Category Archives: Coaching

Canadian Rugby Foundation – February 2023

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Canadian Rugby Foundation Funds Seven Canadian Coaches to Attend Crusaders Coaching Course in NZ

Kudos to the Canadian Rugby Foundation for investing in Canadian coaches. Curry Hitchborn, Scott Manning and Andy Evans are the three university coaches from BC. Jamie Mackenzie and Pat Parfrey are former Canadian national team players who are currently coaching at Laurier and Memorial respectively. Ian McLeod played at Western and now coaches there, Ian Baillie grew up in Ontario and coaches at McGill. Congratulations to all.

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BC Bears Update – January 2023

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BC Rugby Name Coaches for BC Senior and Age Grade Teams

The BCRU seem to have their act together this year with a top notch slate of coaches. Leading the senior men’s team is Curry Hitchborn. It’s a no-brainer to have him in charge of the Provincial men’s team as he leads the most successful university program in the country and his UBC team are perennial contenders for the BC Premier title. Phil Mack and Jake Ilnicki are assistant coaches.

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Canadian Coaching Talent

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From Fort Nelson, BC to Tokyo, Japan: Lesley McKenzie Renews Contract as Head Coach of Japan’s Women’s XVs Team

Congratulations to Lesley McKenzie on having her head coach contract renewed by the Japan Rugby Union. McKenzie who is from Fort Nelson, BC, a small community of just over 3,000 near the Yukon and NWT borders, was first hired by the Japan Rugby Union in 2019 to coach the women’s XVs program. During that time she’s taken them from ranked 16th in the world to ranked 12th in the world, an impressive accomplishment.

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Fraser Valley Rugby Union – September 2022

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Fraser Valley Rugby Union Seeking Coaches for Upcoming McKechnie Cup and Dunbar Cup Competitions

Head Coach Positions

The Fraser Valley Rugby Union is seeking coaches for the upcoming McKechnie Cup and Dunbar Cup. The McKechnie Cup is a regional competition that will begin November 26th and run through early December. This will give elite players from the Fraser Valley Rugby Union clubs a pathway to the BC Bears program. The Dunbar Cup is also a regional competition for U20 players. It will run at the same time as McKechnie Cup.

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Coaching Postings – June 2022

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Westshore Looking for Women’s Premier Coach – Part-time $12K

from Westshore RFC

Part-time | Approximately $12,000 | 1-3 year contract | Closes July 10, 2022

The Westshore Women’s Team is a high-performing rugby team within the BC Rugby Premier league. The team has a history of excellence with numerous championship titles in recent years. The team has found success by fostering skilled club, provincial, and national representative athletes alike with a common goal to win the league championship.

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BC Bears 7s – June 2022

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Robin MacDowell Named as BC Men’s 7s Coach – ID Session This Saturday, Team to Enter Kelowna 7s and RugbyTown 7s

Robin MacDowell has been an extraordinary servant of the game in Canada, both as a player and coach. He’s represented Canada on the World Series, at the Commonwealth Games, he played professionally in Italy and then played at the highest level domestically on a Rugby Canada Super League national championship team and on a NA4 championship team. As a coach he’s been in charge of the Canada U18 7s team, the USPORT 7s team, he’s been key in identifying high performance athletes for the Canada Women’s 7s program, like recent sensation Krissy Scurfield. He was in demand outside of Canada as the head coach of the Mexican women’s 7s team and the Trinidad & Tobago high performance program. He’s coached professionally with the Premier Sevens and Rugby Tens competitions. He also has the MacDowell Rugby Academy which operates in Saskatchewan and BC. He knows the world of high performance 7s and he knows the talent that’s out there. The program is in good hands.

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World Rugby 7s Series – 2022

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Former Canada Coach, Damian McGrath, Hired by Kenya as Head Coach

It was only a matter of time before an international coach the quality of Damian McGrath found his way back on the World Rugby 7s Series. When Rugby Canada terminated him for murky political reasons, he went to Germany to work with their 7s program and achieved some positive results but, due to COVID, never got to complete the qualification tournament to get Germany on the World 7s Series.

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