Just two days after the Northern Super League launched its own name and logo, the first club in the new Canadian women’s professional soccer league is out of the gates with their identity.
It was announced on Thursday, May 30, that Calgary, Alberta’s entry in the new league will be known as Calgary Wild FC. Their crest features a stylized W on top of the face of an owl, with “CALGARY” spelled out on top of the W and “FC” inside it.
The owl was chosen to represent the club because it’s “as silent as a whisper; an all-seeing huntress, patiently waiting for the chance to strike,” Thursday’s announcement reads. The W not only stands for the team name, but also for “Alberta’s meandering rivers and sawtooth mountains. The five points making up the ‘W’ nod to Alberta’s Famous Five and the five nations of Treaty 7.”
The crest is rendered in “neon violet” and red, colors chosen to represent Calgary’s “incredible sunsets” and the Calgary Tower, respectively.
“This team and league are not only about professional women’s soccer, it’s about setting the stage where Canadian female athletes are celebrated and where their achievements can inspire the next generation of young players,” said Calgary Wild FC board chair Deanna Zumwalt in the press release. “We are ready to propel girls and women in our province to new heights demonstrating that professional soccer is something they can aspire to right here at home.”
The club is working with McMahon Stadium management to play their home games at the 35,000-seat facility, where the Canadian Football League’s Calgary Stampeders also play. If that doesn’t pan out, Wild FC may be able to work something out to play at ATCO Field at Spruce Meadows, where the Canadian Premier League’s Cavalry FC play their home games.
While Calgary is the first NSL club to officially unveil a name and logo, as the Northern Tribune reports, there are some strong hints where other clubs may be headed:
• VANCOUVER: Major League Soccer’s Vancouver Whitecaps have long had a strong women’s program and have an ownership stake in the city’s NSL club. It wouldn’t be a surprise if their identity was either similar to the Whitecaps or a straight-up extension of the Whitecaps name to the women’s club, much like top-tier clubs in Europe do.
• HALIFAX: In the planning phase, the entity that owns the Halifax NSL club has been going by “Atlantic Women’s FC.” But as the Northern Tribune notes, that company has submitted a trademark filing with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office for the name “Halifax Tides FC” and a badge.
• TORONTO: In April 2023, a Toronto group signed to join what would become the NSL under the name AFC Toronto City, with a website branded in black and white. But the club has not yet unveiled a badge, so it’s unclear if that name or that color scheme will stick around when the team actually takes the pitch in 2025.
• OTTAWA: Ottawa was one of two new NSL clubs that were announced earlier this week along with the league’s name and logo. Almost nothing is known about the club at this point, including who is in the ownership group, where they’ll play or what they’ll be called.
• MONTRÉAL: As the other new club announced this week, there’s also precious little information about the Montréal club. But we do know the ownership group includes veteran entrepreneur and investor Isabele Chevalier — a regular on the French-Canadian version of Dragon’s Den — and Jean-François Crevier, who owns a large commercial lubricant distribution company.