Sports in Vancouver

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Participants running after the start of the 2010 Vancouver Sun Run

There have been a wide variety of sports in Vancouver since the city was founded. Team sports such as ice hockey, lacrosse, and Canadian football have extensive history in the area, while the city's relatively mild climate and geographical location facilitate a wide variety of other sports and recreational activities.

Major professional teams

Team Sport League Venue (capacity) Established Titles
BC Lions Canadian Football CFL BC Place (54,405) 1954 6
Vancouver Canucks Ice Hockey NHL Rogers Arena (18,910) 1970 0
Vancouver Whitecaps FC Soccer MLS BC Place (22,120) 2011 0
Vancouver Warriors Box Lacrosse NLL Rogers Arena (18,910) 2018 0
Vancouver Bandits Basketball CEBL Langley Events Centre (5,276) 2018 0
Vancouver FC Soccer CanPL Willoughby Community Park (5,000) 2023 0

Sports teams

A number of amateur and professional sports teams are based in Vancouver.

Amateur

The War Memorial Gym at the University of British Columbia is used as the home venue for several UBC varsity teams

The Vancouver Giants of the Western Hockey League, founded in 2001, play their home games in Langley. The Giants hosted and won the 2007 Memorial Cup. The Vancouver area also has a number of hockey teams in the Tier II British Columbia Hockey League.

There are a number of amateur

Water Polo, disc ultimate and roller derby.[1][2]

Prominent annual amateur sports events in Vancouver include the BC High School Basketball Championship at the

Simon Fraser Clan, who meet annually in the Shrum Bowl
(football) and Buchanan Cup (basketball). These are very popular sport events in Vancouver.

Professional

Vancouver is home to a number of professional sports teams, including a number of teams in major professional sports leagues of North America, including the Canadian Football League, Major League Soccer, and the National Hockey League.

BC Lions

Main article: BC Lions
The BC Lions and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers line up during the 99th Grey Cup at BC Place

The British Columbia (BC) Lions have played in the Canadian Football League since

BC Place Stadium in downtown Vancouver, having previously played at Empire Stadium
in East Vancouver until the end of the 1982 season.

Vancouver Canadians

Main article: Vancouver Canadians

The Vancouver Canadians play in the High-A West of the

BC Place Stadium
in downtown Vancouver.

Vancouver Canucks

Main article: Vancouver Canucks
Spectators at Hamilton Street and West Georgia Street watch the Vancouver Canucks and the Boston Bruins play during the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals

The Vancouver Canucks have played in the

2011 Stanley Cup riot after the Canucks' loss to Boston). The Canucks play their home games at Rogers Arena, having previously played at the Pacific Coliseum until 1995. Previous incarnations of the Canucks played in the Pacific Coast Hockey League and Western Hockey League and won multiple championships. The Vancouver Blazers, a World Hockey Association team, attempted to compete with the Canucks between 1973 and 1975, but moved to Calgary thereafter. An early professional hockey team known as the Vancouver Millionaires
won the Stanley Cup in 1915.

Vancouver Titans

Main article: Vancouver Titans

The Vancouver Titans have played in the Overwatch League since 2019 and was one of the first expansion teams in the league.

Vancouver Warriors

Main article: Vancouver Warriors

The Vancouver Warriors are a box lacrosse team in the National Lacrosse League. The team moved from Everett, Washington for the 2014 NLL season. Between 2014 and 2017, the team (then known as the Vancouver Stealth) were based in the Vancouver suburb of Langley, British Columbia, with home games played at the Langley Events Centre (LEC). In 2018, the team was purchased by Canucks Sports & Entertainment, who relocated the team to Rogers Place in Vancouver, and announced that they would be rebranding the team as the Vancouver Warriors for the 2018-19 season.[3]

Vancouver Whitecaps FC

Main article: Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Vancouver Whitecaps and the Portland Timbers at BC Place

In the 2011 season, the Vancouver Whitecaps FC joined

BC Place Stadium
.

