{"id":19299,"date":"2017-12-06T16:32:00","date_gmt":"2017-12-06T21:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=19299"},"modified":"2017-12-06T16:32:00","modified_gmt":"2017-12-06T21:32:00","slug":"advantage-rugby-aims-to-get-high-schoolers-recruited-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/advantage-rugby-aims-to-get-high-schoolers-recruited-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Advantage Rugby aims to get high-schoolers recruited"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jake Courtepatte<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rugby players in York Region looking to make the jump to the collegiate level will have the chance to do so in front of recruiters this weekend.
\nAdvantage Rugby, run by the coaches of the under-18 boys Aurora Barbarians team, will host its second annual High School Player Showcase on December 9 from 2 \u2013 3 p.m., held at the Aurora Sports Dome.
\n\u201cThis is a great idea\u201d, said Graham Brown, former CEO of Rugby Canada and current President and CEO of U Sports. \u201cOpportunities like this give student athletes the visibility, appreciation and reward they deserve.\u201d
\nHigh schoolers will have the chance to show what they are made of in front of coaches from colleges and universities across Canada through a series of tests.
\n\u201cConnecting prospective student athletes with varsity coaches is our goal for the showcase; we want kids to understand the development opportunities that exist and for coaches to be able to identify talented players,\u201d said Director of Rugby Development Sandy Townsend. \u201cWe are delighted to be hosting this Showcase for high school rugby players across the province, connecting players with coaches and promoting the varsity development pathway is what this event is all about.\u201d
\nPlayers will not only have the opportunity to perform in front of the province\u2019s top recruiters, but meet and greet as well, and learn about academic programming to assist them in choosing the right school.
\n\u201cThe U Sports, OUA and OCAA are great development pathways for future national level talent,\u201d said Ryan Stickle, Advantage Rugby founder. \u201cWe want to identify student athletes who are capable of playing at that level and get them into programs that best assist their progress inside and outside the classroom.
\n\u201cMany people are familiar with the term \u2018combine\u2019 from other sports, and we are trying to do the same here with our Showcase. We know that a full ride scholarship for rugby is not possible in Canada, but many colleges and universities do have smaller financial awards available and we think kids in York Region are as good as any around the province.\u201d
\nTownsend said the response so far has been \u201camazing,\u201d and the showcase gives players and coaches \u201can early look\u201d at some of the top rugby talent in York Region.
\n\u201cEvery coach we\u2019re reached out to supported the idea, and we anticipate an excellent turnout of coaches and players,\u201d said Townsend. \u201cWe have extended invitation to every College and University rugby coach in Ontario\u2026this is an all-inclusive event we want to grow each and every year!\u201d
\nThe event is open to any and all high school-aged boys and girls interested <\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rugby players in York Region looking to make the jump to the collegiate level will have the chance to do so in front of recruiters this weekend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[24,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-sports","category-sports"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-51h","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-29 13:52:48","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19299"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19299\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}