Fans of rugby, or even just the pinnacle of sports in general are in for a treat starting on July 19, with the start of 2025 U19 Canadian Rugby Championships.
Both the U19 men’s and women’s teams from Alberta, B.C., Ontario, and Quebec and the Atlantic will be vying to see who the top team in Canada is over the week at the Calgary Rugby Union (CRU) fields.
That action then turns to international matchups, as Canada’s Men’s 15s team takes on the United States on Aug. 22 at McMahon Stadium.
Nathan Abedelnour, High Performance Match Official Coordinator and Technical Director for the U19 Canadian Rugby Championships, said that the upcoming games were important for athlete development in Canada.
“We will have our national team coaches for U20 men and women here this week, and they’ll be working closely with the team managers and coaches on identifying the athletes as they perform over the course of the week, and how are we going to help manage the continued development beyond this tournament.”
“Having the opportunity to play not just more rugby, but at a competitive level against their peers is only going to help benefit their development and their progress. So this is a key, pivotal tournament for us in terms of helping identify and develop those players.”
Sandy Nesbitt, Executive Director for Rugby Alberta, said that his organization bid to have the U19 tournament in Calgary, and that there was a real excitement to play at the CRU and have players stay at the University of Calgary.
“We love when we can do the events here, because Tourism Calgary supports us, everybody supports us, and if you get out to that field and stand on field three and look west and north, you see the downtownscape, and you see the mountains.”
He said that there was a real hope to get fans out to the fields over the next week, especially over the weekend to cheer on Alberta.
Calgary’s own Matthew Welch, Captain of Alberta’s Wolf Pack team, said that it was an absolute honour to compete in front of his hometown.
“I grew up in Calgary, play all my games at the CRU and I know all the boys are fired up to have the home field advantage, you know, playing in front of their family, playing in front of their friends and their clubs. It’s going to be a blast.”
Taking on the best to be better at the Canadian Rugby Championships
Taking on the other provincial teams, said Welch, was the best way to test the skills of all the players.
“We get to play these other guys to compete for to compete for a spot for U20 Canada, and you wouldn’t have it any other way, right? Playing the best to be the best.”
“We’re looking to play a really smart rugby, not playing our own half, get the ball out, force the other team to make mistakes, and we’re a team that’s always underestimated here from Alberta, and we just want to come out, fly and come out hard.”
Alberta U19 Men are first taking on the Ontario Blues starting at 10 a.m. on July 21, while the Alberta’s U19 Women take on Ontario at noon.
Kiera Skrenek, Captain of the U19 Women’s Wolf Pack team, said she was really excited for the matches and to grow the recognition of women’s rugby.
“I think it’s really good for recognition just seeing all these amazing women being here playing this high level, in nationals.”
As part of the welcome to Calgary, Tourism Calgary gave customary white hat to the captains of all the provincial teams.
Skrenek said it was an honour to be white hatted by Fraser Abbot, leader of the Calgary Champion Program at Tourism Calgary.
“I’m very excited, and I’m really glad that my coaches had enough confidence in me to name me captain. I’m here for my team, so I really hope we do some good this weekend.”
All of the U19 Canadian Rugby Championships games are free to visitors to watch, and schedules for both the Women’s and Men’s Game are available through Rugby Alberta.
Abedelnour said that the real prize is the opportunity for players to get an invitation to the U20 program in Victoria, playing in development camps, and getting into the international rugby scene.
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