Crowd cheering on rugby players at Kelowna's Apple Bowl. (Photo Credit: KelownaNow.com)
If you’re a diehard rugby fan or just wanting to have a fun day watching some top talent, then you’ll want to head down to Kelowna’s Apple Bowl for the Western Canada Rugby Championships.
Kelowna will play host to many of Canada’s top senior women’s rugby players as well as some provincial players ready to leap to the next level. Spectators can see future prospects for Canadian Olympic, World Cup, and Sevens rugby teams playing at the U18 and U16 levels. More than 250 athletes will try to be the “best in the west” and hope to play well enough to earn a tryout for the national team.
The weekend tournament begins Friday, July 31st going to Sunday, August 2nd. Eight teams will compete for a western championship, with four different BC provincial teams (16 Men, U18 Women, U18 Men and Senior Women) competing Friday and Saturday against a rep team from the Prairies.
File photo. (Photo Credit: KelownaNow.com)
"We are pleased to host the Prairie sides in Kelowna this year," said Dean Murten, Performance Development Manager for BC Rugby. "We look forward to some quality competitive rugby this weekend."
"This is a great opportunity for local rugby enthusiasts to see top-level rugby in our own town," said Doug Manning, tournament organizer. "Our Canadian Women's 15's and Sevens teams are ranked #2 in the world. Many national players will be here to represent BC or the Prairies. Also, on the provincial youth teams, many future stars for Canada will get a chance to shine."
The public can take in all the games free of charge, though spectators are asked to bring donations to the Food Bank to be collected at the Apple Bowl gate.
File photo. (Photo Credit: KelownaNow.com)
You can also watch the games online, as they’ll be livestreamed across the country at www.bcrugby.com/live.
Check out the schedule below:
Friday, July 31 @ The Apple Bowl
2:30 PM – BC U16 Men vs Prairie U16 Men
4:00 PM – BC U18 Women vs Prairie U18 Women
5:30 PM – BC U18 Men vs Prairie U18 Men
7:00 PM – BC Senior Women vs Prairie Senior Women
Sunday, August 2
Apple Bowl Games
10:30 AM – BC U18 Men vs Prairie U18 Men
12:00 Noon – BC Senior Women vs Prairie Senior Women
Parkinson P10 Games
10:30 AM – BC U18 Women vs Prairie U18 Women
12:00 Noon – BC U16 Men vs Prairie U16 Men
If you get value from KelownaNow and believe local independent media is important to our community we ask that you please consider subscribing to our daily newsletter.
If you appreciate what we do, we ask that you consider supporting our local independent news platform.
