Dairy Farmers of Canada present Fuelling Women Champions

August 22, 2017

Colleen Irowa on the challenges that have made her and continue to make her a better player; Photo Credit to Neil Kennedy

At twenty-two years of age, Colleen Irowa has already added a substantial amount of experience to her rugby resumé. The Brampton native – now living in Cookstown – has been a member of the Ontario Women’ provincial scene for five years and has represented Canada on two separate occasions – at the U20 Can-Am Series in 2014 and with the Rugby Canada Maple Leafs in 2016.

She most recently graduated from McMaster University and will be attending the University of Toronto in the fall. In her career with the Marauders Womens’ Rugby team, she was named OUA Rookie of the Year in 2013 and an OUA All Star in both 2015 and 2016. Irowa has won two OUA Championships with the Marauders (2014 and 2015) and won the CIS Championship in 2015. She was also named to the CIS (U Sports) All-Canadian Second team in 2016.

Getting to where she is today has not been easy. Irowa’s story highlights some of the challenges many of our female athletes face when climbing the ranks in their desired sporting career. Irowa was also recently named to the 2016 Senior Women’s Long List, at the age of twenty-one.

Colleen began playing sports in Grade 6, beginning with soccer and quickly switching to her first passion of basketball. Basketball became a focus for Irowa up until Grade 10 – the year she discovered rugby.

Sports were always accessible to Irowa and the options were there. With many athletes to look up to who graduated from her high school, Colleen found it easy to stay involved.

Once she discovered the sport, Irowa knew that rugby was different than any other sport she had played in the past. The minute she first ran onto the pitch, Colleen had found her new passion and made it her goal to play at a high level.

“I knew the moment I started playing rugby that I wanted to play at a high level,” Irowa recollected. “Rugby was the first sport that challenged me, it never got boring, never got easy.”

It was that challenge that drove Colleen to take her rugby to the next level and continue to grow as a player. She began her provincial career with the Under-18 Ontario Storm squad in 2012 and has moved through the program ever since.

Colleen’s first season with the Senior Women’ team was in 2016, playing with the 2016 Canadian Rugby Championship silver medalists. She recorded one try in her first Canadian Rugby Championship. She joined the Blues squad again in 2017.

Her dominance at tighthead prop was evident and she helped the team to a perfect tournament, where they only allowed their opponents to score 14 points.

The road to high performance sport is not a straight path as many challenges can be identified – especially for female athletes. Irowa recognizes a few key challenges that she has faced along her way; support of her goal and financial challenges.

“Being a female athlete has been challenging,” she explained. “It took a long time for people to understand why I wanted to pursue rugby.”

She also noted that it has been hard to feel represented and respected in sport because of the stereotypes and restrictions put on women – particularly in rugby.

The additional challenges that many female athletes have and face are financial barriers. It is difficult for these athletes to allocate funding to attend camps and be a part of high performance teams. In particular, Irowa remembers not being able to attend National camps because of the financial barriers and also not being able to play provincially.

“There was a year where I could not participate in the Ontario provincial program because I couldn’t afford it,” she said. “Fundraising is always challenging and not having financial support from family made it challenging to keep playing.”

The barriers that these talented athletes face can be the breaking point of a career, but Colleen sees it in a different light. She sees these barriers as a motivation to work harder in hopes for more opportunities and a chance to continue to play.

“In 2015, I was invited to a Canada camp and I couldn’t come up with the money,” she described. “It was the Canada camp or paying my rent for the month. Moments like that make you train harder and work harder in hopes of another chance to represent your country. As discouraging as it may feel in the moment, it reminds you how much you enjoy the sport and would sacrifice more to play.”

Colleen has had some inspiration along the way. One person in particular who showed a keen interest in the development of Irowa, as an athlete was her Head Coach at the Brampton Beavers, Brian Kelly.

“Brian, who now coaches at York University, was the first person to see potential in me,” she said. “He pushed me to play for Ontario and kept me motivated when no one else really believed in me. He is the reason I played at McMaster. Until this day, he still checks up on me and keeps up with everything I do in the rugby community.”

Most recently, Irowa noted that she had a strong support system at McMaster University. She recognized Shaun Allen and Tim Doucette as coaches who have been supportive and push her to train harder.

“[Shaun and Tim] have really guided me the last four years at McMaster and I’m sure they will continue to do so,” she explained.

She also identifies her teammates as incredible role models. Whether they are suiting up for the World Cup this year or leading their university teams, she continues to be impressed by the teammates she plays with on a regular basis.

“I definitely look up to my teammates,” Irowa noted. “They continue to impress me every day and push me to do great things in rugby and in life.”

Irowa also recognizes the need for changes in Women’s sports and how they are acknowledged. She also hopes that the equality for women in all sports will be increased.

“There are many changes that need to be made, but we should start with acknowledgement,” she explained. “When women in sports are acknowledged for the great things that they do, many changes will be made to increase equality for women in all different sports.”

Lastly, Colleen Irowa left us with a bit of advice for young girls aspiring to play rugby at a high level.

“Keep pushing despite all of the barriers you face. It’s going to be hard, but the challenge is a learning lesson.”

ABOUT FUELLING WOMEN CHAMPIONS

As champions of healthy living, providing nutrition and playing an active role in our communities, Canada’s dairy farmers’ mission is to see that no hurdle exists that might hinder the passion for the game. The goal: to support women’s sports so they will become more watched, more appreciated and more financially stable, from the grassroots level to the elite level.

Visit womenchampions.ca to learn more

ABOUT RUGBY ONTARIO

Rugby Ontario is the provincial sports governing body responsible for the organization of rugby in Ontario. Our mission is to establish a stronger identity for rugby in Ontario by promoting the sport’s core values and by fostering a culture of inclusiveness and excellence on and off the field of play.

To learn more, visit https://www.rugbyontario.com/