Female student athletes will soon have a new varsity sport to play at Georgian College.
Recently approved by the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA), the Georgian Grizzlies will add a women’s varsity rugby sevens team to its roster – complimenting its three-time gold medal-winning men’s varsity rugby team.
Student athlete recruitment will begin in February, with tryouts for an exhibition season in September. An official OCAA season will begin in September 2026.
“A women’s rugby sevens team is a thrilling addition to Georgian’s stellar lineup of award-winning varsity teams,” said Suzie Addison-Toor, Vice President, Student Success at Georgian. “It also aligns with our commitment to foster diversity, equity and inclusion within our athletic programming, and it’s one example of our continued investment in creating unrivaled student experiences.”
Rugby sevens is a rapidly growing Olympic sport that’s fast-paced and high-energy, with teams of seven players who play seven-minute halves, rather than the typical 15 players who play 40-minute halves.
Georgian’s new team will be the ninth women’s rugby sevens team in the OCAA varsity league. The J.C. Massie Field at the Barrie Campus will be the team’s home field.
The Georgian Bay Titans Rugby Club and the Barrie Rugby Football Club, both of which have a relationship with Georgian’s men’s varsity rugby team, supported Georgian’s application to OCAA to start a women’s rugby sevens team.
“With the growth of rugby in Canada, especially for girls and women, we feel that a women’s rugby program at the postsecondary level in our region would give girls the opportunity to continue to play beyond the high school and club level,” Kelly Zacny, President of the Georgian Bay Titans Rugby Club, wrote in a letter of support.
The local clubs have players from under six years old to age 18, with growing interest in the sport expanding the number of teams in recent years.
“Both Barrie and Georgian Bay have club members who attend Georgian College, and it would be great for the girls to have an opportunity to continue to play rugby close to home,” Zacny said.
