Accelerate Fund for Women’s Age Grade Programs; Women’s U20 Selection Camp June 2-6 at UBC; BC Gold v BC Blue This Weekend at UVic
This is the first year the U20 women’s teams are launching after COVID. They are on a fully pay to play model which has the potential to keep some players out of the pathway at this critical time in their development. That is where the newly started Accelerate Fund has stepped up to help. The fund currently is set up as an annuity looking to raise 2 million by 2025, all the money to go towards supporting Women’s Age Grade Rugby. All funds will be matched up to $500K. There is an upcoming national U20 selection camp at UBC, it is the first time there will be a national age grade XVs assembly for women since 2019.
The camp will take place starting June 2nd, there will be a scrimmage vs the U19 BC team June 3rd as a curtain raiser for the 2nd BC Blue vs BC Gold game. The camp will continue June 4th and 5th with training and trials, and a departure day on June 6th. Approximately 45 athletes will be invited to camp to restart the women’s U20 program.
The women’s U20 team will be representing Canada alongside the PAC 4 Series in Ottawa with games on July 8th and 13th.
ACCELERATE FUND – Canadian Rugby Foundation
BC Gold v BC Blue from BCRU
Come and watch some of BCs best Senior Womens Rugby talent in action this Saturday, May 20 in Victoria!
Game 1 of the BC Rugby Senior Womens Blue vs. Gold Series takes place at the University of Victorias Wallace Field this Saturday, with the action kicking off at 1:00pm PST.
Players will then have two weeks to prepare for Game 2 at UBCs Vancouver Campus on Saturday, June 3. Both matches are free and open to the public to watch so dont miss out on watching some of Bs top Rugby talent in action!
About The Series
Under the direction of Rugby Canadas Senior Womens Programming, the two-match Series will see selected sides of the Island Blues and Mainland Golds battle in both Victoria and Vancouver.
These matches will prepare and showcase female athletes for selection to the Senior Womens National Team ahead of Junes PAC4 Series, and U20 selection ahead of this summers U20 Tests being held in Eastern Canada.
Dean Murten (UBC Thunderbirds and Canada U20 Womens Head Coach) will lead the Mainland Gold team, with Albert Michau (Castaway Wanderers Senior Women Coach) heading the Island Blue team.
Rosters for each team will be released on the Thursday ahead of each game.
Mainland Golds Head Coach Dean Murten said: We have had a lot of players putting their hand up for selection, including these games as part of the selection process for Canada U23, and with a few places up for grabs in the PAC4 competition adds more value and enthusiasm for the athletes and staff. The Gold team has had 4 training sessions to date, and has seen a good representation from various Clubs. I would like to thank everyone that has supported the program. We are certainly expecting a very fast powerful off-loading game from BC Blue team, who will be lead well with some current Canadian players.
Game 1 Details:
Date: Saturday May 20
Time: 1:00pm PST
Location: University of Victoria – Wallace Field (McKenzie Avenue)