant (CA) who also holds a Master of Professional Accounting from the University of Saskatchewan, currently working as a consultant, points to grit as one of the most valuable skills she gained from playing all five years.  “It is not okay to just give up because you do not like something or find it challenging. Those difficult situations help build your character,” she says. 

Janis took something different from her experience. She learned that how she showed up for her teammates each day influenced far more than her own performance — it helped shape the kind of team they became. She believes that being a good teammate and leader means making the people around you better. 

Together, those lessons shaped the leaders they’ve become, but if you ask the three women what has stayed with them from experiencing it firsthand, it’s knowing how to show up for someone else.

“On the field, if a teammate was struggling, another would step in without question. The conversation might come later, but first came the support.” says Stewart.

In that moment, what mattered was making sure their teammate knew they weren’t facing it alone.

Today, that instinct shows up in the way they support colleagues, friends and family. They know how to recognize when someone needs help, how to step in without judgment and how to have honest conversations when they are needed.

For all three women, those hard-earned lessons were earned during long days that demanded just as much off the field as on it, and their  time as student-athletes required them to grow up quickly. Balancing varsity athletics with a business degree meant training six days a week, studying on buses, finishing papers in hotel rooms and sometimes writing exams while travelling for games. At the time, those moments were stressful. Looking back, they have become some of the memories they laugh about most.

As high-achieving women, athletes, professionals and mothers, all three say they have had to unlearn the idea that strength means handling everything alone. Instead, their friendship has become a place where they can be honest about the hard moments without pretending to have everything figured out. 

“We have seen so many versions of each other,” Weatherald says. “It is a safe place to talk about the challenges we are having in life, whether that is professionally, personally or in motherhood.

They remain part of one another’s lives, not only as former teammates, but as friends who have built a community around each other. That sense of community is also what keeps them connected to the U of A.

For the three alumni, Pandas soccer is not something that ends when eligibility does. It is a lifelong community — a sisterhood — of women who understand the experience and can help guide those who come next. 

“As a Pandas athlete, you are joining decades of sister Pandas who came before you,” says Janis.

She believes one of the greatest investments we can make in the next generation is encouraging more girls to play sports. Research has linked girls' participation in sport with leadership later in life, but she also believes one of sport's greatest gifts is the sense of belonging it creates. It brings together young women who celebrate each other's successes, show up for one another when it matters most and continue cheering each other on long after the final whistle.

“Many of them start out as teammates, and leave as lifelong friends,” says Janis. Two decades after playing Pandas soccer together, Janis, Stewart and Weatherald are a testament to that, alongside many of their other teammates.

Over the years, all three of them have met with current and former Pandas players for coffee, mentorship and career advice. They want students to know that there are alumni who have been in their shoes and who are willing to help them navigate life after varsity sport, which can be particularly valuable to business students who don’t often have a clearly defined path after graduation

Their advice to students is simple: Believe in yourself. Be kind to yourself. It’s okay to admit when something is difficult. And remember that struggling does not mean you are failing — it means you are learning. Years after their time on campus, the three friends are still carrying forward the lessons they learned as Pandas: work hard, stay humble, support your teammates and make sure the people coming after you know they are not alone.