The following 11 Men’s and Women’s University Rugby Coaches have been selected to the 2024 cadre attending the Crusaders International Academy Accelerator Coaching program from May 20 through May 31, 2024 in Christchurch New Zealand. Each will have their program fees plus room and board paid, and travel costs subsidized. These coaches follow the group of 7 coaches who went to the Crusaders program last year.
SELECTED COACHES
Selected by the Canadian Rugby Foundation and funded by its University Rugby Supporters Fund and For the Love of the Game are:
- Simon Chi, Head Coach, University of Calgary Women’s Rugby
- James Flemming, Head Coach, University of Ottawa Men’s Rugby
- Chris Jones, Head Coach, McMaster University, Women’s Rugby
- Jessie-Ann Gibson, Assistant Coach, University of Guelph Women’s Rugby
- Jessica Joubarne, Assistant Coach, Carleton University Women’s Rugby
- Zak Scovoranski, Assistant Coach, Mount Royal University Men’s Rugby
- Lancelot Satge, Head Coach, University of Montreal Men’s Rugby
- Jay Shaw, Head Coach, University of Waterloo Women’s Rugby
- Brent Wood, Assistant Coach, University of Calgary Men’s Rugby
and selected by the BC Rugby Union and funded by the Gerald McGavin Coaching Award Fund of the Canadian Rugby Foundation are:
- Darcy Patterson, Assistant Coach, University of British Columbia Women’s Rugby
- Jon Mergui, Assistant Coach, University of British Columbia Men’s Rugby
Congratulations to all eleven coaches!
PROGRAM DETAILS
The Canadian Rugby Foundation University Coaching Award is an initiative of the Foundation’s University Rugby Supporters Fund to further develop university-level coaches’ program leadership, coaching expertise and technical ability. The focus of this initiative is on university coaches as we and our lead donors believe the men’s and women’s university rugby pathway is critical to the success of our senior teams and programs. The major goals of this award are for the coaches to 1) continue to develop their coaching careers and credentials, 2) use their learnings to enhance the technical skills of their university student-athletes and coaching colleagues, and 3) share that information with rugby coaches in their local and provincial rugby communities.
This award is administered by members of the Foundation’s University Rugby Initiative committee consisting of Mike Holmes, Doug Tate, Dave Lougheed, Colette McAuley, and Jeff Chan.
What the Award Entails:
Eligible coaches are head or assistant coaches with a CUMRC-eligible Men’s Rugby program or a U SPORTS Women’s Rugby program with their World Rugby Level 2 Coaching Certification completed or committed, and we will be working to get their Level 3 training and certification accelerated. The selected coaches attend a 13-day program at the home of Crusaders Rugby in Christchurch, NZ (https://crusaders.co.nz/) Nine university coaches selected by the Foundation, and two selected by the BCRU will join 14 international coaches in a program organized by the Crusaders International Academy. The Crusaders are widely regarded as New Zealand’s top Super Rugby club (7 consecutive championships through June 2023), furnishing multiple players to the All Blacks, and most recently the All Blacks head coach Scott ‘Razor’ Robertson.
S&C Initiative
On a side note is another initiative from the University Rugby Initiative related to Strength & Conditioning that Dave Lougheed and “For the Love of the Game” is leading. Although the varsity rugby programs at many of the universities in Canada have excellent support from their Athletics department, the same cannot be said for the majority of teams.
With the goal of making Canada’s national rugby teams among the fittest in the world, we will be embarking on a pilot with Men’s and Women’s university rugby teams to establish a national strength & conditioning and fitness tracking system using TeamBldr which many teams are already familiar with, and to provide access to third-party S&C experts where university resources aren’t available. Tracking results will of course be available for each team, but will also used for talent identification and an indicator of commitment to improving and maintaining fitness by Rugby Canada for its national age-grade and senior teams. More details will come as details are ironed out.
