BC Rugby and its Members gratefully acknowledge that we live, work, and play the sport of Rugby on the traditional and unceded territories of Indigenous Peoples across all regions of British Columbia.
Club Rugby is officially back this weekend as BC Rugby’s Senior and Age-Grade Club XVs Leagues kick off a busy Fall period throughout the Lower Mainland.
Following weeks of gruelling pre-season, our Senior Club teams will be raring to go for Week 1 of the Regular Season, with the race to the 2024 BC Rugby Senior Club Finals beginning this Saturday, October 14. Who will be crowned champions in May next year?
The Age-Grade Club XVs season also starts this weekend following four weeks of action-packed Rugby 7s, with teams across 12 divisions beginning their journey to the 2023 BC Rugby Age-Grade Club Finals on December 3 in Vancouver.
Make sure you are registered for the new season! BC Rugby Membership is available to any resident of BC. Through Membership, we continue to grow, develop, and manage Rugby by offering programs for all ages and skill levels (recreational to High-Performance), educational opportunities and access to exclusive benefits and services.
Registration is important – if you are not registered, you don’t have insurance.
SENIOR CLUB SEASON RETURNS TO LOWER MAINLAND
It’s time to put the pre-season work to the test as Lower Mainland Clubs return to the pitch this weekend for the opening week of the Regular Fall/Spring season. Featuring seven divisions across Men’s and Women’s competitions, including the BC Rugby Premier League presented by ONNI, athletes return to competitive action with all eyes on the 2024 Senior Club Finals in May next year.
The Senior Club Season officially kicks off on October 14, 2023. Clubs will break for winter after the weekend of November 27, 2023, before beginning Spring portion of the season on January 27, 2024.
No league fixtures are scheduled for the weekends of Remembrance Day (November 11), Family Day (February 17), HSBC Canada Sevens (February 24), and Easter (March 30). Make-up weekends are available on December 2 and December 9 should Clubs require them.
Senior Club Playoff Quarter-Finals will take place on April 20, 2024, with Semi-Finals taking place a week later on April 27. The Senior Club Season will conclude at the 2023/24 Senior Club Finals on May 4, 2024.
A breakdown of the divisional structure for the 2023/24 BC Rugby Senior Club Leagues can be found below:
Senior Men’s Leagues
Men’s Premier League presented by ONNI
The Men’s Premier League presented by ONNI features 10 Teams and is the Elite Men’s league competing under Premier League rules. These teams will play each team in the Division once. They will play those teams in their region (Lower Mainland or Vancouver Island) both at Home and Away. All games will count towards final standings for Play-Offs.
Men’s Premier Reserve League presented by ONNI
The Men’s Premier Reserve Division features 9 Teams and is one of the Elite Men’s league competing under Premier League rules. These teams will play each team in the Division once. They will play those teams in their region (Lower Mainland or Vancouver Island) both at Home and Away. All games will count towards final standings for Play-Offs.
Men’s Division 1
The Men’s Division 1 features 7 Teams and is a competitive league aimed at growing and developing established 15s teams. These teams will play each team in the Division both at Home and Away. These teams will compete under the Club Competition Rules. All games will count towards final standings for Play-Offs.
Men’s Division 2
The Men’s Division 2 features 7 Teams and is aimed at programs that consistently field more than 15 players supporting Clubs to develop their more established programs. These teams will play each team in the Division both at Home and Away. These teams will compete under the Club Competition Rules. All games will count towards final standings for Play-Offs.
Men’s Division 3
The Men’s Division 3 features 18 Teams aimed at supporting developing teams with new or growing programs with a lens on participation and developing programs throughout the province. Where possible teams have been paired with other teams at their Club to be able to reduce travel costs. These teams will compete under the Club Competition Rules. All games will count towards final standings for Play-Offs.
Senior Women’s Leagues
Women’s Premier & Women’s Division 1 Combined Season
The Women’s Premier League and Women’s Division 1 will feature a combined 8-week season of 11 Teams during the Fall and start of Spring. With the intention of growing the Women’s Premier and Division 1 Leagues this structure has been established to provide variety in match play and opportunity to compete against other teams to grow their programs. Following the end of this crossover teams will be reseeded based on their final positions into Women’s Premier and Women’s Division 1. These teams will compete under the Club Competition Rules during this Combined Season.
Women’s Premier League
The top 5 teams from the combined Women’s Premier & Women’s Division 1 crossover will move into the Women’s Premier Division and compete alongside the 2022/23 Champions UBC Thunderbirds Number 1 Team. Teams will play each team once in this division. A new schedule will be confirmed following the last round of crossover games. This division will compete under the Premier League Rules. All games will count towards final standings for Play-Offs and all Teams will progress through to the Play-Offs.
