The Ottawa Wolves are a

rugby union football Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

club for men and women in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

. The men's side of the club is predominantly made up of gay men, 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 International Gay Rugby (IGR), formerly known as the International Gay Rugby Association and Board (IGRAB), is the umbrella organisation for the world's gay and inclusive rugby clubs. Based in London, UK, IGR is recognised by World Rugby as th ...

(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 league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

match with the Muddy York during

Pride Week LGBT pride (also known as gay pride or simply pride) is the promotion of the self-affirmation, dignity, equality, and increased visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people as a social group. Pride, as opposed to sh ...

. The historic match was played on the main lawn of

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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 International Gay Rugby (IGR), formerly known as the International Gay Rugby Association and Board (IGRAB), is the umbrella organisation for the world's gay and inclusive rugby clubs. Based in London, UK, IGR is recognised by World Rugby as the ...

(IGR); they joined the

Vancouver Rogues Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. The G ...

and the Toronto

Muddy York RFC Muddy York RFC is Toronto's only Inclusive rugby team and Canada's second Inclusive rugby team. The team was founded by Dave Galbraith in 2003, and is part of the TRU and IGR organizations. Muddy York RFC is Toronto's first amateur gay team. N ...

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 cras ...

, 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 LGBT sports organizations in Canada Rugby union teams in Ontario Rugby union teams in Canada