Rick Celebrini

Rick Celebrini

Personal information
Date of birth	(1967-10-16) October 16, 1967 (age 58)
Place of birth	Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Position	Defender
Youth career
1985–1986	Capilano University
1989–1992	University of British Columbia
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1987	Edmonton Brick Men	18	(0)
1989	Edmonton Brick Men	11	(0)
1992–1996	Vancouver 86ers	41	(2)
International career
1987	Canada U-20	5	(0)
Managerial career
2011	Vancouver Whitecaps FC (physiotherapist)
Medal record Representing  Canada Men's Association football North American Nations Cup 1991 United States
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Rick Celebrini (born October 16, 1967) is a Canadian former soccer player who currently is the director of sports medicine and performance for the Golden State Warriors, and previously served as physiotherapist and head of sports medicine and science for the Vancouver Whitecaps FC.

Celebrini played for the Canadian U-20 national team at the 1987 FIFA World Youth Championship. He played professionally for the Vancouver 86ers. Celebrini is also a founder and the Director of Sport Medicine and Science for the Fortius Institute.

Player

In 1985, Celebrini began his collegiate soccer career at Capilano University. In 1986, Capilano finished third in the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association Soccer Championship. In 1987, Celebrini transferred to the University of British Columbia, but was out of soccer for nearly two years after breaking his left foot. During his five seasons with the Thunderbirds (1988-1992), Celebrini and his team mates won four consecutive Canadian Interuniversity Sport men's soccer championship. In 1992, he graduated with a degree in physiotherapy. In 1987 and 1989, Celebrini played for the Edmonton Brick Men of the Canadian Soccer League during the collegiate off seasons and played with the Vancouver 86ers in 1992.^[1] On April 22, 1993 signed Vancouver 86ers of the American Professional Soccer League.^[2] He remained with Vancouver through the 1996 season, but was hampered by injuries during most of those years.

In 1987, Celebrini earned four caps with the Canadian U-20 national team which competed at the 1987 FIFA World Youth Championship. He also played for the Canadian team at the 1993 Summer Universiade.

Physiotherapist

Celebrini first became interested in physiotherapy after breaking his ankle when he was fifteen and receiving therapy at a clinic that also treated professional athletes. His interest was reinforced after a broken left foot kept him from playing for two years. After graduating from the University of British Columbia in 1992, Celebrini pursued a career as a physiotherapist in addition to playing professionally. He became the team physiotherapist for the Canadian Alpine Men's Ski Team at the 1994 Winter Olympics and 2002 Winter Olympics. He was the chief therapist and medical manager at the 2010 Winter Olympics. On July 29, 2011, the Vancouver Whitecaps FC hired Celebrini as the team's physiotherapist. In August 2018 he became the director of sports medicine and performance for the Golden State Warriors.^[3][4]

Director of sport medicine and science

Celebrini was a co-founder and partner in the Fortius Institute and senior member in the leadership team behind Fortius Sport & Health,^[5] whose building was completed in 2013.^[6] The Fortius Institute was an integrated team of sport medicine, science and training leaders committed to best practices in prevention, performance, treatment, education and research. It closed at the end of 2020,^[7] and their building was sold to the City of Burnaby.^[8] The building is now the Christine Sinclair Community Centre.^[9]

Personal life

His oldest son, Aiden, is an ice hockey player and a Vancouver Canucks prospect. His second born son Macklin is an ice hockey player picked first overall by the San Jose Sharks in the 2024 NHL entry draft.^[10] In the leadup to the draft lottery, Celebrini expressed hope that the drawing would play out in a way that would allow Macklin to be drafted by the Sharks, thus letting the two remain close to each other in the Bay Area.^[11]

Celebrini's father immigrated to Canada from Croatia and his mother is from Winnipeg.^[12]

Honours

Canada

• North American Nations Cup: 3rd place, 1991^[13]

References

1. "Pasquale DeLuca soccer statistics on StatsCrew.com".
2. "April 22, 1993 Transactions". The New York Times. April 22, 1993. Retrieved November 22, 2011.
3. Slater, Anthony; Thompson II, Marcus (April 10, 2023). "The Warriors' whisperer: If Golden State is to repeat, he'll have a hand in it". The Athletic. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
4. Kuzma, Ben (August 14, 2018). "Celebrini leaves Canucks a parting gift". The Province. p. 56. Retrieved April 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "Fortius Welcomes SportMedBC". Sport Med BC. Retrieved February 12, 2026.
6. "Project - Fortis Sport & Health". JSA Sport. Retrieved February 12, 2026.
7. Campbell, Chris. "Date revealed for permanent closure of Burnaby's Fortius sports centre". Vancouver is awesome. Retrieved February 12, 2026.
8. "City of Burnaby to buy Fortius sports facility for $26.6M for public recreation". CBC. Retrieved February 12, 2026.
9. "Christine Sinclair Community Centre". City of Burnaby. Retrieved February 12, 2026.
10. Johnston, Patrick (April 29, 2023). "2024's likely No. 1 overall NHL draft pick wants to be a Canuck". The Province. Retrieved May 16, 2023.
11. Rick Celebrini Pulling for Sharks To Draft Macklin Celebrini. Retrieved May 8, 2024 – via www.youtube.com.
12. Kuzma, Ben (June 24, 2024). "B.C.'s Rick Celebrini is physiotherapist to the stars, but his best work is raising four prolific young athletes". theprovince.com. Retrieved August 10, 2025.
13. "North American Championship 1991 (Los Angeles, USA)-Squads". Retrieved April 20, 2025.

External links

• Rick Celebrini – FIFA competition record (archived)
• Rick Celebrini at Canada Soccer
• FortiusSport.com: Fortius Institute
• FortiusSport.com: Dr. Rick Celebrini