BC Rugby Announces Changes to PRC Tournament and Selection of BC U19 and U17 Coaches For This Summer
A couple of recent announcments from the BCRU this week. They’re changing the Provincial Regional Championships (PRCs) to make it a higher level competition. They’re reducing the competition to 4 regions, basically Island, Vancouver, Valley, Interior. In previous years each region would put in multiple teams from sub-regions diluting the talent from each region. In order to facilitate full participation and create a selection tool they’ve created a new tournament, the PRL (Provincial Regional League) which would include the sub-regions within the regions. It will also act as a selection tool for the PRC teams. The PRL takes place in June and the PRC in July.
Another announcement from the BCRU lists the U19 and U17 provincial coaches for this summer season. It’s good to see Curry Hitchborn back as the boys’ U19 coach and Jake Thiel will be coaching the U19 girls. There’s a slew of coaching talent on all teams so it looks to be a good summer session for BC youth this year.
U19 Men:
Head Coach: Curry Hitchborn (VRU)
Assistant Coaches: Tom Larisch (Capilano RFC), Logan Martin-Feek (VIRU Tide)
U19 Women:
Head Coach: Jake Thiel (UBC Thunderbirds)
Assistant Coaches: Jordan McLeod (UBC Thunderbirds)
U17 Boys:
Head Coach: Leana Marton (TORA)
Assistant Coaches: Rob Hayes (Langley Rugby Club/FVRU), Jacob Corbett (Meraloma/VRU)
U17 Girls:
Head Coach: Will Ballard (James Bay AA/VIRU Tide)
Assistant Coaches: William Daniel (Castaway Wanderers/VIRU Tide), Adryon Hutton (Langley Rugby Club/FVRU)
from BCRU on PRC Changes
BC Rugby is thrilled to announce a major evolution of the Provincial Regional Championships (PRCs) with the introduction of a brand-new competition structure: the Provincial Regional Leagues (PRL).
Set to launch in June 2025, the PRL will provide a more competitive and sustainable pathway for regional rugby talent, culminating in a new-look 2025 Provincial Regional Championships hosted at Shawnigan Lake School on July 5-6, 2025.
This landmark change comes after extensive consultation with stakeholders across the BC Rugby community, addressing key concerns and feedback surrounding the sustainability of the PRCs in its current format while also prioritizing player safety and development. The new structure aims to enhance regional recruitment and competition frameworks and create a more competitive and safer environment that ensures athletes are better prepared for provincial representative programs.
The new look PRL and PRCs will consist of four regions – Fraser Valley, Interior, Vancouver and Vancouver Island – competing across U15, U17 and U19 Boys and Girls competition. During the four weeks of June, the four regions will participate in their own regionally-developed competitions that allow for a diverse and custom experience and to better connect Club and high school athletes to the regional and provincial pathways.
A new-look PRCs in July will be the grand final of the PRLs, with each region bringing one team per division that are selected from their own internal PRL competitions. Teams will compete over two days, with each team guaranteed two full-length games (one per day). This allows for a more selective, best-on-best experience for BC’s top young athletes, allowing them to better develop for provincial and national competitions.
The change in format also provides BC Bears Coaches further opportunities to assess athletes for provincial competition, with both the PRL and PRCs acting as key provincial representative selection tools.
“The Provincial Regional Leagues represent a significant step forward for our regional and provincial rugby programs. This evolution ensures that we continue to provide a high-performance environment while making regional competition more accessible and sustainable for our rugby community. The return to best-on-best regional competition in a new-look PRCs format will ensure BC’s top young athletes are better prepared for provincial and national competition,” said BC Rugby Interim CEO John Tait.
The Provincial Regional Championships will remain the pinnacle event of regional rugby in BC, with 2025 event set to take place at Shawnigan Lake School on July 5-6, 2025. This reimagined structure will allow for more meaningful competition leading into the PRCs while ensuring athletes are performing at their peak when it matters most.
More details regarding the Provincial Regional Leagues, including schedules and regional team participation, will be released in the coming weeks.
Introduction of the Provincial Regional Leagues (PRL)
A regionalised, focused and custom competition for each of the four regions taking place during the month of June to assist in regional development and recruitment for the 2025 junior Club season. The PRL will foster increased game time, balanced competition bespoke to each region, and a more robust development pathway for Club, high school, regional and provincial athletes. Regional Unions are leading the development of their respective PRL competition with BC Rugby providing logistical support to create a competition that best fits the competitive and development needs of their region.
Best on Best Regional PRCs
As the grand final of the PRL, the new PRCs format will see a return to best-on-best regional competition, ensuring athletes are exposed to a more selective and competitive environment to better develop for provincial and national competitions with a longer form, more meaningful games that better emulate National Competition.
