BC Bears Summer Schedule for Senior Women, U19 Men & Women, U17 Boys & Girls, U15 Boys & Girls
The BCRU released its summer schedule for the BC Bears provincial teams. The one group missing is the senior men and it highlights the holding pattern men’s high performance rugby in Canada is currently in. The issue largely goes back to a lack of direction from Rugby Canada on the men’s high performance pathway.
The BC women have a well defined pathway, with three Island v Mainland games scheduled this summer, that have received the blessing of the women’s national team coach, Kevin Rouet. He’s quoted in the BCRU media release, “BC Gold vs BC Blue has been an important pathway to select players for the Canadian select team and the national team. I am very pleased to see that those games will be played at the right time to be able to use them as a selection tool for our national program.” Meanwhile the men’s program has no direction from the national team coach, previous coach Kingsley Jones didn’t get involved with the provincial pathways, and new coach Steve Meehan is still in transit as far as we know and there’s no indication he’ll do anything different than his predecessor, which was to watch MLR games.
Last year the Vancouver Highlanders filled the gap for BC’s men’s high performance pathway but it doesn’t appear they will go ahead this summer. From what we’ve heard, it’s possible an Alberta provincial team will tour to play the three regions in BC; Vancouver, Fraser Valley and Vancouver Island. It’s a chance for the regions to step up and fill that gap and put out competitive teams with a high performance training structure. What’s needed from Rugby Canada is to work with the province and regions, and get the new coach to state that he’s considering it as part of the pathway, as Kevin Rouet did with the women. That process should be repeated out east with the Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic regional teams.
We understand the BCRU are interviewing coaches now for the provincial head coach positions at the various age-grades. The U19 national championships are in July in Calgary this year, the U17 are touring to Ontario and the U15 will be holding a Top 40 camp at Shawnigan.
BC SENIOR WOMEN – BLUE VS GOLD SERIES
With the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup being contested in late summer, BC will support the Rugby Canada Senior National Women’s XVs Program by facilitating the Blue-Gold Series matches for all potential National Athletes to develop, maintain and put themselves forward for selection.
Players from overseas, as well as outside of BC, will be able to register, try-out and compete in either of the Blue/Gold squads. The two squads of Senior Women will be formed following the 2025 BC Rugby Senior Club Finals weekend. The Blues will be based on Vancouver Island and the Golds operating from the Lower Mainland. These teams will meet three-times over the course of consecutive weekends, from mid-May through to early June. BC Rugby is working closely with the National Women’s team leadership to ensure all our potential female athletes have access and support towards contesting for the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup.
“BC Gold vs BC Blue has been important pathway to select players for the Canadian select team and the national team. I am very pleased to see that those games will be played at the right time to be able to use them as a selection tool for our national program.” National Women’s Head Coach Kevin Rouet
Coaches for these programs must have a good understanding of the women’s player pool and the level of play and skillsets required beyond Club Rugby. They will have experience in selecting and preparing athletes for high-performance Rugby. They will know how to manage both their support staff and athletes to showcase their abilities within the team dynamic over the course of a series of games.
U19 MEN AND WOMEN
2025 Canadian U19 Rugby Championships (July 19-27, Calgary)
The Top 26 athletes for the U19 Men and U19 Women’s teams will be selected following the Provincial Regional Competitions, with final selections following the Provincial Regional Championships on July 5-6. Teams will then fly to Calgary to compete at the 2025 Canadian Rugby Championships (CRCs) on July 19-27. Coaches required to lead these squads, beyond having a NCCP L2 Certification, will need to be experienced in maximizing preparation time and team management. They will also have a track record of success with similar competition demands of this one. Namely, building and maintaining a squad approach across multiple games over a short-period of time. They will need to manage the squads with a plan to perform, recover, review and repeat over the course of approximately one week.
U17 BOYS AND GIRLS
Top 40 Camp – Boys and Girls (August 3-7, Shawnigan Lake School)
Series vs Rugby Ontario (August 24-31, Ontario)
The Top 40 athletes will be identified through Club, School and the Provincial Regional Series, through to the Provincial Regional Championship weekend on July 5-6, 2025. The Top 40 Boys and Girls will then be invited to a selection camp on August 3-7, 2025, where the athletes will be further developed and assessed towards final selection for the BC Bears U17 Squads travelling to compete against the Rugby Ontario U17 Programs on August 24-31, 2025.
U15 BOYS AND GIRLS
Top 40 Camp – Boys and Girls (July 27 – August 1, Shawnigan Lake School)
The Top 40 male and female athletes will be identified from Club, school and Spring development competitions and invited to the Top 40 prospects ‘Build A Bear’ Camp at Shawnigan Lake School on July 27-August 1, 2025. This Camp will be to develop positional and individual skillsets as well as game understanding for XVs Rugby. Introducing functional movements required for skill execution, set-piece, catch-pass, and kicking progressions to potential future Bears pathway athletes. Coaches should have an in-depth understanding of delivering to this age band the fundamentals of Rugby to set them up for future success. The Camp will also introduce basic nutrition for performance, introduction to Olympic lifting and training speed.