Want to compete in the Olympics? Have your chance to be seen in Surrey

Want to compete in the Olympics? Have your chance to be seen in Surrey

Published 10:30 pm Thursday, April 23, 2026

Interested in becoming an Olympic athlete? Know someone who may?

An Olympic talent search is coming to Cloverdale May 2 and interested athletes may be able to win a spot with a Canadian Olympic program.

RBC Training Ground is holding a free event for Surrey athletes at the Agriplex on the Cloverdale Fairgrounds.

“The program gives area athletes from any sport (ages 14-25) the opportunity to be scouted by 15 winter and summer Olympic sports,” notes a press release from RBC Training Ground.

Interested athletes can register by visiting rbctrainingground.ca, but walk-ups are also welcome.

Potential Olympic athletes will get to compete in several qualifying events such as: a strength test, a running sprint, a vertical jump, and a shuttle run. Attendees will also get to meet current Olympians and representatives from national Olympic sporting organizations.

After the 21-city tour in 2026, including three stops in B.C., the top 100 athletes will be invited to a national final event where the top 30-35 athletes will be named an “RBC Future Olympian.” The winners will get money and resources to pursue a specific Olympic sport.

RBC Training Ground ambassadors and Olympic athletes Sarah Nurse and Harbir Sidhu will also be there to meet and chat with the athletes. Nurse is a three-time Olympic medalist in women’s ice hockey. Sidhu is a midfielder with 46 caps on Canada’s men’s national field hockey team.

RBC Training Ground has also produced a homegrown success story. Last year Surrey’s Adam Scott, a local soccer player, was identified at the 2025 event by scouts from Bobsleigh Skeleton Canada.

According to the release, “Just a few months later he was named to the Canadian Skeleton Next Gen team.”

Over the past 11 years—the program began in 2016—RBC Training Ground has put more than 20,000 athletes through their paces, with 28 becoming Olympians, garnering Canada 12 medals.

“Eleven graduates competed for Canada at the most recent Olympic Games in Milano Cortina.”

RBC Training Ground is a nationwide sporting talent ID program that pairs winning athletes with funding and resources to pursue an Olympic sport.

The event will run from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m May 2 in the Agriplex on the Cloverdale Fairgrounds, 17763 62nd Avenue, Surrey.

For more info, visit rbctrainingground.ca.