Competitive & Safe Play
A shift away from the previous condensed PRCs format will help reduce player fatigue/workload and injuries while allowing for greater recovery, increased game time and performance optimisation.
Stronger Pathway to Provincial Teams
The new PRL and PRCs format will create a more refined talent identification process, enabling BC Bears Coaches to assess players over multiple matches rather than a single weekend of competition.
Increased Accessibility/Equity in Hosting
Due to a condensed PRCs format, the PRCs can now be hosted across different regions each year, providing revenue generating opportunities, year-to-year sharing of travel expenses, and access to the highest level of Age-Grade provincial Rugby.
from BCRU on Provincial Coaches
BC Rugby is delighted to confirm the 2025 BC Bears Coaches that will lead our U17 and U19 XVs Provincial Representative Programs throughout the year.
With 2025 set to be another busy year for our Provincial Representative XVs Teams, we are delighted to appoint the following BC Bears Coaches that will lead the identification, selection and preparation of U17 and U19 athletes to represent the BC Bears this summer. Programs run at various times from February-September.
Coaches will utilize Club, School and Regional Programming as well as key BC Rugby events like the 2025 VSI 7s and the new-look 2025 Provincial Regional Leagues and Provincial Regional Championships to identify talent for potential selection to the BC Bears teams, in accordance with the BC Bears Age-Grade Selection Policy.
Coaches who will lead the U15 Boys and Girls “Build a Bear” Camps this summer will be announced once confirmed by BC Rugby.
2025 BC BEARS U17 & U19 XVS COACHES
U17 Boys:
Head Coach: Leana Marton (TORA)
Assistant Coaches: Rob Hayes (Langley Rugby Club/FVRU), Jacob Corbett (Meraloma/VRU)
U17 Girls:
Head Coach: Will Ballard (James Bay AA/VIRU Tide)
Assistant Coaches: William Daniel (Castaway Wanderers/VIRU Tide), Adryon Hutton (Langley Rugby Club/FVRU)
U17 Programming
Top 30 Camp – Boys and Girls (August 3-7, Shawnigan Lake School)
Tour to Ontario (August 24-31, Ontario)
The Top 30 athletes will be identified through Club, School and the Provincial Regional Series, through to the Provincial Regional Championships weekend on July 5-6, 2025. The Top 30 Boys and Girls will then be invited to a selection camp on August 3-7, 2025, where the athletes will be further developed in a matches against Rugby Alberta and assessed towards final selection for the BC Bears U17 Squads travelling to Ontario to compete in a three-game Series at Brampton Rugby Club on August 24-31, 2025. The opening two games will be against two of Ontario’s strongest regions before finishing with a match against the Rugby Ontario’s U17 Provincial Programs.
U19 Men:
Head Coach: Curry Hitchborn (VRU)
Assistant Coaches: Tom Larisch (Capilano RFC), Logan Martin-Feek (VIRU Tide)
U19 Women:
Head Coach: Jake Thiel (UBC Thunderbirds)
Assistant Coaches: Jordan McLeod (UBC Thunderbirds)
U19 Programming
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.
2025 BC BEARS U17 & U19 XVS COACH QUOTES
BC Bears U17 Boys Head Coach Leana Marton said: “The new PRL/PRCs format should allow us to see athletes over multiple occasions, alongside Club and High-School games. This year’s campaign is especially vigorous and competitive with games against Alberta and Whitgift (UK) at our top 30 selection camp. Then to compete against the Brampton and Team Ontario sides, we certainly will have a big rugby summer ahead of us.”
BC Bears U17 Girls Head Coach Will Ballard said: “With the recent success of Canada’s Senior Women’s National Program, I am very excited to work with tomorrow’s athletes. I love seeing the strength of our youth and am excited to help them develop the skills and attitudes they need to compete at the highest level.”
BC Bears U19 Men’s Head Coach Curry Hitchborn said: “I am looking forward to watching this team take shape through the highly important regional competitions. Logan and I’s goal is to support the regions as this new pathway takes shape and select the best of the best. It is imperative we use these upcoming regional pathways to create much needed consistency and visibility for all the athletes.”
BC Bears U19 Women’s Head Coach Jake Thiel said: “I’m incredibly excited for the opportunity to lead the BC U19 Women’s team this summer. There is a tremendous amount of talent across our Club, high school and university systems and I’m looking forward to selecting a team that will compete at the national level. The PRL/PRC format provides a great opportunity for our coaches to assess athletes in a high-pressure environment while also maximizing the number of athletes who get a chance to compete.”