Vancouver Rise FC is one step closer to calling Burnaby's Swangard Stadium home for its inaugural 2025 season.
The new professional women's soccer club, part of the Northern Super League, made a pitch to Burnaby city council on Oct. 21 for use of the Central Park stadium, starting in April 2025.
During the public part of the meeting, some councillors expressed concerns about displacing community groups that use the facility in the summer, but, in a closed-door decision released this week, council unanimously directed staff to "work with Vancouver Rise FC's request for the use of Swangard Stadium through the city’s existing interim allocation policy for 2025."
The policy, a framework to ensure "fair and equitable" interim allocation of local parks-and-rec facilities, prioritizes uses by and for Burnaby residents but also supports enhanced sport opportunities and recognizes the challenges facing girls and women to be involved in sports.
Council’s Oct. 21 decision, released in its Nov. 4 council agenda, said council had chosen "Option 3 in the report titled 'Vancouver Rise FC – Partnership Proposal' dated October 21, 2024."
Preliminary negotiations
The Burnaby NOW asked the city for a copy of the proposal but was told it was being withheld under the Community Charter, which allows preliminary negotiations about the provision of a municipal service to be kept secret if making them public could harm the city’s interests.
Along with directing staff to work with Rise FC for 2025, council further directed staff to "complete an evaluation of a potential partnership with Vancouver Rise FC following the 2025 season."
Council's decision suggests staff will evaluate a formal partnership with the club after allowing the team to play at Swangard for the 2025 season on an interim basis, but the city did not directly confirm the team will be playing at the stadium next spring.
"Staff were directed to work with Rise FC on their request through the city's existing interim allocation policy for the 2025 season and continue working with them on evaluating their proposal after the 2025 season," public affairs officer Cole Wagner said in an emailed statement.
Vancouver Rise FC did not respond to a request for comment.
'Fantastic opportunity'
The team is currently scheduled to play 12 home games between April and November, according to president Sinead King's pitch to council during the public part of the Oct. 21 meeting.
For Swangard to meet league standards, she said it would need upgrades to the pitch and locker rooms and an increase in seating capacity from its current 4,500 seats to a minimum of 6,000.
But King said the team could make short-term compromises in the first year, including temporary bleachers, increasing general admission for standing room, or a trailer for locker rooms, if the city offered a serious proposal to enhance the stadium in the long term
Pitch improvement, however, would need to begin before Christmas, according to King, to regenerate the grass and soil before kickoff in April 2025.
King said Swangard was a "fantastic opportunity" for the club and noted its owners, including soccer legend Christine Sinclair, have a "very, very strong connection" to Burnaby.
With files from Lauren Vanderdeen.
Follow Cornelia Naylor on X/Twitter @CorNaylor
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