LANGLEY, B.C. – Trinity Western's women's rugby 7s team will play in its first-ever tournament as the Spartans make their debut in the Canada West Rugby 7s Series this Saturday and Sunday at Foote Field Dome in Edmonton.
The first-year program will be led by former Canadian national sevens player
Tausani Levale (Abbotsford, B.C.), who has experience on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series and joined the Spartans after helping Canada capture a gold medal at the 2019 Pan American Games. The TWU side will be coached by three-time Women's Rugby World Cup star for Canada
Julia Sugawara.
The Spartans will play their first official contest in program history against the two-time defending Canada West champion Victoria on Saturday at 11:18 a.m. (MT). Along with the Victoria, the Spartans Pool A opponents include Calgary (1:30 p.m. MT) and Alberta (4:04 p.m. MT).
The Edmonton tournament, which runs Saturday and Sunday, is the first of three this season along with tournaments in Vancouver (February 1-2) and Victoria (February 29 - March 1).
After a successful three-year pilot project with partners B2Ten and Rugby Canada, the conference renewed its commitment to the fast-paced Olympic sport last year, meaning another CW rugby 7s champion will be crowned in the coming months, as the Vikes take aim at a three-peat.
This year will see an expanded field as TWU and UBC Okanagan are set to make their debut along with the original six teams of Alberta, Calgary, UBC, Victoria, Lethbridge, and Fraser Valley.
It's an exciting step in the sport's development, as the conference and its members continue to pursue a path towards a sanctioned U SPORTS championship event.
A complete look at the tournament schedule can be found below, with daily scores available
here.
SPARTANS ROSTER
Ashley Jacob – South Surrey, B.C. | (Earl Marriott)
Niki Duchesne – Surrey, B.C. | Bayside Sharks (Elgin Park)
Madison Fleischer – Bellevue, Wash. | (Richmond Christian)
Tausani Levale – Abbotsford, B.C. | Canada 7s (Abbotsford)
Sammi Thiessen – Abbotsford, B.C. | Abbotsford RFC (Yale)
Laralee Gadsby – Kitchener, Ont. | Conestoga College (Huron Heights)
Abby Johnson – Kamloops, B.C. | Columbia Bible College (Kamloops Christian)
Kate Fedoruk – Richmond, B.C. | Richmond RFC (R.A. McMath)
Jensen Schmidt – Nanaimo, B.C. | (Dover Bay)
Issy Scholtens – Langley, B.C. | (Credo Christian)
Michelle Veerman Quezada – White Rock, B.C. | (Mission)
Sara Eskildsen – Mexico City, Mexico – Wallabies RFC Mexico (Avon View)
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Pool A (2019 finish)
Victoria (1)
Calgary (4)
Alberta (5)
Trinity Western
Pool B (2019 finish)
UBC (2)
Lethbridge (3)
Fraser Valley (6)
UBCO
Saturday, January 18
Session 1:
10:12 a.m. - Lethbridge vs. Fraser Valley
10:34 a.m. - UBC vs. UBCO
10:56 a.m. - Calgary vs. Alberta
11:18 - Victoria vs. Trinity Western
Session 2:
12:46 p.m. - Lethbridge vs. UBCO
1:08 p.m. - UBC vs. Fraser Valley
1:30 p.m. - Calgary vs. Trinity Western
1:52 p.m. - Victoria vs. Alberta
Session 3:
3:20 p.m. - Fraser Valley vs. UBCO
3:42 p.m. - UBC vs. Lethbridge
4:04 p.m. - Alberta vs. Trinity Western
4:26 p.m. - Victoria vs. Calgary
Sunday, January 19
Morning session:
9:50 a.m. - A3 vs. B4
10:12 a.m. - A4 vs. B3
10:34 a.m. - A1 vs. B2
10:56 a.m. - A2 vs. B1
Afternoon session:
1:30 p.m. - 7th-place game
1:52 p.m. - 5th-place game
2:14 p.m. - 3rd-place game
2:36 p.m. - 1st-place game
About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 11 sports in the Canada West conference, including women's and men's soccer, volleyball, basketball, cross country and track & field, as well as women's rugby sevens. TWU also competes in the British Columbia Intercollegiate Hockey League (BCIHL) in men's hockey and as an independent team in men's rugby. The men's and women's hockey programs will begin playing in Canada West and U SPORTS in 2020-21. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 12 U SPORTS team championships and 27 Canada West team championships and two BCIHL championships.
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