Rugby Alberta is excited to partner with Rugby Canada on upcoming events to provide opportunities to showcase the rugby talent we have in our province.  Rugby Canada recently announced that women’s age grade national programming would relaunch, ‘…with the aim of running programs that develop players and coaches through a national pathway in close collaboration with communities, clubs, schools, universities, and provincial unions.’  Rugby Alberta has been working with a number of Rugby Canada programs to plan upcoming events that will serve as part of the national player pathway.

For U18 and U20 female athletes, we are hosting a Talent Identification and Development Session in Red Deer on April 22 and 23.  This session is being held in partnership with staff members of the Rugby Canada age-grade programs and will serve as an opportunity for national coaches to observe players from our province.  Our provincial ID camp, along with similar camps being held in other provinces, will lead into:

• A Rugby Canada U20 selection camp to be held June 2-6 in Vancouver and Canada’s U20 Women’s Rugby Team will then play two matches alongside the Canadian-hosted Pacific Four Series games this July.
• The opportunity to be selected for Canada’s U18 West Women’s program. Following selection, athletes will have an opportunity to train and scrimmage to further identify talent in the Rugby Canada pathway restart. The U18 West program will be coached by University of Alberta coach Chelsea Ross, while University of Calgary coach Ricky Coombe will oversee the U18 program as a whole.

We have also recently announced the Senior Women’s Wolf Pack North v South Series, which will be used to prepare and showcase female athletes for selection to the Senior Women’s National Team, the Rugby Canada U23 women’s program, and the previously mentioned Rugby Canada U20 Women’s program.  Under the direction of Rugby Canada’s Senior Women’s Programming, this two-match series in May will feature the top rugby players from across the North and South regions of our province. This event will be an excellent opportunity for these athletes to showcase their talent and represent their regions with pride.

‘We are excited to kick-off some exciting events in April and May that will allow us to showcase some of the amazing women’s rugby players we have in our province.  You only have to look to the recent rosters of the Women’s National team playing in the PAC4 and on the Women’s National 7s team to know that our province is already well-represented in both squads.  But we know there is more talent to be showcased and that is why we have been working hard with Rugby Canada staff to plan these events.’ Rugby Alberta President Chris Cooke

Rugby Alberta plans to host other Talent Identification camps this summer for male athletes and will be working with Rugby Canada to ensure those camps can be held with Rugby Canada staff in attendance.  Stay tuned for more information over the coming months as details are finalized.