Canadian Women's Rugby Club Championship
August 1st, 2019
(MARKHAM, ON) - The first ever Canadian Women's Rugby Club Championship is taking place this August long weekend at Fletcher's Fields. The best Women’s Club Rugby team in the country will be crowned on Sunday afternoon. Following the success of the Men's version at Capilano Rugby Club in October of 2018, Davine D. Burton, Chair, and her Committee, have been putting the final touches on preparations for the tournament.
Due to the unavailability of various players, the prairie contenders were unable to commit to attend. Charlottetown R.F.C. and Club de Rugby de Quebec were granted the final two spots rather than having to play their quarterfinal match.
Although the B.C. Capilanos have been afforded the number one seed by the Committee, given the talent in all squads, it will likely come down to the wire. Capilanos knocked off the reigning B.C. champions and unbeaten season record holders, Westshore Valkyries, by one point in the B.C. finals in May in a tough physical contest. They play number four seed Charlottetown R.F.C. in the first semi-final match of the tournament on Friday, August 2nd at 5:00p.m.
Toronto Saracens are currently leading the Ontario Women’s League and won the OWL Cup last year. Club de Rugby de Quebec had nine of their players participating in Quebec's winning team at the Provincial Competition this year. Toronto and Quebec, ranked 2nd and 3rd, will face each other in the second semi-final match of the tournament - in a battle of the east - on Friday, August 2nd at 7:00p.m.
All eastern teams have the advantage of being match fit, though tempered by the lateness of the season and the unavailability of certain players due to injury. Capilano, on the other hand, come into the tournament healthy and fresh; however, have not been game tested since their May 2019 Provincial finals.
"We are looking forward to a great event and the first chance for Women's Club Rugby, the grassroots of Canadian Women's Rugby, to shine, and for the best team in the country to be crowned. It is an honour to be a part of “herstory” in the making!", stated Davine D. Burton.
The Committee is grateful to sponsors, Canadian Rugby Foundation, Langara Fishing Lodge, Toronto Arrows, Pemberton Holmes, SportsSide Medical Services, Gilbert Rugby Canada, Aedelhard, Aptoella – Women’s Rugby Apparel, Toronto Inner City Rugby Foundation, Fletcher's Fields, Rugby Ontario and Rugby Canada, for making this event possible.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE:
Friday August 2, 2019:
Game 1: Capilano (BC) vs Charlottetown (PEI), 5:00 p.m. kickoff
Game 2: Saracens (ON) vs Rugby de Quebec (QUE), 7:00 p.m. kickoff
Sunday August 4, 2019:
Bronze medal match between loser of Game 1 and loser of Game 2, 12:00 p.m. kickoff
Gold medal match between winner of Game 1 and winner of game 2, 2:00 p.m. kickoff
Sunday August 4, 2019:
9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. Alumni Fundraising Breakfast at Fletcher's Fields. All rugby lovers and supporters welcomed! (for information / tickets contact Barb DiNardo at barb@sbdinc.ca or Davine D. Burton at rugbygal4ever@hotmal.com)
For more information on the tournament, including where you can watch it live streamed: https://canadianclubchampionship.com/
Canadian Rugby Foundation
The Canadian Rugby Foundation mission is to provide long term endowment funding to support grassroots rugby in Canada. Operating independently of, but cooperatively with, Rugby Canada, the Foundation is a non-profit organization governed by a Board consisting of directors appointed by the Foundation from donating members, and from Rugby Canada. We work with clubs, organizations and individuals to provide stable funding for programs, scholarships and junior development across Canada. The Canadian Rugby Foundation is a Canadian Not-for-profit Corporation incorporated under the Canada Corporations Act, registered with the Canada Revenue Agency as a public foundation, and is required by law to distribute a percentage of its assets annually.
Marlene Donaldson
Cell: 250-686-5271
ABOUT THE ONTARIO BLUES
The Ontario Blues program is the high performance representative program for male and female rugby players in Ontario. Rugby Ontario is represented at the provincial level by the Ontario Blues. The program includes representative teams from Under-15 to Senior in both Women’s and Men’s Fifteens and Under-18 Men's and Women's Sevens. Specifically, the program is designed to develop and showcase rugby players for Canadian representative national teams.
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/
WANT MORE INFORMATION?
Dalton Finkbeiner
Communications and Marketing Coordinator - Rugby Ontario
647-560-4790 x 1006
dfinkbeiner@rugbyontario.com
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