HIGH ACHIEVERS: All-star defender Adriane Devlin returns to uOttawa for more education, soccer

By Martin Cleary

Adriane Devlin just can’t get enough of the University of Ottawa, when it comes to academic studying.

And, for that matter, soccer as well.

Devlin studied at the downtown Ottawa university for five years (2019-24), earned a degree in psychology and played four noteworthy seasons with the Gee-Gees women’s soccer team.

A full-time job followed for the next two years with an independent medical examination company. And she satisfied her craving for soccer by playing with the semi-pro Simcoe County Rovers FC of the Ontario Premier League 1.

But a year ago, Devlin started to think more about her long-term future and made a critical decision.

“I wanted more education,” Devlin said confidently in a phone interview on Wednesday. “I’m going into the first year of my masters program in mental performance consulting.”

It seems like a perfect area of study for her.

Devlin will balance her return to academics with her fifth and final year of varsity athletic eligibility with the Gee-Gees soccer team. It’s a perfect combination for her as her leadership qualities, game experiences and people skills will work well for her in both her 2026-27 pursuits.

“I only decided to take my masters in the past year,” the former Stouffville, ON, resident explained. “In my first year (after graduation), I had a full-time job and was playing (high-performance) soccer and I didn’t think about going back to school.

“But a year ago, I thought about what else can I do. The job I had was beneficial and knowledge is important. But I couldn’t see myself doing it all my life. It took me a few months to figure it out. And I knew I had an extra year (of soccer eligibility).”

Devlin’s leadership elements were recognized in the last year of her first tour with the Gee-Gees, when she was named team captain. She also was a two-time team captain for the Simcoe County Rovers, a team she has played with in the spring and summer over the past four years and celebrated Ontario Premier League 1 championships in 2025 and 2026.

Combining what she has learned academically in the classroom and athletically on and off the soccer pitch to this point, Devlin felt she could focus her second round of post-secondary studying on mental performance consulting and make it her career.

For now, Devlin will start her masters classes in one week and will experience her fifth regular-season home opener Sunday against the Laurentian University Voyageurs on the Matt Anthony Field at 1 p.m.

The Gee-Gees will take their two-game winning streak into that game as they started their 2026 OUA season last weekend on the road with a 1-0 win over the Carleton University Ravens and a 2-1 decision over the Nipissing University Lakers.

Devlin, a defender, connected for three shots in the Carleton game and played the full 90 minutes against Nipissing.

While her teammates travelled to The Netherlands as a boost to their pre-season with training matches last month against AZ Alkmaar and Ajax U20, Devlin was helping her Simcoe County team upset the Northern Super League’s Montreal Roses 1-0 in the quarter-finals of the W Canadian Championship.

Simcoe County advanced to the semifinals of the national championship, which won’t be staged until 2027. Ottawa Rapid FC also moved into the semis, after edging Halifax Tides FC 3-2 in extra time in its quarterfinal last month.

Now that Devlin can focus her attention solely on the Gee-Gees for the next three months, she has a good feeling about the team, just as she did during her first stint with Ottawa.

“I think we have potential to go to the nationals,” she confidently said. “We play our home opener on the weekend. I’m playing with girls where there is so much love on the team as well as chemistry on and off the field.

“I was a little nervous going in because I didn’t know many of the girls (maybe four or five from the 2023 team). But they’re all nice and wonderful. I’ll use my wisdom and advice. Sometimes you can be in very high-pressured roles. Being a leader has prepared me a lot for today’s games. I’ve played in that environment.”

That’s the formula Devlin and the Gee-Gees used during her first run, which produced so much team and individual success.

Devlin was a three-time OUA East all-star as a defender from 2021-23. In her freshman year, she was part of the Gee-Gees team which won Canada’s first-ever gold medal at the FISU University World Cup in China. She also was a three-time U Sports Academic All-Canadian and helped the Gee-Gees win OUA championships in 2022 and 2023.

Devlin used one word to describe her first five years with the Gee-Gees – “wonderful.”

“It was the best time of my life. I was super fortunate to be part of a great team on and off the field. We were close knit. We always stayed connected. One of my friends (Angelina Gendreau) is getting married on Saturday,” she explained.

“If you get along with the players, you create success. I was the left fullback. I built a relationship with my wing to get to know that person. You have to be in tune with people. You play off each other. You create more cohesion. That’s why we were successful.”

Devlin decided to attend the University of Ottawa for three reasons – it was the best school for her to find a job in Canada, her aunt Roseanne Devlin is a professor of economics at the university as well as a graduate and the Gee-Gees won the 2018 U Sports national women’s soccer title the year before she arrived.

Her masters course will take just under two years to complete. During the first year, she will be looking to execute the perfect, clean tackle and prevent goals.

When the 2027 women’s soccer season arrives, she’ll be out of athletic eligibility and on the sidelines as a player. But maybe head coach Steve Johnson can find a role for someone studying to be a mental performance consultant.