We are pleased to announce that the 2022 winners of the John Cannon Awards are Jackie Kuang and Kaitlyn Meier.
Jackie was chosen as one of this year’s recipients because of her dedication to pursuing excellence in rugby and her support of her local rugby community. She has represented the Fraser Valley, Team BC, and the University of Toronto in both 15’s and 7’s and has also supported the local rugby community with your coaching efforts. Her goals of playing rugby at the highest levels (Canada 7’s and 15’s) and studying to complete a Kinesiology degree to become a physiotherapist are worthy ambitions that we hope this grant may help her pursue.
Kaitlyn was chosen as one of this year’s recipients because of her dedication to pursuing excellence in rugby and support of her local community. She has represented the Fraser Valley, Team BC, and the University of British Columbia in addition to volunteering her time to coach mini-rugby and support local community initiatives. Her goals of developing her rugby skills while studying to become a registered nurse are worthy ambitions that we hope this grant may help her pursue.
The John Cannon Memorial Fund was established in 2016 following John’s passing. The Fund’s purpose is to provide financial assistance to aspiring Abbotsford rugby players who wish to pursue representative rugby. The first grant was awarded in 2017 and grants have been awarded in all subsequent years. To date over $7,000 in grants have been awarded as follow:
- 2017 – Tausani Levale
- 2018 – Jake Thiel, Mackenzie Carson
- 2019 – Josh Thiel, Noah Bain
- 2020 – Kyra Peary
- 2021 – James Thiel, Shalaya Valenzuela
- 2022 – Jackie Kuang, Kaitlyn Meier
John Cannon, who was described as one of the best rugby players to have ever come out of Abbotsford, passed away on March 19, 2016, at the age of 35. John began playing rugby in high school, first playing rugby at WJ Mouat Secondary and then for Abbotsford Senior, from where he graduated in 1998. He first represented Canada on an Under-17 tour to England in 1996 at the age of 15, followed by the Canada U-19s at age 17, Pacific Pride at age 19. He earned his first Senior Men’s cap at age 20, and a total of 39 caps (31 at 15s and 8 at 7s.) He played 6 years in England in what is now the Championship League.
Call for applications including a cover page template and application form are posted on the Abbotsford Rugby Club website (https://www.abbotsfordrugby.com/) and Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/abbotsfordrugby).