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Rugby stars return to Island for sevens camps

Duncan’s Robin MacDowell and Patrick Kay excited to share knowledge
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Seen here when the Mexican national women’s rugby sevens team played a match against Canada earlier this summer, Robin MacDowell is holding a series of camps on Vancouver Island along with current Canadian national player Patrick Kay. (Citizen file)

Rugby players on Vancouver Island will have the chance later this month to learn from a pair of Cowichan Valley products who have gone on to play and coach at the highest levels.

Robin MacDowell, a former national sevens player who now leads the MacDowell Rugby academy and mentorship program and coaches the Mexican national women’s sevens team, and Pat Kay, a current member of the Canadian national sevens team, are holding a series of three camps on the Island. They will be at the Cowichan Rugby Football Club on Wednesday, Aug. 22, at the Nanaimo Rugby Club on Thursday, Aug. 23, and at the Westshore Rugby Club on Friday, Aug. 24.

“We are so excited to be coming home to Vancouver Island to work with homegrown talent,” MacDowell said. “Rugby is the sport of opportunity and growth. It is open to anyone. I grew up playing ice hockey, baseball and just about every sport in the school system. None of them took me anywhere but to Vancouver a few times. Rugby is a game that can open doors across the globe. It is the fastest growing sport in the world and in Canada.”

MacDowell grew up in Duncan and graduated from Cowichan Secondary School before moving to the national program, so he is well-versed in what the Island has to offer.

“The amount of talent that we have on Vancouver Island for powerful young rugby players is untapped. For me, the Island is the perfect playground for building world-class rugby players. The steepest hills, the best trails in the forest for running, highest quality of food and water. Of course the fact that you can train outdoors 12 months a year. Every year I travel back to my hometown and am amazed at the quality of athletes we can produce in the Cowichan Valley and all over the Island.”

Kay, who also grew up in Duncan and graduated from Cow High, has been a mainstay on the national sevens team for several years, and helped the Canadian men to their first win on the World Rugby Sevens Series in Singapore in 2017. He has returned to Duncan many times to help guide young talent.

“I really enjoy being involved in coaching sessions like this because I can still pretty clearly remember being that age, learning the game and loving it more and more every day,” Kay said.

“I owe a lot to the Vancouver Island rugby community, especially to my home club, Cowichan. Twelve-year-old me probably wasn’t as appreciative, but I wouldn’t be where I am today as a rugby player or even as a person if I wasn’t moulded by some great coaches.”

For more information about the upcoming camps or to register, visit www.macdowellrugby.ca/camps