The Ottawa Wolves are a

rugby union football Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

club for men and women in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. The men's side of the club is predominantly made up of

gay men Gay men are male homosexuals. Some bisexual men, bisexual and homoromantic men may dually identify as ''gay'' and a number of gay men also identify as ''queer''. Historic terminology for gay men has included ''Sexual inversion (sexology), in ...

, but both sides of the team are inclusive of anyone who wishes to join regardless of sexual orientation.

History

The Ottawa Wolves RFC was founded in 2008 by Carl Pilon and Jay Smidt, both Hero award recipients, with the mission to promote and encourage participation in rugby among those who have traditionally been under-represented in the game, with an emphasis on gay men. The club played its first game in October 2008 at the inaugural Dirty Rugger Tournament, where they tied the Muddy York 5-5. The following year, the Ottawa Wolves joined both the

Ontario Rugby Union The Ontario Rugby Union (ORU) also known as 'Rugby Ontario'' is the provincial governing body for the sport of rugby union in the Canadian province of Ontario and a Provincial Union of Rugby Canada. Rugby Ontario governs various levels of rugby (U ...

and the International Gay Rugby Association and Board (IGR), and played their first season as the only team in the EORU Men's Division II developmental league. In a 7-game season against teams in Men's Division I, the Ottawa Wolves finished with 513 points against, and 0 points for. The Ottawa Wolves' first league try, scored by Danny Donnini, came in their 2009 playoff game against the Barrhaven Scottish III. The team's first victory came on August 1, 2009, against the Muddy York in Montreal. Shortly afterward, the club followed that victory with their second against the Ottawa Senators RFC. In 2010, the team participated in a

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Tou ...

match with the Muddy York during Pride Week. The historic match was played on the main lawn of

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

on August 28, 2010. Expanding on the success of the men's side as a community fixture, the Wolves' women's side commenced its inaugural season in the spring of 2013. As a gay-identified team, The Ottawa Wolves have participated in Capital Pride since 2008.

Involvement in IGR

On July 23, 2009, The Ottawa Wolves RFC became a member club of International Gay Rugby (IGR); they joined the Vancouver Rogues and the Toronto Muddy York RFC as Canada's third IGR club. The IGR sanctions the biennial

Mark Kendall Bingham Memorial Tournament The Mark Kendall Bingham Memorial Tournament or the Bingham Cup is a biennial international, non-professional, gay rugby union tournament, first held in 2002. It is named after Mark Bingham, who died on board United Airlines Flight 93 when it cra ...

, known casually by the name of its principal trophy, The Bingham Cup. In 2010, The Ottawa Wolves participated in the 5th Bingham Cup in Minneapolis, USA, losing the 3rd division final to the Seattle Quake RFC. At the 6th Bingham Cup in Manchester, UK, The Ottawa Wolves claimed the Hoagland Tribute Cup in a hard-fought match against the Bristol Bisons, winning with the prize with a final score of 5–0. In August 2014, The Wolves brought a full men's side and a partial women's side to the 7th Bingham Cup in Sydney, Australia. The Wolves lost in the Division 3 final to the Philadelphia Gryphons, having arrived at the final undefeated. The tournament was witnessed by more than 6000 spectators including Australia's Governor General, Sir Peter Cosgrove, and ARU CEO, Bill Pulver.

Club Presidents

2008 - Carl Pilon
2009 - Carl Pilon
2010 - Carl Pilon
2011 - John Festarini
2012 - John Festarini
2013 - Dave Rose
2014 - Jerome Hamoline
2015 - Sylvain Roussell
2016 - Miguel Olivier
2017 - Nadine Elle
2022 - Emilie Létourneau

Notes and references

External links

* {{Inclusive Rugby Clubs International Gay Rugby member clubs Wol LGBTQ sports organizations in Canada Rugby union teams in Ontario Rugby union teams in Canada