Vancouver Rise FC announced Friday that it has eliminated the sporting director position and will not fill it, meaning Stephanie Labbé, one of Canadian soccer's most decorated goalkeepers, has left the club.
The sporting department will now be led by chief soccer officer Robyn Gayle, a fellow former Canada international who served as interim sporting director during Labbé's maternity leave. Interim president Aditi Bhatt noted Labbé was the club's first employee, hired before the Northern Super League existed, and a key figure in its inaugural NSL playoff championship.
The change follows last month's dismissal of inaugural head coach Anja Heiner-Møller; Iain Darbyshire is serving as interim head coach.
On the field, Vancouver has two regular-season matches left — at Ottawa Rapid this weekend, where a win combined with a Halifax loss to Montreal would clinch a playoff spot, then at home on October 25 against Calgary. Labbé, who turned 40 last week, won Olympic gold with Canada at Tokyo 2020 and bronze at Rio 2016 across 86 caps between 2008 and 2022.
