The British Columbia Rugby Union is proud to announce the creation of a new high performance initiative designed to identify, train and support 11-16 year old athletes who have aspirations of playing seven-a-side rugby at the Provincial and National level.  The BC Rugby Elite Youth 7s program provides a framework for player identification in key areas of British Columbia.  Once identified, players will be invited to skill sessions, followed by regional and provincial training camps.  This Elite Youth 7s pathway will result in the creation of a BC Junior 7s Provincial team, selected to tour internationally.

The program is the result of the vision and support of a group of generous individuals, including a primary benefactor.  Funding has been provided to retain the services of one of the world's most decorated 7s players and former international 7s coach.  Shane Thompson will serve as the program's high performance coach.  Shane brings to the program a wealth of 7s specific experience has competed for Canada from 1997 to 2005 where he played, in a Canadian-record holding, 55 IRB 7s tournament. Following his playing career, Shane continued his involvement with Canada's National Team as the Head Coach. He finished coaching the National Men's 7s team at the 2009 7s World Cup. He is a level 4 coach and has a masters in coaching studies.

"Based on the current developmental initiatives offered in British Columbia, it is the intention of this program to augment current high school and club 15-a-side programs with a focus on identifying elite athletes who would be suitable to represent Canada in the future," said Thompson. "In order for Canada to improve at the international level and compete for a berth at the 2016 Olympics, players need to be developed at an earlier age.  I am honoured to have the opportunity to work with this demographic and play an important role in achieving our mission."

Helping guide the initiative is Doug Tate, the program's high performance director. Doug has been involved in the National 7s team from 1997 to 2009, and has been to over 40 IRB tournaments including two 7s World Cups and three Commonwealth Games. Doug is a level 4 coach who works full-time at the University of Victoria teaching and coaching.

"The mission of the program is to develop young athletes into the rugby players who will be best qualified to represent Canada with distinction at future Olympic games and Rugby World Cup tournaments," explained Tate. "With Rugby Sevens recently being added to the 2016 Olympic Games, this age range has become the most important group to focus on in the immediate future."

To celebrate the launch of the program a new logo has been developed (click here to view).  The red ring depicted in the logo represents the red ring in the Olympic logo.  Subsequently, the red Olympic ring represents the Americas.  The Bear is a link to the BC Bears Senior program and a reminder all program offerings, both fifteens and sevens must be integrated and in keeping with Sport Canada's Long Term Athlete Development model. Thompson, Tate and the supporting cast for the BC Rugby Elite Youth 7s program will work in concert with Dave Brown, the BC Rugby Provincial Coach and Development Manager.

The Canadian Rugby Foundation has partnered on this program to offer donours tax receipts for their financial support. To date, private funding for this program is directed at boys between the ages of 11-16. BC Rugby will ensure a girls program is also in place in the future as both the men's and women's national 7s team will be looking to win an Olympic Gold Medal at 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.

For more information on the program, Shane Thompson can be contacted via email at sthompson@bcrugby.com.