Support Canada Women at the Rugby World Cup and Beyond
Canada’s Women’s Rugby Team is ranked #2 in the world despite operating on only 1/10th of the budget of their top competition. Yesterday, they delivered a performance for the ages, defeating defending champions New Zealand 34–19 in the Rugby World Cup semifinal in England. It was the largest margin of victory ever recorded against New Zealand in men’s or women’s Rugby World Cup history.
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This Rugby 15s Senior Women’s team has dominated all tournament-long, and they got to the World Cup on the back of a crowd-fund campaign to fill funding and investment gaps.
Rugby Canada Women at the World Cup
Jen Kish captained Canada’s Women’s Sevens Team to a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, the inaugural Olympic rugby sevens tournament. Over her career, she made a total of 134 appearances in the World Rugby Sevens Series and she is in the Rugby Canada Hall of Fame. This week she posted on Instagram:
“2010 World Cup, England: I played in a park and paid $4,000 for the chance to represent Canada. 2025 World Cup: Canada’s women play in front of 60,000 – 80,000 fans. What’s changed? The game. The crowds. The respect. What hasn’t? The funding. Canada’s women deserve more than invoices – they deserve investment.”
Back in March, Rugby Canada officially launched the Mission: Win Rugby World Cup (MWRWC) 2025 fundraising campaign with the goal of raising $1,000,000 to send the best-ever prepared Canadian team to the World Cup.
“We are fortunate that Rugby Canada is fully invested in supporting us in our mission to win a World Cup and inspire the growth of rugby in our country,” said Sophie De Goede, Captain of Canada’s Women’s Rugby Team. “That support has only grown over the years to the point that now, unlike many unions, our financial support is on equal footing to the men’s program. The unfortunate part is that the resource pool from which those finances are pulled is much smaller than our competition and our union has been working tirelessly to grow that.”
Back in 2023, the Canadian Rugby Foundation, in conjunction with Rugby Canada, announced the development of the Women’s Age Grade Rugby Fund, which was established to raise and invest funds to support Rugby Canada’s women’s age grade teams and programs. These U18, U20 and U23 programs develop up-and-coming players and coaches through a coordinated national pathway that leads towards the senior sevens and 15s programs, working in close collaboration with communities, clubs, schools, universities and provincial unions.
There’s still a long way to go when it comes to funding women’s sports in Canada. What you can personally do in the meantime is show up and support games and matches wherever you can. Show organizations, sponsors, and investors that Canada watches women’s sports.
Direct Donation
There isn’t much time left but you can still donate to Rugby Canada’s Mission: Win Rugby World Cup campaign via CanadaHelps.
Collaboration Jersey with the Tragically Hip
In August, The Tragically Hip launched a Rugby Canada collaboration t-shirt to help raise funds for the team, and it sold out in 12 hours. Building on that success, Rugby Canada announced a second unique collaboration piece with The Hip, launching a limited-edition vintage rugby jersey. The jersey’s release offers Canadians another way to rally behind the team, with every purchase directly contributing to their continued success. Available for pre-order now, they will ship in November.
Community Rugby
Finally, if you have been watching this team in awe like the rest of us, consider getting involved in playing Community Rugby. Rookie Rugby (12 and under); Junior Rugby (13-19); Senior Rugby (19+); and Masters Rugby (35+). If you are already part of a local club, check out the funding opportunities available through the Community Rugby Fund.
Canada will face the home team England in the Rugby World Cup final at Allianz Stadium in London. Tune in to TSN at 7:30am Pacific Saturday, September 27th.
