MacDowell Rugby are coming off a successful tour to Mexico and are now focused on December’s Global Youth Sevens in NZ. Spots are still open on the boys and girls U18 teams. The application form is here.
The BC club youth regular season goes to November 16th, the quarter-finals are November 23, semi-finals on the 30th and then the Island v Mainland finals will take place on December 7th at the Langley Events Centre.
Some of last year’s winners look well placed for a return to the championship. In boys U18 last year it was CW over Ravens for the title and this year both teams look on track for a repeat matchup, Abbotsford on the mainland will be the Ravens biggest threat and on the Island both Salish and Cowichan are chasing CW. At the boys U16 level last year it was Abbotsford taking down CW for the title but this year it looks like James Bay are the leading Island team and Capilano and Ravens are leading on the mainland.
MacDowell Rugby is holding a talent ID session for two international tours to end the 2025 season. The ID session is this Friday at UVic’s Wallace Field, details and a registration link are below.
The Valley as usual came through strong in youth rugby, winning 3 out of 4 top titles at the U18 and U16 level. Abbotsford claimed the U18 Girls Elite and U16 Boys Competitive titles, CW claimed the U18 Boys Elite and Langley the U16 Girls Elite.
The club rugby season for youth is in the fall, in the spring it’s school based. Depending on the club, there will be teams at the U18, U16, U14 level for boys and girls. The BCRU find a club page is here. The season kicks off September 7th with 3 weeks of 7s and then the XVs season starts September 28th with 6 weeks of rugby before the playoffs start on November 23rd. The finals will be held on the mainland this year at the Langley Event Centre on December 7th.
A good initiative by the BCRU to send two youth teams to Ontario before school starts in September. The teams will play regional games and then play the full Ontario team in their last match. John Tait the BC Rugby Technical Director stated, “We hope this will become an annual series of games between Ontario and BC, and that Rugby Canada will recognize the value of programming for this age band.“.
Tuesday Results:
Bears U17 Girls 25-17 TRU/EORU
Bears U17 Boys 32-15 TRU/EORU
Thursday Results:
Bears U17 Girls 31-22 SWRU/NRU
Bears U17 Boys 36-12 SWRU/NRU
It wasn’t the final most would have expected, that would have been a Canada v USA matchup for Gold and Silver but Brazil were the surprise team of the tournament defeating Canada in the semi-finals and USA in the finals. Brazil won Gold and USA Silver. In the men’s tournament it was Argentina Gold, Uruguay Silver and Chile Bronze. It would have been a good learning experience for a Canadian men’s U20 team.
The BC women’s programs have been on a tear recently, winning the national U19 XVs title and now the Canada Games U18 7s title. They defeated Ontario in the final 22-10 to win Gold, Alberta claimed Bronze. The men came up second best to Ontario for the second time this summer, losing the U19 XVs title and now the Canada Games U20 7s title. BC claimed Silver in both cases. It was a close 17-12 loss with Ontario keeping their nerve and scoring the winning try at the whistle. Quebec claimed Bronze with a 17-15 win over Alberta.
Almost 90 U15 athletes have been invited to the Shawnigan “Build a Bear” Camp from July 27-August 1. The focus is on skill building and game understanding under the tutelage of an impressive list of coaches. The U17 camp takes place the following week and includes a few matches, that press release can be viewed here.
What a result for the BC U19 women’s program, from last place in 2024 to 1st in 2025, kudos to the coaching team and the players. It will be interesting to see what Jake Thiel can do with the new Ravens women’s program in the 2025-26 season. The men returned as Silver medallists after losing a close match to Ontario, who claim their second consecutive Gold.