A recent twitter thread by friend to Canadian Soccer @FrTheBlackHole resonated with me.  Many of us have passionately engaged in the CPL supporters movement over the last 12 to 18 months.  We’ve attended events, hosted meetings, made scarves, and spoken the CPL gospel to anyone who would listen.  It has been exciting, and a lot of fun.  But as time drags on with very little public news, the weight of the silence has gotten to the best of us.

And that made me think.  If people actively involved  like Rob and I are feeling disappointed, it is no wonder that the people of Winnipeg are sceptical.  I get why you might be struggling to believe this is all real.  That a professional soccer team is coming to Winnipeg.  In this city, there has been no public engagement from the ownership group since the initial announcement last spring.  While there hasn’t been much in the way of official news in any city, the ownership  groups in Saskatchewan, Halifax, Edmonton and Hamilton have continued to engage their communities via social media and public events.

I get It.  Winnipeg’s heart has been broken by professional soccer and you are afraid to believe again.  I’m asking you to take a leap of faith and believe that this team is real.  Red River Rising has been working with the league and the Winnipeg Football Club behind the scenes to help create a team culture that is authentic to our community.  We are making great progress with the team and we are grateful that they wanted our input.  We are excited to continue building this rapport.

Now the time has come that we need you.  Things are going to start moving quickly and we need all hands on deck.  If you are passionate about soccer we need you.  If you have ideas about what this team could be we need you.  If you have a great chant idea we need you.  If you just love soccer and having a pint, we need you.  We need you to come out to our meetings.  We need you to spread the word.  We need you to join us.

Photo by Mpho Mojapelo on Unsplash