With files from Mark Winokur, Ontario Arrows General Manager

The Ontario Arrows Rugby Club are set to launch in September with a very challenging match against Glendale Merlins in Glendale, Colorado on September 9, 2017.

The Arrows, who will be made up of High Performance Senior Men's players from Ontario and Eastern Canada, will build on and work with the Ontario Blues of the Canadian Rugby Championship, to provide sub-international fixtures for emerging and established Canadian players seeking to increase their high performance involvement.

The team is named jointly after the Avro Arrow (Canada's world class jet fighter program that was terminated in the 1960's, originating from Downsview, Ontario) and the primary hunting tool of the Ontario First Nations people. The Ontario Arrows will play in Ontario navy blue, Nickel belt grey and Harvest gold.

The bulk of the initial squad will come from the Blues, who have a 28-12 all time record in the Canadian Rugby Championship (CRC) and have either won or been in the CRC final for the last seven years straight. Other selected players are also joining from the eastern provinces.

“We are really excited to be part of the first Arrows team and looking forward to a great day in Denver - our thanks to Glendale for hosting,” said Arrows General Manager Mark Winokur. “We are both trying to put our players on a better development pathway and it should be a great game.”

 Ontario, playing under the Blues name, and Glendale, under the Raptors banner, met in Burlington, Ontario in May of this year. Ontario came out on top by 43-25.

The Arrows vs. Merlins match will be part of Infinity Park’s 10 year celebration and will kick off at 3 pm MDT, 5 PM EDT. Broadcast and streaming details will be announced soon.

For more information, contact:

Mike Brown - mbrown@rugbyontario.com

Bill Webb - williamwebb88@gmail.com

Mark Winokur - arcbluesmgr@gmail.com