A pair of Junior Pandas rugby program alumni were identified as potential future Olympians, as they were selected as
top 30 finalists at the
2022 RBC Training Ground National Final.
Ava Ference, who competed for the Junior Pandas from 2017-2020, and
Cassie Jorgenson, who is now in her third season with the Pandas varsity rugby program, were among the five rugby athletes who cracked the Top 30. RBC Training Ground is a nation-wide talent identification program dedicated to finding and funding Canada's future Olympians.
More than 4500 young athletes from all regions of Canada participated in year six of RBC Training Ground, hoping to be recognized for their athletic talents. The top 100 moved on to compete at a national final from which 30 were selected to be RBC Future Olympians.The money received by the top 30 finalists will help them with expenses such as training costs, equipment, nutrition, and competition fees so that they may one day reach their dreams of being on an Olympic podium.
Pandas Track & Field captain
Sophie Gelineau also competed in the
2022 National Final.Â
Among the success stories from the RBC Training Ground is Pandas Soccer alumnae Kelsey Mitchell, who captured
gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in Sprint Cycling. Mitchell was one of eight RBC Training Ground alumni to compete in Tokyo.Â
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