Canada Names U17 Men’s Team for Dakar Youth Olympic Games
The Youth Olympics takes place in Senegal from October 31st to November 13th, the Rugby 7s takes place from November 1st to 3rd. Canada are sending 28 athletes to the games, 12 of them rugby 7s players. Other Canadians attending are in archery, gymnastics, badminton, volleyball, boxing, fencing, judo, skateboarding, and wushu (martial arts). Canada are in a pool with South Africa, Germany and host Senegal. The other pool is Argentina, France, Japan, Samoa.
Four of the rugby 7s players are from BC, two from CW, one from Ravens and one from Abbotsford. Seven players are from Ontario with one listed as from Dubai but with the Toronto Nomads rugby club. The coach Greg Hedgecoe is from Ottawa and one of the coaches in the Ontario rugby 7s program. Ontario men won Gold at the 2025 Canada Summer Games.
CBC Sports will cover the games, the Rugby 7s is live at 2:25am PT on Sunday, Nov 1st. Hopefully they’ll archive the matches on their YouTube channel. The Rugby Canada media release (below) also indicates the games will be streamed on the olympics.com website.
Pool A: Senegal, South Africa, Canada, Germany
Pool B: Argentina, France, Japan, Samoa
from Rugby Canada
Twelve U17 Canadian Men’s rugby players will represent Team Canada at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games in Senegal, Dakar, November 1 – 3.
Rugby sevens will return to the Youth Olympic Games for the third time since its induction in 2014. This is the first edition of the Youth Olympic Games that Team Canada’s Men’s Sevens Team will compete at, with most recent results coming from Team Canada’s Women’s Sevens Team who have medaled twice, earning silver in Nanjing 2014 and bronze in Buenos Aires 2018.
As part of the selection process, Rugby Canada engaged with Regional Scouts and Provincial Coaches, attended provincial and regional competitions, and held a dedicated sevens session for assessment during the U18 National Development Camp. Players who were long listed provided video footage and participated in provincial led performance testing to help inform selections.
“I sincerely thank every athlete who committed themselves to the selection process said Head Coach Greg Hedgecoe. While not everyone could be named to the Travelling Squad or Non-Travelling Reserves, each athlete has played an important role in showcasing rugby sevens across Canada and raising the standard of our program.
Congratulations to those selected to represent our country at the Youth Olympic Games! We are excited about what this talented group can achieve together and look forward to the opportunity to represent Canada with pride.”
Canada are in Pool A with opponents Germany, Senegal, and South Africa.
The full tournament schedule can be found here. More information on Team Canada’s match schedule will be announced shortly.
All matches will be streamed live at Olympics.com and on the Olympics app.
CANADA’S U17 MEN’S SEVENS TEAM – YOUTH OLYMPIC GAMES
Dekker Kozak-Goebel (Toronto, ON) – Toronto Nomads
Theodore Schaddelee (Victoria, BC) – Castaway Wanderers
Travis Altmann (Seagrave, ON) – Oshawa Vikings RFC
Mason Balzer (Abbotsford, BC) – Abbotsford RFC
Nolan Grealy (Niagara On The Lake, ON) – Burlington Centaurs RFC
Luca Robb (Victoria, BC) – Castaway Wanderers
Austin Andrews (Vancouver, BC) – UBCOB Ravens
Jonas Van Gilst (Kilworth, ON) – Middlesex Huron Rugby Club
Elliot MacDonald (Kingston, ON) – Kingston Panthers
Adam Burnett (Dubai, UAE) – Toronto Nomads
Samuel Knowlton (Ottawa, ON) – Bytown Blues RFC
William North (Toronto, ON) – Toronto City Rugby
NON-TRAVELLING RESERVES
Callum White (Sarnia, ON) – Middlesex Huron Rugby Club
Pammy Yusuk (Ottawa, ON) – Bytown Blues RFC
Jackson Bodnar (Toronto, ON) – Toronto City Rugby
STAFF
Greg Hedgecoe – Head Coach
Chris May – Athletic Therapist
Prior to being named to Team Canada, all nominations are subject to approval by the Canadian Olympic Committee’s Team Selection Committee following its receipt of nominations by all National Sport Organizations.