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Ottawa Rapid FC

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Ottawa Rapid FC
A blue, circular club crest, with a bird in the centre, facing right. The words "Ottawa Rapid FC" are written across the bottom, while a small tulip is drawn at the top.
Founded2024
Stadium
CEOThomas Gilbert
CoachKatrine Pedersen
LeagueNorthern Super League
Websiterapidfc.ca

Ottawa Rapid FC (French: CF Rapide Ottawa) is a professional women's soccer club based in Ottawa, Ontario. It will compete in the Northern Super League, in the highest level of the Canadian soccer league system. The club will play its home matches at the 24,000-capacity TD Place Stadium in Lansdowne Park. One of the last two clubs to join as charter members of the league, the Rapid will play its inaugural season in 2025. The club's primary colour is light blue, with an orange accent, while its crest depicts the native peregrine falcon. Thomas Gilbert serves as the club's chief executive officer.

History

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The club's existence was first disseminated at the espnW Summit in May 2024, where it and Montréal were described as the last two of the league's six charter clubs.[1][2][3] Details were initially scant, with the league's CEO Diane Matheson implying its development was behind the other five clubs.[4] The club's formal unveiling took place at a press conference at TD Place Stadium on 15 August, where their corporate leadership, branding, and venue were detailed for the first time.[5][6]

Identity

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Native to Ottawa, the club's crest depicts the peregrine falcon, the fastest animal in the world.

Canadian advertising agency Critical Mass designed the club's branding, which uses light blue as a primary colour and orange as an accent – references to the "water, sky, and the power of nature around us", and the Centennial Flame on Parliament Hill, respectively.[5][7][8] The club's name, Rapid, was a compromise between traditional North American "mascot" names, viscerality, and geographical context. The geology of the Ottawa Valley, and a "sense of speed and progress", were described by the club as imagery intended to be evoked by the name.[7][8] While Ottawa is not officially bilingual, the club has an official French-language name: CF Rapide Ottawa, or Club de Foot Rapide Ottawa.[6]

The Rapid's crest prominently features the peregrine falcon, a bird native to Ottawa recognized as the fastest animal in the world, with a four-feathered wing representing the rivers Gatineau, Ottawa, and Rideau in its negative space.[7][8][9] The letter "O" outlines the crest, and is decorated with a small tulip on its top – a reference to the Canadian Tulip Festival that takes place annually in Ottawa.[8]

Stadium

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The Rapid will share the integrated TD Place Stadium and TD Place Arena complex with five other tenants.

The Rapid will play their home games at TD Place Stadium in Lansdowne Park, located in the city's Glebe neighbourhood.[9][10] The club will share the 24,000-capacity venue, which itself contains the TD Place Arena integrated into its northern grandstand, with five other concurrent tenants: the Atlético Ottawa soccer club, the Ottawa Redblacks Canadian football club, the PWHL Ottawa and Ottawa 67's ice hockey clubs, and the Ottawa BlackJacks basketball club.[10] Owned by the City of Ottawa and operated by the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group, the precinct is currently slated for a CA$419 million redevelopment, which would replace the integrated stadium–arena with a new, separate stadium and arena complex, orbited by a number of residential tower blocks.[11] The cost blowout from its original CA$183 million budget attracted controversy to the project, leading to calls for it to be downscaled or scrapped altogether.[11][12][13]

Players and Staff

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Thomas Gilbert serves as the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Ottawa Rapid, and leads an executive team consisting former Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group executive Stephanie Spruston as chief operating officer (COO), Heidi Bloomfield as chief sport officer, and former national team player Kristina Kiss as a technical director.[6][14] Gilbert was approached by the Northern Super League CEO Diana Matheson, who he studied for an Executive MBA with at Princeton University, for a role in the league in 2022, when he was running a frozen pizza manufacturing company.[10]

Staff

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As of October 23, 2024[6][10][15]
Executive
CEO Canada Thomas Gilbert
COO Canada Stephanie Spruston
Chief Sport Officer Canada Heidi Bloomfield
Technical Director Canada Kristina Kiss
Coaching staff
Head coach Denmark Katrine Pedersen

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Houpt, Simon (28 May 2024). "Northern Super League rides the tailwinds of women's sports as soccer goes pro in Canada". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 28 May 2024. Retrieved 16 August 2024. In fact, the four teams previously announced [...] will be joined only by Montreal and Ottawa, which were unveiled Tuesday at the ESPNW Summit...
  2. ^ The Canadian Press (28 May 2024). "New women's soccer league to be called Northern Super League". Sportsnet. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
  3. ^ Gangué-Ruzic, Alexandre (29 May 2024). "Project 8 Sports names Canadian women's professional soccer league the "Northern Super League"". OneSoccer. Archived from the original on 29 May 2024. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
  4. ^ Jaques, John (30 May 2024). "Everything We Know About All Six NSL Launch Teams". The Northern Tribune. Archived from the original on 30 May 2024. Retrieved 16 August 2024. Matheson seemed to imply Ottawa is much further behind the other teams...
  5. ^ a b "Ottawa Rapid FC unveiled as name of city's new pro women's soccer team". CBC News. 15 August 2024. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  6. ^ a b c d Comtois, Martin (15 August 2024). "Le CF Rapide Ottawa voit le jour et promet un " coup d'éclat "" [CF Rapide Ottawa is born and promises a 'coup d'éclat']. Radio-Canada Info (in French). Retrieved 16 August 2024.
  7. ^ a b c Jacques, John (15 August 2024). "NSL Hits Nation's Capital With Ottawa Rapid FC". The Northern Tribune. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
  8. ^ a b c d Cook, Glenn (15 August 2024). "Think Fast: Ottawa NSL Franchise Rolls Out 'Rapid FC' Name, Logo". SportsLogos.net. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  9. ^ a b "Ottawa's professional women's soccer unveils name, home pitch". CTV News Ottawa. 15 August 2024. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
  10. ^ a b c d Brennan, Don (15 August 2024). "First Foot Forward: Ottawa Rapid FC unveils name, badge and colours it will wear in NSL". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved 16 August 2024. ...Ottawa Rapid FC will be [...] the sixth sports tenant at TD Place. [...] When he was approached by NSL co-founder (and former national team player) Diana Matheson two years ago, he was running a frozen pizza company. [...] Gilbert, who was taught what he knows about the game by Matheson when they were doing their executive MBA together.
  11. ^ a b Jensen, Mia (6 October 2023). "'We need to finish what we started': OSEG and city press ahead with $419M Lansdowne project". Ottawa Business Journal. Archived from the original on 7 October 2023. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
  12. ^ Porter, Kate (31 May 2023). "Lansdowne decisions put hockey arena move in spotlight". CBC News. Archived from the original on 31 May 2023. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
  13. ^ Wagner, Richard (9 August 2023). "Lansdowne 2.0 — some key questions remain unanswered". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved 16 August 2024. ...the City of Ottawa is being asked by OSEG to invest at least $332.6 million into Lansdowne 2.0, which is in addition to the $136 million invested by the city in Lansdowne in 2014.
  14. ^ "Introducing, Ottawa Rapid FC". Northern Super League. 15 August 2024. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
  15. ^ "Ottawa Rapid FC Name Katrine Pedersen As Head Coach". Ottawa Rapid FC.
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