Rick Celebrini (born October 16, 1967) is a retired Canadian

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 ...

player who is the

physiotherapist Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is one of the allied health professions. It is provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through physical examination, diagnosis, management, prognosis, patient ...

and head of sports medicine and science for the

Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on Marc ...

, and director of sports medicine and performance for the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 194 ...

. Celebrini played for the Canadian U-20 national team at the

1987 FIFA World Youth Championship The 1987 FIFA World Youth Championship took place in Chile from 10 to 25 October 1987. The 1987 championship was the 6th contested and won for the first time by Yugoslavia. Remarkably, in the course of the tournament the Yugoslavs defeated each of ...

. He played professionally for the

Vancouver 86ers 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 ...

. Celebrini is also a founder and the Director of Sport Medicine and Science for the Fortius Institute.

Player

In 1985, Celebrini began his collegiate soccer career at

Capilano University Capilano University (CapU) is a teaching-focused public university based in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, located on the slopes of the North Shore Mountains, with programming that also serves the Sea-to-Sky Corridor and the Sunshin ...

. In 1986, Capilano finished third in the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association Soccer Championship. In 1987, Celebrini transferred to 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 ...

, but was out of soccer for nearly two years after breaking his left foot. During his five seasons with the Thunderbirds (1988-1992), Celebrini and his team mates won four consecutive

Canadian Interuniversity Sport men's soccer championship Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

. In 1992, he graduated with a degree in physiotherapy. In 1987 and 1989, Celebrini played for the

Edmonton Brick Men The Edmonton Brick Men (also Edmonton Brickmen) were a Canadian soccer team in Edmonton, Alberta that competed in the Canadian Soccer League and the Western Soccer Alliance. During their time in the WSA and the CSL, the team played at both John Du ...

of the

Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; french: Ligue canadienne de soccer — LCS) is a semi-professional league for Canadian soccer clubs primarily located in the province of Ontario, and claims the history of the Canadian National Soccer League (C ...

during the collegiate off seasons and played with the

in 1992. On April 22, 1993 signed

of the

American Professional Soccer League The American Professional Soccer League (APSL) was a professional men's soccer league with teams from the United States and later Canada. It was formed in 1990 by the merger of the third American Soccer League with the Western Soccer League. It ...

. He remained with Vancouver through the 1996 season, but was hampered by injuries during most of those years. In 1987, Celebrini earned four

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

with the Canadian U-20 national team which competed at the

. He also played for the Canadian team at the

1993 Summer Universiade The 1993 Summer Universiade, also known as XVII Summer Universiade or World University Games Buffalo '93, took place in Buffalo, New York, United States. Sports * * * * * * * * * * * * Venues *Athletics – University at Buffalo St ...

Physiotherapist

Celebrini first became interested in physiotherapy after breaking his ankle when he was fifteen and receiving therapy at the same clinic which treated professional athletes. His interest was reinforced after a broken left foot kept him from playing for two years. After graduating from the

in 1992, Celebrini pursued a career as a physiotherapist in addition to playing professionally. He became the team physiotherapist for the Canadian Alpine Men's Ski Team at the

1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 17. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 17. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, was an international winter multi-sport event held fro ...

and

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), was an internation ...

. In 2010, he was the chief therapist and medical manager at the

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gretz ...

. On July 29, 2011, the

hired Celebrini as the team's physiotherapist. In August 2018 he became the director of sports medicine and performance for the

Director of sport medicine and science

Celebrini is a co-founder and partner in the Fortius Institute and senior member in the leadership team behind Fortius Sport & Health. The Fortius Institute is an integrated team of sport medicine, science and training leaders committed to best practices in prevention, performance, treatment, education and research.

Personal life

His son

Macklin Macklin or MacKlin may refer to: ;Places * Macklin, Saskatchewan, a town in Canada People with the surname Macklin or MacKlin: * Macklin (surname) See also * Maclean MacLean, also spelt Maclean and McLean, is a Gaelic surname Mac Gille Eath ...

is an

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

player and considered a top prospect for the

2024 NHL Entry Draft The 2024 NHL Entry Draft will be the 62nd NHL Entry Draft. The draft is expected to be held in June 2024 in Las Vegas. Eligibility Ice hockey players born between January 1, 2004, and September 15, 2006, are eligible for selection in the 2024 N ...

References

External links

* *
FortiusSport.com: Fortius Institute

FortiusSport.com: Dr. Rick Celebrini
{{DEFAULTSORT:Celebrini, Rick 1967 births Living people American Professional Soccer League players Canadian soccer players Canadian sportspeople of Italian descent Canadian Soccer League (1987–1992) players Edmonton Brick Men players Vancouver Whitecaps (1986–2010) players Sportspeople from Burnaby UBC Thunderbirds men's soccer players Capilano University alumni Canada men's youth international soccer players Vancouver Whitecaps FC non-playing staff Men's association football defenders Association football physiotherapists