PWHL Vancouver’s First Chapter: Community, Culture and the Pacific Coliseum

PWHL Vancouver’s Director of Business Operations, Tania Richards, grew up in the city and knows just how great an opportunity the new team has to be a cultural touchstone. “I was just a fan who went to the Takeover Tour game and got to see and feel how ready this community was,” she said. “And now I’m very excited to have the opportunity to be a part of it.”

That readiness of the organization and the area have already translated into impressive momentum. Head coach Brian Idalski, preparing for his first season behind the Vancouver bench, said he’s been struck by the reception. “Tania and her team have done a great job,” he said. “The energy is palpable, and people are very excited.”

The centerpiece of Vancouver’s launch is the PNE's Pacific Coliseum, a venerable building Richards describes with both reverence and pride. “We are the primary stakeholders at Pacific Coliseum. We are the only PWHL team to be the primary stakeholder in an arena. We will have our logo on the ice,” she said. The team will practice at the adjacent Agrodome, another venue steeped in tradition, now dedicated primarily to them. “There will be some community activities there as well, but from 8am to 3pm it is private to us,” Richards explained.

For Richards, the history embedded in the Coliseum elevates its significance. The wood roof, the echoing acoustics, the ghosts of hockey past—from the Summit Series to the Olympic skating competitions in 2010 to years as home to the NHL’s Canucks and WHL’s Vancouver Giants. “It really feels like a barn,” Richards said. “Parts of Miracle were filmed there, so it can feel like you’re at the 1980 Games. But then we’re adding new, state of the art elements to it—a new icing system, new boards, a new video board.”

That mix of history and modernity mirrors the franchise itself, deeply tied to the city’s traditions but intent on creating something new. A big part of that effort has been involving the players right away. Vancouver’s roster features several B.C.-born skaters who chose to spend their offseasons in the city, quickly becoming visible ambassadors. “We have six players spending their offseason in Vancouver and they have been eager to get out in the community,” Richards said. “I couldn’t speak more highly of Jenn Gardiner, who’s from Surrey. She was the first to ask, ‘How can I get out there?’ Ashton Bell wants to help us lay roots. Our second pick, Nina Jobst-Smith, is from North Vancouver. Hannah Miller. Kristen Campbell. The players have been really willing to participate.”

The team officially introduced itself on August 1 with a splash of Vancouver flavor. Campbell, Gardiner and Sarah Nurse met fans, spoke to media, and got a taste of the city. “They learned, if they didn’t know already, that out here you can get from the beach to the top of a mountain in 30 minutes,” Richards said with a smile. “They got to drive an Aquabus, which is like our water taxis. It was a great experience.”

From the beginning, Vancouver’s business and sports communities have offered support. “The business community embraced us right off the top,” she said. “The city of Vancouver, the mayor, Michelle Collens and Sport Hosting Vancouver have all been instrumental in getting us here.”

Grassroots organizations have also played a role. Richards singled out She’s Got Next, a Vancouver-based group founded by former basketball player Julie Smulders that connects and empowers women leaders through sport. “They have purchased a section, and a large number of their members are season ticket holders,” Richards said. “They're incredible and I really applaud what she’s doing.”

Still, Richards is clear-eyed about the challenges of building something new. Vancouver was never promised a team, she recalled, even after the buzz from last year’s Takeover Tour. “Vancouver is always looked at as the third market in Canada, so we’re never guaranteed anything,” she said. “I didn’t leave that Takeover Tour game thinking it was a guarantee. It was more like, ‘Wow, the community wants this and deserves this.’ One of my peers explained it to me like this: ‘It was the first time I've ever been to a sporting event that felt like it was made for me. A mid-40s woman. From music to game presentation. It just felt like it was made differently.’”

That sense of difference is something Richards and her staff intend to keep nurturing, with an emphasis on inclusion. “We are also very committed to being engrained in the fabric of the city and that includes our relationship with Indigenous communities,” she said. “We will have an authentic and real relationship with our First Nation neighbors who are allowing us to play on their land. There will be wonderful opportunities for our players to learn about these communities. This is a very big core pillar for us.”

A year from now, the benchmarks of success won’t just be measured in wins and losses but in the volume of the crowd, the connections forged, and the culture created. Richards doesn’t hesitate when asked what will make her feel Vancouver’s first season was a success. “We will have the most people, we will be the loudest, and we will be the most fun!”