Rugby Ontario Announces OBDA & OBJAA Academy Selections

December 12th, 2022

(WHITBY, ON) - Rugby Ontario is pleased to announce the athlete selections for our High Performance Academies. The Ontario Blues Development Academy (Female) and the Ontario Blues Junior Arrows Academy (Male) will both be operating regionally in the East (Ottawa), Central (Toronto), and West (Niagara) for athletes ages 15 - 18. The academies are operated in partnership with the Ontario High Performance Sport Initiative (OHPSI), the Toronto Arrows and  will feature over 100 athletes from across the province. 

 “We are extremely excited to continue to see the growth of athletes in our program in all three regions with the investment from our funding partners, Canadian Sport Institute Ontario (CSIO) and the Ontario High Performance Sport Initiative (OHPSI)” said Amanda Andres , Coordinator, High Performance. “The Canadian Sport Institute Ontario provided us a unique opportunity to move in and be the first high performance tenants in their world class facility within Canada Games Park. We are excited to be the first tenants in the building that allows us to provide our athletes with an excellent support system which will allow them to be successful on their high performance journey.  

“On behalf of Rugby Ontario, I would like to congratulate all the athletes who have been named to the 2022/2023 Academy programs” said Myles Spencer, CEO of Rugby Ontario. “We are thrilled to continue our partnership with the Canadian Sport Institute Ontario, whose support through the Ontario High Performance Sport Initiative has made these programs a possibility. Thank you also to our partners at the Toronto Arrows for their ongoing support of the Ontario Blues Junior Arrows Academy.  In the Academy programs we are committed to supporting and developing Ontario's future provincial, national and professional athletes as they pursue success at the highest levels of rugby." 

Both programs will operate regionally with designated centres in Guelph, Toronto, and Ottawa. Each centre will provide technical/tactical training for all players as well as strength and conditioning programming. Access to key resources such as athletic therapy, nutritional support, mental performance coaching, and video review/analysis will also be provided to ensure the holistic development of all players. In addition, centralized training sessions and competitions will be scheduled throughout the program. 

Congratulations to all of the players selected to both the OBDA and OBJAA. Below are the selected athletes sorted by region: 

East Boys

East Boys Coaches

Ryan Surgenor

Stephen Rowlands

East Girls

East Girls Coaches:

Jackie Tittley

Megan Copeland-Dinan

Central Boys

Central Boys Coaches

Iain McLeish

Patrick Maulson

Ken Darche

Central Girls

Central Girls Coaches

Jeremy Cairnie

Jenn Russell

West Boys

West Boys Coaches

Sean Medeiros

Josh Celebre

Steve Commerford

Luke Bagshaw

West Girls

West Girls Coaches

Ian Fitzgerald

Mark Smerdon

Rugby Ontario Instagram 

Rugby Ontario Facebook 

Rugby Ontario Twitter 

ABOUT RUGBY ONTARIO

Rugby Ontario is the provincial sports governing body responsible for the organization of rugby in Ontario. Our mission is to lead, support and promote Rugby for All from communities to clubs to province. This mission signals a movement toward creating a more cohesive, supportive and progressive sporting environment that is responsive to the needs of all members.

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

JOIN THE CONVERSATION