We are alumnae and supporters of the Varsity Blue Women’s Rugby Program. Many of us are donors to the program who have contributed towards the team’s endowment fund for over a decade. We are proud of our time spent at the University of Toronto and deeply value our varsity athletic experiences. The lessons we learned on the field have helped us all in our careers and in our lives after leaving the university. That is why so many of us remain deeply committed to UofT and to our sport as coaches, volunteers and mentors to young women playing rugby at the high school and club level.

We are shocked and disappointed to learn that all of the proposed new models for sport at UofT have rugby demoted to an intramural sport. As part of these plans, the multi-sport fields currently used for rugby and many other sports are to be converted to a single-use, field hockey facility for the Pan Am Games. How ironic that a world-class sporting event is leading to a reduction in sport at Canada’s largest university.

Rugby is the only sport in Canada where women play at the CIS level and men do not. It is also the fastest growing sport among young women in this country. At UofT, there is currently only an intramural rugby league for men; the elimination of intercollegiate rugby means an end to women’s rugby on campus. Cutting Varsity Blues Rugby is therefore an equity and diversity issue that we take very seriously.

As alumnae and donors, we want the administration to go back to the drawing board and create a sports model that includes a commitment to rugby at UofT. We are joining current players to fight to save rugby at UofT and if you have seen how tough this sport is, you will know that we will not give up easily.

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