First of all, don’t be confused by Mitch Matthews, the Bow River Football Club coach, when he’s talking about their soccer team. With the dramatic increase of FIFA awareness in recent years, we simple North Americans should have learned the global lingo of those who play ‘footie’ (soccer). So they are the Bow River Football Club, but they play in the Fusion Soccer League. Okay?

Secondly, when Mitch exclaims, "Our women are fantastic," and it’s coming from his chest-shaking rumble of a voice, it suggests something much more salacious to the average Albertan than what he continues with: "They’re great players, they’re really fun to play with, and they give it their all." And then he says, "You’ve got to put that in your article!"  Done.

Mitch played on The Rovers, a gay men’s soccer team in Melbourne, and when he moved back to Calgary from Australia, he says he "really wanted to play on a soccer team." Having played competitively in Calgary, and then in the Australia-based Victoria Football Federation, Mitch contacted Apollo Calgary about getting access to their mailing list. He and Apollo’s president agreed to a test run for the team, and Mitch did further prospecting for players on FaceBook and Grindr. "So you can use Grindr for something other than what it’s intended for," said Mitch with a grin. "We got some pretty excited people, and [some] who wanted to do things with the soccer team that shouldn’t be done with a soccer team." They ended up with 30 people at their first practice - a great turnout.

Mitch says the intention was to be very open and developmental in their approach to this club. "In Calgary there’s a women’s-only league and a men’s-only league, and they’re quite competitive, and for mixed leagues there’s the Calgary Sports & Social Club and the Fusion Soccer League. We chose the Fusion League because it’s officiated, which would give those members of the team that have never played soccer before (the chance to) concentrate on learning the game and not how to self-officiate."

"Generally how we work is we have a practice on Mondays from 7:45pm [at ‘13th Avenue Park’, between 1st and 2nd Street, and 13th and 14th Avenue, SW] until we’re tired or we want to go for a beer. We do some drills and stuff, and generally if there’s a good turnout we play a scrimmage at the end of it. And then we play our games on Thursdays at 6pm or 7:15pm at different locations around the city.

"During the game we play the hardest, score a couple of goals, usually on the opposing net, sometimes on our own, but it’s all in good fun."

"The intention was to have a team in Calgary that was GLBT friendly, that would be able to be competitive in a league that may not be a ‘gay’ league, but would still have the same opportunities for play, competitiveness; to just have a socially inclusive and fun team, to have that outlet in Calgary. There’s so many times that it’s a ‘gay’ volleyball league or a ‘gay’ bowling league, and it’s very gay-centric. This is a way of branching out and having a bigger team, and involving us in the greater community. We have some straight members on the team, and their partners and wives and husbands come out to the games, and other spectators and family and friends, so that’s pretty exciting.

"And," he adds, "(the Fusion League) provides uniforms, so we look pretty damn sharp out there, too."

The season is 12 league games, and if you advance to the final ("which at this time we’re not forecasted to do," as they’ve only won one game), you’re into a few playoff games. Another season runs July to September, so the F&L’s (as they call themselves), are starting up their recruiting drive again. They want YOU!

"If they want to contact us, they can contact me...and I’ll set them up and let them know when our practices are. There’s no tryouts for the team: if you want to play you’re more than welcome to come walk aboard right now. If you’re curious about soccer and have no experience, it absolutely doesn’t matter. We host the practices to help people through that natural progression as it goes along."

"We’re looking for drag queens, too, to come along with pom-poms to support us. This is a no-barrier opportunity for people to come out, experience soccer [any skill level], and meet a bunch of great people outside of the traditional venues in Calgary."

"It’s a really good opportunity even for those who are Questioning and want to meet people outside of the bar, but they’re not quite sure how to get into the community."

But you’ll pigeonhole this team at the risk of incurring the wrath of the Coach. "Some people...may think it’s just a bunch of poofters or faggots running out there, wearing the Daisy Dukes and with bows in their hair, but it’s not: it’s a competitive league. This isn’t a Pride parade, and we’re not all out there on a float. We’re active in the community," Mitch insists, "but, if you haven’t figured it out yet, THIS IS SOCCER!"