Ottawa RedBlacks kick off 2025 season Sunday with training camp in Kingston

The Ottawa Redblacks have kicked off their training camp this year in Kingston offering fans a unique viewing experience outside the city. CTV’s Jack Richardson

The Ottawa RedBlacks opened their 2025 training camp Sunday morning at Queen’s University’s Richardson Stadium in Kingston, Ont.

The team will host their entire training camp in Kingston.

All practices are open to the public, so Canadian Football League (CFL) fans in Kingston can get a taste of professional football.

“It’s kind of exciting to have them come to Kingston,” said resident Bob Crowson, a lifelong Ottawa football fan.

Kingston is about 200 kilometres southwest of Ottawa, making the RedBlacks the closest CFL team.

“The connection with Ottawa to here is a good one,” said Frank Halligan, a former coach with the Queen’s University football team. “(I) Hope it’s something that the RedBlacks enjoy and perhaps continue for other years.”

Gareth Cunningham says one of the best parts of the CFL is how accessible it is for the fans, and he’s thrilled the RedBlacks will be in his city for their training camp.

“I’ve been a fan of the Canadian Football League since I was 11 years old,” said Cunningham. “It’s amazing having them here in Kingston. Kingston’s a great football town.

The RedBlacks finished the 2024 season with a 9-8-1 record, good enough for 3rd in the East division. They lost to the Toronto Argonauts - the eventual Grey Cup Champions - 58-38 in the Eastern Semi-Final.

It was the first trip to the postseason for the RedBlacks since 2018, but head coach Bob Dyce says the team won’t be hanging their hats on last season’s accomplishments.

“At the end of the day, the most important thing we got to recognize is that last year was last year,” said Dyce. “We’re moving forward from there. Yes, we took some good steps. But this is a new year and what we did last year doesn’t hold a whole lot of weight.”

Dyce will have a familiar face joining his staff as the Special Teams Coordinator.

Rick Campbell is returning to the staff this season - he was the Head Coach of the Grey Cup winning team in 2016.

“It’s exciting to be back. The Redblacks mean a lot to me. The city of Ottawa means a lot to me,” said Campbell.

“I hope they’re going to come along a lot better, and I think they will,” said Crowson.

The RedBlacks start the regular season on June 5 in Regina against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.