VANCOUVER – Five-time defending Canada West Champion UBC Women's Rugby has added four new players to their talented team for the 2024 season, with the T-Birds home opener against the Lethbridge Pronghorns coming up on Sunday, September 15
th at 1:00 p.m. (PT) at the Gerald McGavin UBC Rugby Centre.
The blue and gold began their season on the road, losing a tight 22-17 match to the Vikes in Victoria. Now they start a run of four consecutive home games, which will make up the rest of their Canada West regular season.
"I am looking for the team to keep the ball in hand a little longer than we did against U Vic, we need to have fewer turnovers," said UBC head coach
Dean Murten, the three-time defending Canada West Coach of the Year. "Without the ball in hand, we need to make our opponents work hard if they're going to score. U Vic scored two easy tries."
2023 saw the Thunderbirds enjoy another undefeated regular season en route to the Canada West Championship, with team playing absurdly dominant rugby at home. In total, the T-Birds piled up 259 points and allowed just seven against across four regular season games at the Gerald McGavin UBC Rugby Centre.
Many of the stalwarts of the 2023 group have returned this year, including reigning U SPORTS Player fo the Year
Savannah Bauder and Canada West Rookie of the Year
Adia Pye, with the program also adding an exciting recruiting class comprising of two Olympic medalists and two top prospects from B.C. high schools.
"Once we get them all together, I am hoping the mixture of new players, returning players and good on field leadership we keep the program going in the right direction," said UBC head coach
Dean Murten.
The two Olympians are not only clearly among the best rugby players in the country, but they are also already familiar with some of their teammates, having played alongside current T-Birds Piper Logan and
Florence Symonds on Canada's silver medal-winning rugby sevens team at the Paris 2024 games. The other two recruits are true freshman, with an eye on making a long-term impact on the Thunderbirds program while having the chance to fight for playing time right away.
"We have a great mixture of returning UBC student athletes coming back from the National 7s, and two additional athletes joining UBC from the National 7s program, these four will add speed to our overall game, as well as maturity and leadership," added Murten. "They will also bring a high level of competition and intensity in to the training environment."
Charity Williams is likely a familiar name to fans of the Canadian national rugby program, as well as those who followed Team Canada closely at the Olympics. Before the 27-year old winger helped the Canadian sevens squad bring home Olympic silver, Williams already had a decorated international resume with 99 World Series tries to her name.
Originally from Toronto, Williams will be joining UBC as a remarkably accomplished first-year, studying Psychology this fall.
"UBC is known for its higher education and excellent rugby program," said Williams, when asked about deciding to become a Thunderbird. "It was an easy choice."
The other new Olympian coming to Point Grey is Abbotsford's
Shalaya Valenzuela. The 25 year-old, who attended Yale Secondary and has played for Abbotsford RFC, became the first Canadian Indigenous woman to earn a rugby sevens Olympic medal with her silver in Paris, according to CBC. Valenzuela is a member of the Tseshaht First Nation on Vancouver Island who has
spoken about her desire to inspire Indigenous youth to pursue sport.
She comes to UBC after studying Criminal Justice at Simon Fraser University and now plans to join Williams in pursuing a degree in Psychology.
"The variety of classes offered and the high performance environment of the varsity rugby team is why I chose UBC," said Valenzuela.
Moving to the Lower Mainland to join the T-Birds after being raised in Vernon is flank
Mya Koleba. The 18-year old finished a standout high school career with the W.L. Seaton Sonics just months ago, winning both the Basketball and Rugby Coaches Choice Awards as well as the Outstanding Citizen David Howrie Award in her final season.
Joining her new Olympian teammates as a Psychology major, Koleba said it was UBC's blend of athletic and academic excellence that led her to decide to become a Thunderbird.
"The competitive atmosphere, excellent coaching and the psychology program all drew me to UBC," she added.
The youngest of the new recruits is a local product, 17-year-old Brooke Roddham is beginning her studies at the Point Grey campus after growing up in Fort Langley. Despite her age, Roddham brings significant international experience of her own, having played at the Global Youth Sevens Championship in Australia with the BC U18 7s Elite program and for Team Canada at the Commonwealth Youth Games in 2023, taking home a silver medal in the latter competition.
Roddham also enjoyed a decorated high school career, leading the DW Poppy Secondary Red Hawks to the AA High School Provincial Championship earlier this year and earning the school's Senior Girls Rugby Excellence Award and Athletic Director Award before graduating in June. Rounding off the talented back three's resume are 2024 provincial club championships in both 7s and 15s with Fraser Valley Rugby Union.
"Choosing to study at UBC and compete as a Thunderbird allows me to pursue my passion in a welcoming and successful environment," said Roddham, who is beginning her degree in the Faculty of Arts with an undecided major. "I am receiving a high-level education in the perfect location, close to home."
"We are extremely excited to see several first years that have made it straight into a competitive varsity team, this is not an easy task," noted Murten. "They have shown great skills, speed, and in some case physicality, not easy coming straight out of high school to show those attributes in a strong rugby program."
Sunday's opponent, the University of Lethbridge, is coming off of a 2-4 campaign in 2023 that saw them reach the Canada West Final Four, but fail to win a game there. The T-Birds faced the Pronghorns twice last year, winning 60-0 at home and 52-5 on the road. The 'Horns are off to a great start to the new season however, defeating Alberta 39-15 in their opener, a team who they also lost to twice last year.
"Lethbridge are a well-coached team with a good combination of speed out wide a power in the middle, this allows them to attack in multiple areas," concluded Murten. "They will be very physical, an area where we need to match them."
For those unable to make the 1:00 p.m. (PT) match at the Gerald McGavin UBC Rugby Centre in person, it will be streamed live, and available later on demand, on
Canada West TV.
