# Thomas Gilbert

> Thomas Gilbert is the co-founder and CEO of Ottawa Rapid FC and a co-founder of Project 8 Sports Inc., the organization behind the Northern Super League. A consumer-business operations leader, he met Diana Matheson during their Executive MBA at Queen’s University in 2021 and helped turn a classroom league proposal into professional women’s soccer in Canada.

- **Role:** Co-founder and CEO at Ottawa Rapid FC
- **Organizations:** Ottawa Rapid FC, Project 8 Sports Inc., Northern Super League
- **Nationality:** Canadian
- **Education:** Executive MBA, Smith School of Business at Queen’s University, Queen’s University, Faculty of Arts and Science
- **Known for:** Co-founded Project 8, which led the creation of the Northern Super League., Helped establish Ottawa Rapid FC as one of the league’s six founding clubs., Led the club as CEO during its first two seasons, both of which produced playoff qualification.

## Career timeline

- **Before 2022** — Led operations and sales at a Toronto frozen-pizza startup; earlier experience included consumer packaged goods, direct-to-consumer businesses and hospitality.
- **2021** — Met Diana Matheson during the Smith Executive MBA program.
- **2022** — Co-founded Project 8 Sports Inc. with Matheson; plans for a Canadian professional women’s league were publicly announced in December.
- **2024** — Proposed using the founders’ league equity to acquire Ottawa’s club; introduced Ottawa Rapid FC as CEO at TD Place on August 15.
- **2025** — The Northern Super League and Ottawa Rapid FC began play; Ottawa finished second in the regular season and reached the semifinals.
- **2026** — Continued as CEO as the club announced majority investment, a future coaching change and a second consecutive playoff berth.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Project 8, which led the creation of the Northern Super League.
- Helped establish Ottawa Rapid FC as one of the league’s six founding clubs.
- Led the club as CEO during its first two seasons, both of which produced playoff qualification.

## Latest updates

- **2026-09** — The club announced its second consecutive NSL playoff berth on September 29, following qualification in late September.
- **2026-08** — Ottawa appointed Carmelina Moscato as its next head coach through 2028, with the handover to follow the 2026 campaign.
- **2026-03** — Arcadia MapleLeaf Soccer became majority investor; Gilbert continued as CEO.

## Links

- Website: https://www.rapidfc.ca/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasgilbertmba/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/thomas-gilbert
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-21