Call it the Winnipeg Ember Football Club.
As of Wednesday, Winnipeg’s first professional women’s sports team, and the Northern Super League’s inaugural expansion franchise, is no longer nameless.
Known as NSL Winnipeg since it was announced as the league’s inaugural expansion franchise this summer, the women’s soccer club unveiled its official name, crest and colours that it will sport on the pitch next spring.
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Winnipeg Ember FC co-founders Rob Gale and Desiree Scott announced the city’s Northern Super League club name and logo Wednesday at the Forks. The team is hosting open tryouts this weekend at the Winnipeg Soccer Federation Soccer South facility.
“There (were) many, many versions and variations of different names that we came on, but this was the one that landed, that felt like home, that speaks to the community here in Winnipeg,” said Ember FC co-founder Desiree Scott.
“We talk about the warmth of the people. That’s what makes Winnipeg. It’s the warmth, and Ember is about that light and that never-give-up attitude. And I think this all kind of ties in beautifully together.”
Inspired by the colour of the prairie sky at dawn and dusk, Ember FC’s colour scheme includes Midnight Dusk, Violet Haze, Destroyer Pink, Sunset Blush and Ember Glow.
There was a push from local supporters to name the club the “Winnipeg Destroyers” as an homage to the nickname Scott so proudly carried throughout her decorated, nearly 20-year playing career that included an Olympic gold in 2020.
Workshopped in conjunction with Up House Marketing, five names were stress-tested through a focus group — three of which were not revealed — before settling on the Ember.
Destroyers was among the names that were considered, but Scott humbly pushed back on that idea.
“We always wanted to consider that. I am so humbled by the response of people wanting that to be the team name,” Scott said. “But I want this to be bigger than me. I want it to be for the next generation. So there’s some subtlety to the Destroyer, but the actual name, we got to think bigger.”
The NSL’s seventh club will go by the tagline “Let Them Howl.”
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The Winnipeg Ember FC logo was inspired by the colour of the prairie sky at dawn and dusk and is an homage to trailblazer Nellie McClung’s motto: ‘get the thing done and let them howl.’
The Ember crest features a “sun dog,” which is an ode to Manitoban trailblazer Nellie McClung’s motto. McClung led a movement that first gave women in Manitoba the right to vote in 1916 and advised others to, “Never retract, never explain, never apologize; get the thing done and let them howl.”
A full uniform kit will be unveiled at a later date.
Wednesday’s announcement was the latest in a busy five-month stretch since the expansion team was awarded to Winnipeg in July, including the hiring of the club’s first president, Dayna Spiring, and a confirmation in September that Winnipeg’s side would play out of the Ralph Cantafio Soccer Complex. The field received $8.5 million in financial backing from the NSL and all three levels of government to upgrade the Fort Garry complex into a 5,000-seat purpose-built modular stadium — one of two in the NSL — in time for the 2027 season.
It doesn’t stop there. While season tickets continue to sell, the Ember are set to host open tryouts this weekend at the Winnipeg Soccer Federation Soccer South facility, which has a confirmed attendance of 110 local and international players.
“We have a Pakistani international coming in. We have an Ecuadorian international, a Paraguayan international, a Brazilian, a Filipino international, and they’re all coming to open tryouts,” said Ember co-founder Rob Gale.
“Now you amplify that by 221 football nations worldwide; you can imagine the size of the task, but quality first and foremost. Quality people, quality players to represent our province and our city the right way.”
The NSL will not run an expansion draft to supplement Winnipeg’s roster. Gale and Scott have been working the phones with agents across the globe to piece together their inaugural team.
“Rob is working his due diligence. I swear, his phone dies by 10 a.m. with all the phone calls that he’s making to find players,” said Scott. “Obviously, myself being connected, he’s one of the top-class coaches in this country, but also coached in the U.S., so we all have our hands kind of in the soccer world.”
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Winnipeg Ember President Dayna Spiring at the launch of the city’s Northern Super League team name and logo announcement on Wednesday.
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NSL clubs are permitted to carry between 20 to 25 players, with a maximum of eight international players. Being an expansion franchise, Winnipeg is permitted to roster up to 10 international players, and an additional U20 player should it choose.
“The beauty of this team is the NSL has aimed to be a top-five women’s league in the world. The budget that’s allowed with that, the starting salaries are already top-five in the world for women, so the level of player that you’re talking to is really elevated,” Gale said.
“We also want to make sure that we’re developing local talent and showcasing that. So if they’re going to be good enough, we don’t care where they’re from. We’d love it if they’re from here. They’ll have opportunity if they’re from here. But we feel we’re going to be uniquely placed to be competitive right (off) the bat, and that goes from my selection of the coaching staff and all the defectors behind the scenes.”
Gale has already cobbled together a coaching staff, but said he will not name names until December. That is among the upcoming announcements that will continue a momentous year for Winnipeg sports.
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Josh Frey-Sam reports on sports and business at the Free Press. Josh got his start at the paper in 2022, just weeks after graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College. He reports primarily on amateur teams and athletes in sports. Read more about Josh.
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