Women’s Division 1
The bottom 6 teams from the combined Women’s Premier & Women’s Division 1 crossover will move into the Women’s Division 1. Teams will play each team once in this division. A new schedule will be confirmed following the last round of crossover games. These teams will compete under the Club Competition Rules. All games will count towards final standings for Play-Offsand all Teams will progress through to the Play-Offs.
Women’s Division 2
The Women’s Division 2 features 15 Teams with the aim to support developing teams with new or growing programs, primarily focused on smaller format games with a lens on participation and developing programs throughout the province. Teams have been pooled based on location i.e. Lower Mainland/Interior or Vancouver Island, to reduce travel. Each Pool will play everyone in their Pool at least once, with crossover games between the pools. These teams will compete under the Club Competition Rules. All games will count towards final standings for Play-Offs.
Who will be crowned champions in May 2024? The 2023/24 Senior Club Play-Off Formats are confirmed below:
There will be no crossover Playoffs between Men’s Premier Reserves and Men’s Division 1 this season.
For more information on the Senior Club Leagues, please visit our 2023/24 Senior Club Leagues page here.
AGE-GRADE LEAGUES MOVE FROM 7s to XVs
The 2023 BC Rugby Fall Age-Grade XVs season also kicks off this weekend, with Round 1 taking place across 12 Boys and Girls Divisions on October 15.
Teams will contest the opening four rounds of the regular season before a one-week break over Remembrance Day weekend, for which Clubs may use as a make-up weekend if needed.
The final week of the Regular season will be contested on November 19, before Mainland and Island Finals are held respectively on November 26.
Crossover Finals, where Mainland Champions face Island champions in their respective divisions for the honour of being named Provincial Champions, will then take place at UBC’s Thunderbird Stadium in Vancouver on December 3.
A breakdown of each Division can be viewed below:
MAINLAND
U18 Boys - Mainland
Clubs contesting:
Pool A
- Bayside Sharks A
- Burnaby Lake RFC
- Capilano RFC
- Meraloma RFC
- UBCOB Ravens
- United RFC A
Pool B
- Abbotsford RFC
- Bayside Sharks B
- Kamloops/Kelowna
- Langley RFC
- Surrey Beavers/Brit Lions/Richmond RFC
Playoffs:
Mainland Final: Pool A Seed 1 v Pool B Seed 1
Pool A Seed 2 v Pool B Seed 2
Pool A Seed 3 vs Pool B Seed 3
Pool A Seed 4 vs Pool B Seed 4
Pool A Seed 5 vs Pool B Seed 5
Pool A Seed 6 vs Pool B Seed 6
U18 Girls - Mainland
U16 Boys - Mainland
U16 Girls - Mainland
U14 Boys - Mainland
U14 Girls - Mainland
ISLAND
U18 Boys - Island
Clubs contesting:
- Castaway Wanderers A
- Castaway Wanderers B
- Cowichan RFC
- Comox Valley Rapids Rugby
- James Bay AA
- Salish Sea Warriors
- Westshore RFC
Playoffs:
Island Finals – Seed 1 vs Seed 2
3rd/4th Playoff – Seed 3 vs Seed 4
5th/6th Playoff – Seed 5 vs Seed 6
Seed 7 – Bye
U18 Girls - Island
U16 Boys - Island
U16 Girls - Island
U14 Boys - Island
U14 Girls - Island
GET SCORES INSTANTLY – DOWNLOAD THE BC RUGBY APP!
With an action-packed Fall season of Rugby, be sure to download the BC Rugby App to keep on top of all scores and results!
The BC Rugby App also includes important Safe Sport information including Concussion management and prevention, mental health resources and emergency service contact details.
Click below to download:
CONCUSSION MODULES: BE PREPARED FOR THE NEW SEASON
When it comes to Rugby, safety and player welfare is the most important thing. Whether you are playing Senior Rugby for your Club or signing your child up for Rookie Rugby, we want you to have a safe and positive experience. There are lots of resources to help protect both your physical and mental wellbeing in Rugby.
Visit our Resources section for more information on player welfare.
Learn more about Safety in Rugby by visiting our Safe Sport section or downloading the BC Rugby App now!
BC Rugby adheres to World Rugby’s policy of “Recognize and Remove” when dealing with concussions or suspected concussions. Anyone on or around the Rugby pitch has a responsibility to be aware of the symptoms of concussion and are encouraged to complete World Rugby’s online Concussion Management module. We strongly encourage parents, guardians, partners or housemates of Rugby players to complete the online module to be informed.
BC Rugby
A: 2015 Main Street, Vancouver, BC | V5T 0J8
T: 604.737.3065
E: info@bcrugby.com
BC Rugby gratefully acknowledges that its offices reside on the traditional and unceded territory of the Coast Salish Peoples, including the territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.
