Kathryn Reilly (right) of the Ottawa Charge has been working on her French while playing in the nation's bilingual capital.ETHAN CAIRNS/The Canadian Press
During the Ottawa Charge’s first road trip to Quebec of the 2025-26 PWHL season, Kathryn Reilly went to an Indigo bookstore.
Joined by a couple of her teammates, the rookie defender who hails from Richmond, B.C., took to the Canadian retailer in Laval.
As it could have in her home city, a purple book with an English title caught Reilly’s eye. It was Lynn Painter’s Nothing Like the Movies. She picked it up and began reading, but much to her surprise, the contents were in French. Undeterred, Reilly sat down to dive deeper.
“I was like, this is pretty good – I can actually read it,” Reilly said. “At the checkout, I was very nervous to talk to the cashier in French. But from there, I decided to keep going.”
Reilly has meant to learn French since landing in Canada’s bilingual capital. She was a French immersion student in Vancouver until Grade 9, but hearing people in Ottawa speak it and this “pivotal” moment inside the bookstore inspired her further.
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Reilly began attending the Ottawa Public Library’s French conversation groups. Pending teacher availability, they’re free weekly drop-in sessions with availability for adults of all skill levels.
Between January 2024 and December 2025, nearly 9,000 people attended the library’s classes across over 900 sessions, according to Jennifer Evans, the manager of public services at the Ottawa Public Library. Evans said that 13 branches currently host these French conversation groups, but “that number ebbs and flows.”
“We can be disconnected in this era and on our devices,” Evans said. “This provides us an opportunity to connect people, which is part of our mission – to build community,” adding that for some, the French-speaking sessions can be someone’s big social outing of the week.
Ottawa’s Sunnyside branch – which Reilly frequents when scheduling permits – hosts intermediate sessions. Reilly recounted the sessions, including a moderator reading a passage in French where words are bolded. The group will go over the vocabulary, then over the section once more. Finally, the cohort splits into smaller conversation groups.
Kathryn Reilly (right) and her Ottawa Charge teammates will look to take a 2-1 series lead against the Boston Fleet in Game 3 of their best-of-five series on Friday in Ottawa.ETHAN CAIRNS/The Canadian Press
“I was really nervous the first time I went,” Reilly said. “But it has my full endorsement. It’s nice to just talk to people. It’s fun to get to know them.”
Reilly originally planned to take French classes. But being a professional hockey player comes with long bus trips and plane rides – a lifestyle not conducive to consistent in-person learning. That led Reilly to buy books and attend the library’s drop-in sessions – but the lessons seep into her day-to-day.
After practice at Carleton University before the 2026 Winter Olympic break, Reilly walked into the main concourse at the university’s indoor ice rink. As she emerged from swinging doors that led to the changing room, she saw Jean-Francois Plante, the Charge’s director of media relations.
Reilly walked toward him and said, “Bonjour!”
Plante, who was tending to people seeking English interviews with Reilly’s teammates, took a moment to converse with her in French – something he does often.
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“Even though I’m fumbling around when I talk to J.F. and other Charge members in French, they’re really lovely,” Reilly said on whether she feels pressure to learn French in Ottawa.
“I don’t think we have as much French on our team, so I could see how [pressure] could be different if that was the dominant language.
“It’s just a joyous and fun thing to me.”
But for Reilly and the Charge, her proactiveness may also be an opportunity to connect with francophone hockey fans on the other side of the Ottawa River.
Christine Dallaire, a University of Ottawa professor who studies sports and physical activity from a sociocultural perspective, said players like Reilly learning French could create a greater sense of attachment to the Charge for some Gatineau, Que. fans.
“It is going to increase fan loyalty to the team in general and specifically [Reilly],” Dallaire said. “If the Ottawa Charge grasp this, it may help them attract even more women from Gatineau to come to games.”
Dallaire said because Ottawa teams are not representing Quebecois francophones – though they do their best to attract fans – there’s not the same expectation to speak French as there may be for players on the Montreal Canadiens or Victoire.
Though she doesn’t feel any pressure, Reilly hopes to one day conduct media interviews in the language.
“I’ll make a lot of mistakes, so I hope people see that I’m trying something new,” Reilly said. “We have such a great fan base. I want to learn a new skill, but I really respect the language and want to do well, so hopefully I can find that balance.”
That fan base will see Reilly and Co. host the Boston Fleet in Game 3 of their first-round series on Friday at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa. The series is tied 1-1.