The following 8 University Men’s and Women’s Rugby Coaches have been selected to the 2025 Canadian team attending the Crusaders International Academy Accelerator Coaching program from May 12 through Saturday, May 24, 2025 in Christchurch, New Zealand. Each will have their program fees plus hotel paid, and travel and meal costs subsidized. These coaches follow the group of 11 coaches who went to the Crusaders program last year as part of either the Foundation’s selected University Coaches Awards or BC Rugby’s Gerald McGavin Coaching Awards.
SELECTED COACHES
Selected by the Canadian Rugby Foundation and funded by its University Rugby Supporters Fund and For the Love of the Game Fund are:
- Adam Anshan, Head Coach, MRugby, Dalhousie U
- Thibault Beudin, Ass’t Head Coach, MRugby, U Montreal
- Stuart Crowley, Ass’t Coach, M&WRugby, Trinity Western U
- Jayne Isherwood, Ass’t Coach, WRugby, U Calgary
- Dave Luong, Head Coach, WRugby, Carleton U
- Graeme Moffat, Head Coach, WRugby, U Lethbridge
- James O’Neil, Ass’t Coach, MRugby, U Calgary
- Matt Parrish, Head Coach, WRugby, U Alberta
Our congratulations to all eight 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 abilities. The focus of this initiative is on university coaches as we and our lead donors believe the university men’s and women’s 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 own university student-athletes and coaching colleagues, and 3) share that information with rugby coaches in their local and provincial rugby communities.
The award is administered by members of the Foundation’s University Rugby Initiative committee, consisting of Dave Lougheed, Doug Tate, Colette McAuley, Mike Holmes, 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 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/)
The eight university coaches selected by the Foundation, will join 17 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.
