Nautsa’mawt Football Club (formerly known as Varsity FC) is a Canadian semi-professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

club based in

West Point Grey West Point Grey is a neighbourhood in the northwest of the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is located on Point Grey and is bordered by 16th Avenue to the south, Alma Street to the east, English Bay to the north, and Blanca Street ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

that plays in

League1 British Columbia League1 British Columbia (L1BC) is a semi-professional men's and women's association football, soccer league in British Columbia, Canada, which began play in May 2022. The league is sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association and the British ...

History

Varsity FC

Varsity FC was officially unveiled on December 3, 2021, as an inaugural licence holder for the first season of the new semi-professional

in 2022. The team was formed in partnership with the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

and their Thunderbirds sports teams with the head coaches of both the UBC men's and women's soccer teams serving as the club's inaugural head coaches. In addition, Varsity's home stadium will be UBC's

Thunderbird Stadium Thunderbird Stadium is an outdoor stadium on the University Endowment Lands in British Columbia, Canada. It is located west of Vancouver's city limits, and is primarily used for soccer and football by the UBC Thunderbirds. It seats 3,500 in the ...

with select games being played on the field at the Rashpal Dhillon Track & Field Oval, also located on the UBC campus. Their inaugural matches, for the male and female teams, occurred on May 26 against Unity FC, with both sides winning their matches 2-0. Their home debut occurred on June 4, with the men defeating the

Victoria Highlanders Victoria Highlanders FC is a Canadian soccer team based in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. The club was founded in 2008 and currently play in the League1 British Columbia. The team had played in the American USL League Two from 2009 to 201 ...

3-0, while the women defeated the Highlanders 3-2. They won the 2022 Juan de Fuca Plate as the League1 BC club with the greatest number of combined points between the men's and women's divisions during the regular season. Varsity finished atop the regular season standings for both the men's and women's divisions in the debut season, advancing to the championship finals. In the women's final, Varsity was defeated by Vancouver Whitecaps Girls Elite, while the men were defeated by

TSS Rovers FC TSS FC Rovers are a Canadian soccer team based in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada that play in League1 British Columbia. Established for the 2017 PDL season by general manager Will Cromack and head coach Colin Elmes, the Rovers are the under- ...

in a penalty shootout. Despite losing in the finals, the women's team represented L1BC at the

League1 Canada League1 Canada (L1C; french: Ligue1 Canada) is a national soccer competition in Canada which acts as the third tier in the Canadian soccer league system below the Canadian Premier League, consisting of the highest level sanctioned provincial l ...

Interprovincial Championship, as the Whitecaps were unable to attend, where they finished in 4th place, following defeats to PLSQ side

AS Blainville Association de Soccer de Blainville, commonly referred to as A.S. Blainville, is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in the Montreal suburb of Blainville, Quebec, that plays in the Première ligue de soccer du Québec. They are the onl ...

in the semi-finals and losing in a penalty shootout to

League1 Ontario League1 Ontario (L1O) is a semi-professional men's soccer league in Ontario, Canada. The league began play in 2014 and is sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association and the Ontario Soccer Association as a pro-am league in the Canadian so ...

side

Alliance United FC Alliance United Futbol Club is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in Markham and Scarborough, Ontario. The club was founded in 2017 to compete in League1 Ontario. The club was formed as a partnership between two youth clubs - Mark ...

in the third-place match.

Nautsa’mawt FC

In January 2023, the club went under a change of ownership with UBC Athletics transferring ownership to Hope and Health For Life Society, a non-profit which aims to increase access to sport for development and social impact opportunities with a focus on Indigenous children and youth. As part of the ownership transfer, the club would also rebrand the club name. In February 2023, the club officially re-branded as Nautsa’mawt FC. The name was inspired by the

Hul'qumi'num Halkomelem (; in the Upriver dialect, in the Island dialect, and in the Downriver dialect) is a language of various First Nations peoples of the British Columbia Coast. It is spoken in what is now British Columbia, ranging from southeastern ...

term, Nautsa’mawt, which means "One Heart, One Mind". In April 2023, the club signed a sponsorship agreement with

EA Sports FC ''FIFA'', also known as ''FIFA Football'' and to be rebranded as ''EA Sports FC'' from 2023, is a series of association football video games developed and released annually by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports label. As of 2011, the ''FIFA'' fr ...

(formally known as the EA Sports FIFA video game series). In 2023, they formed an affiliation with

Canadian Premier League The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; french: Première ligue canadienne, links=no) is a professional men's Association football, soccer league in Canada. At the top of the Canadian soccer league system, it is the country's primary nationa ...

club

Pacific FC Pacific Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Greater Victoria, British Columbia. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League, playing home matches at Starlight Stadium located in Langford. History On May 5, 201 ...

, which enables Pacific to send players to Nautsa’mawt on short-term loans throughout the season.

Seasons

Men

as Varsity FC as Nautsa’mawt FC

Women

as Varsity FC as Nautsa’mawt FC

Current roster

Men

Notable players

The following players have either played at the professional or international level, either before or after playing for the League1 BC team:

Men

Women

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nautsa'mawt FC Soccer clubs in British Columbia League1 British Columbia clubs Association football clubs established in 2021 2021 establishments in British Columbia