Sports

On August 23, Kelowna's rugby enthusiasts will have a chance to test themselves against other athletes in a new competition designed to determine which local rugby athletes are ‘rugby ready’ for the upcoming season.  In the process, the August 23rd event will identify this year’s reigning 'rugby man' and 'rugby woman.'

Photo: Contributed - Doug Manning

Central Okanagan Rugby Enthusiasts (CORE) is looking for the Okanagan's top rugby athletes.

The competition is being organized by the Central Okanagan Rugby Enthusiasts (CORE), a local sport society dedicated to the development of rugby in the region. 

They believe this competition is crucial for the growth of rugby in the region.

40 athletes will be put through a series of eight different events to determine various capacities important for rugby sevens, 15’s and league play.

“We do not have a rugby tradition for off-season strength and conditioning training, as is seen in many other sports,” says Doug Manning, CORE President.

“We hope that this competition will encourage our athletes to determine their rugby readiness and better condition themselves for competitive play.”

The tests include three measures of lower body strength, agility, and acceleration, three measures of upper body strength, and two measures of anaerobic and aerobic fitness.  Each athlete will be measured individually against strength and conditioning benchmarks established for rugby readiness.   

Trainers from Global Fitness Centre in Kelowna will conduct the assessments, with the top six results in each of the eight events awarded points towards the Rugby Man and Rugby Woman awards.

The top male and female players will be crowned Rugby Man and Rugby Woman for 2012 and each will receive a one-year membership at Global Fitness.  All other participants will receive a complimentary two-week pass to utilize Global’s strength and conditioning facilities.

“We are encouraged that the local rugby community is making the strength and conditioning of their athletes a priority,” says Darcia Fenton, General Manager at Global Fitness Centre. 

“The RugbyMan competition enables 40 players to receive an annual assessment of their readiness for the sport.  We believe this will go a long way to improving the performance of local rugby athletes.”

CORE encourages anyone 18 or older to take part. Competitors must have played some form of rugby (touch, sevens, 15’s, or league) locally in the past 12 months.

Interested participants must pre-register by sending an email to dmanning@corerugby.com.