Toronto Arrows Name Academy Athletes

Toronto Arrows Release

TORONTO, ON – The Toronto Arrows are pleased to announce the 32 athletes named to the club’s inaugural Academy program list.

EAST

Name	School	Club	Hometown
Augustin, Jared*	Queen’s University	Oshawa Vikings	Newcastle, Ont.
Bradley, Darby	Trent University	Peterborough Pagans	Bowmanville, Ont.
Butler, Glenn*	Royal Military College	Grimsby Gentlemen	Grimsby, Ont.
Casey, Liam*	Queen’s University	Kingston Panthers	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Engelbrecht, Josh	Queen’s University	Crusaders	Oakville, Ont.
Ferguson, Brandan	–	Peterborough Pagans	Peterborough, Ont.
Godden, Eric*	Queen’s University	Toronto Saracens	Toronto, Ont.
Hand, Will	Royal Military College	–	Fredericton, N.B.
King, Noah	Queen’s University	–	Vancouver, B.C.
Laplaine-Pereira, Michael	Concordia University	Town of Mount Royal	Montreal, Que.
Matthews, Will*	Queen’s University	Beaconsfield	Montreal, Que.
Prior, Emerson*	Trent University	Peterborough Pagans	Gananoque, Ont.
Russell, Ben*	McGill University	–	Chichester, England
Van Der Ploeg, Rienk*	Queen’s University	London St. George’s	Walton, Ont.
Zuliani, Stefan*	Queen’s University	–	Thornhill, Ont.

WEST

Name	School	Club	Hometown
Brown, Cole*	McMaster University	Ajax Wanderers	Pickering, Ont.
Campbell, Dalton	University of Guelph	Guelph Rugby	Calgary, Alta.
Commerford, Steve*	Brock University	Peterborough Pagans	Peterborough, Ont.
Cooper, Harrison	University of Waterloo	Cobourg Saxons	Cobourg, Ont.
Di Girolamo, Dylan	Wilfrid Laurier University	Aurora Barbarians	Kettleby, Ont.
Fish, Matt	Wilfrid Laurier University	Waterloo County	Waterloo, Ont.
Goodwin, Max	University of Guelph	Aurora Barbarians	Newmarket, Ont.
Hurst, Cam*	University of Guelph	Mississauga Blues	Puslinch, Ont.
McLean Lavado, Owen	Wilfrid Laurier University	Toronto Scottish	Toronto, Ont.
McLean Lavado, Quenton	University of Guelph	Toronto Scottish	Toronto, Ont.
Mukendi, Guerschom*	University of Guelph	Stoney Creek Camels	Stoney Creek, Ont.
Oh, Kevin*	University of Waterloo	Waterloo County	Waterloo, Ont.
Pacha, Aaron	University of Guelph	Guelph Rugby	Guelph, Ont.
Santilli, Mitch*	Brock University	Brantford Harlequins	Brantford, Ont.
Shroeder, Paul	University of Waterloo	Waterloo County	New Dundee, Ont.
Voralek, Mitch	University of Waterloo	Waterloo County	Waterloo, Ont.
Williamson, Alex	University of Guelph	Guelph Rugby	Uxbridge, Ont.

* = Canada U20 program athlete (current and former; travelling and/or longlisted)

The Academy athlete list features:

Ten different post-secondary institutions across two provinces
Eighteen different grassroots rugby clubs
Twenty graduates of the Ontario Blues provincial rugby program

The non-residential Academy will operate in two main training areas, with hubs located in Kingston (East) and Guelph (West).

As announced in September 2019, the Academy will be overseen by Arrows coach Cory Hector.

“Congratulations to the young men selected as the first group of Toronto Arrows Academy athletes,” said Hector. “The club’s primary goal is to develop elite-level Canadian rugby players, and our Academy will be a key tool in allowing our club to identify and train the next wave of talented athletes primed to crack the senior Arrows squad.”

“The reason we’ve targeted post-secondary-aged athletes is they tend to be clustered in areas that lend themselves well to our regional model. Our hubs in Guelph and Kingston also have access to fantastic facilities and support systems that our program can complement. This model also aligns with a common background shared by many of our current Arrows players who are Canadian post-secondary graduates.”

“The Academy is intended to be a fluid group with multiple entry points. Our coaching staff will continue to evaluate talent on an ongoing basis and may look to add players at different points in time. Our goal is to have year-long programming and monitoring, but not to take Academy athletes away from their club or university commitments. Though there may be minor overlaps, we feel it’s valuable for our players to continue to compete with their clubs and refine their games.”

Spring fixtures for the Arrows Academy will be announced in the coming weeks.

About Toronto Arrows Rugby Football Club:

The Toronto Arrows Rugby Football Club is Canada’s first professional rugby union team.

Competing in Major League Rugby, the team is equipped to compete against top-tier North American club teams, providing emerging Canadian talent with enhanced and more frequent opportunities to hone their skills at an elite level.

For more information, visit https://torontoarrows.com/

For more information, please contact:

Brock Smith
Communications Manager
Toronto Arrows
bsmith@torontoarrows.com