Vancouver Knights

Main article:
Vancouver Knights

The Vancouver Knights were one of the inaugural teams in the Global T20 Canada Twenty20 cricket tournament. The team does not have a designated home venue, playing all their matches at Brampton, Ontario. They were the inaugural champions, having won in 2018.

Former teams

The expansion

Vancouver Voodoo, Roller Hockey International, 1993-1996) teams. The Vancouver Blazers of the World Hockey Association played in the Pacific Coliseum
for two seasons (1973/74 and 1974/75).

The

English Football League
.

Following the 1967 season, the USA merged with the

Empire Stadium
.

The Vancouver Nighthalks were a semi-professional ultimate team that competed in the Major League Ultimate association. They played home games at the Thunderbird Stadium at University of British Columbia until 2016 where they had suspended play after the MLU was suspended. The

American Ultimate Disc League from 2013 to 2017 playing home games at the Burnaby Swangard Stadium. They folded after the 2017 AUDL Season
due to a lack of attendance and sponsorship and are moving down to Portland for the 2020 season.

Sporting events

Ice hockey game between the Canadian and US men's national teams during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver

The Vancouver area has also hosted multiple

BC Games amateur sports events. The Slam City Jam skateboarding championship was held in Vancouver from 1994 to 2005, and was set to return in 2008. Upcoming events include the 2008 World Ultimate and Guts Championship and the 2009 World Police and Fire Games
.

Annual events include the

Champ Car race held from 1990 to 2004; and the Greater Vancouver Institutional, a golf tournament held from 1996 to 2010. The Canadian Open
, a golf tournament which alternates venues annually, was last held in Vancouver in 2011.

The 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics took place in Vancouver, and was organized by what was called VANOC (Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games). The 2010 Winter Olympics was the third Olympics hosted by Canada, and the first by the province of British Columbia. In the 2010 Winter Olympics, the mascots were Miga, a mythical sea bear, part orca and part kermode bear, Quatchi, a sasquatch, and Sumi, an animal guardian spirit with the wings of the Thunderbird and legs of a black bear. Miga and Quatchi were the mascots for the Olympics while Sumi was the mascot for the Paralympics.

Vancouver will host multiple matches during the 2026 FIFA World Cup.[5]

Other past sports events hosted in Vancouver include:

Facilities

BC Place, home venue for the BC Lions and Vancouver Whitecaps
Rogers Arena, home venue for the Vancouver Canucks, Titans, and Warriors

Major sports facilities in Vancouver are

Canada Hockey Place), BC Place, the Pacific Coliseum, the PNE Agrodome and Nat Bailey Stadium. BC Place is also home to the BC Sports Hall of Fame, founded in 1966. There are many other facilities throughout the city and surrounding area, including 8 Rinks in Burnaby
, the Canucks' main practice venue.

The relatively mild climate of Vancouver, its extensive parkland, and close proximity to ocean, mountains, rivers and lakes provides it with a number of areas for outdoor sporting activities, both competitive and recreational. The area is a popular destination for outdoor sports and recreation, including on and

Cypress Mountain, Grouse Mountain, and Mount Seymour
; each are within 20 to 30 minutes (driving time) of downtown Vancouver.

Parks

Media

Vancouver's major daily newspapers, the

Shaw TV
.

Famous athletes

The Vancouver area has produced a number of notable athletes, including

Paris Jackson and Adam Braidwood (football); Harry Jerome, Charmaine Crooks, Percy Williams
(Track & Field).

References

  1. ^ "Archived copy". www.terminalcityrollergirls.com. Archived from the original on 14 May 2006. Retrieved 14 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ^ "- The Salt Lake Tribune". Sltrib.com. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  3. ^ "NLL's Vancouver Franchise Announces Its Brand Name and Logo".
  4. ^ Hastings Racecourse
  5. ^ Adams, J.J. (June 17, 2022). "Game On: Vancouver crowned as 2026 FIFA World Cup host city". The Province. Retrieved December 27, 2022.

See also

Media related to Sports in Vancouver at Wikimedia Commons

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