Belmont Secondary Bulldogs rugby player Megan Sampson could scarcely believe it when she heard the word “luge.” She had never even seen the sport on TV. But that’s the way it goes in the RBC Training Ground, which matches potential future Olympic athletes with sports that best match their body metrics.
It has proved a winning approach, guiding former Mount Washington ski-racer Avalon Wasteneys of Campbell River to the University of Victoria Vikes rowing program, out of which she won Olympic rowing eights gold at Tokyo 2020 and silver at Paris 2024. Former University of Alberta Pandas soccer player Kelsey Mitchell was redirected to track cycling and won Olympic gold at Tokyo 2020. Another program graduate is UVic Vikes rugby alumni and 2024 Paris Olympics silver-medallist Krissy Scurfield. The program has inaugurated in 2016 and 21 RBC Training Ground alumni have competed at three Olympics and won 14 medals, including seven at Paris 2024.
Four Island athletes are among the 30 selected from across the nation to receive RBC Training Ground scholarships for 2025 following the finalist trials held last month in Halifax. The finalists were selected from the 2024 regional trials held across the country, attracting more than 2,500 aspirants, including one annually staged at the University of Victoria CARSA field house. Since its inception eight years ago, the program has tested 16,000 athletes at the free regional trials across sa国际传媒, out of which about 3,000 have been identified by national sports organizations as having Olympic potential and 270 have received funding for a year to further their athletic dreams.
Joining Sampson in the 30-member Class of 2025 to receive the funding are fellow Island athletes Adia Pye for rugby, Braeden Bossert for sport climbing and Katja Verkerk for track cycling.
“Luge was not at all what I was expecting. It was really surprising but I though I would give it a chance,” said the five-foot-five, 143-pound Sampson, 16, who travels from the Island to Whistler for training camps.
“First time down the course was scary. Now it’s normal. I’ll see where it takes me. I didn’t realize how many Olympians have come out of this program until I saw the list.”
Former Claremont Secondary Spartans athlete Pye, meanwhile, didn’t have to switch sports as it was deemed her main sport of rugby was indeed the best for her body type. She is already on national-team stream and was named on the Canadian women’s sevens team roster for the HSBC World Sevens Series tournaments this year in Dubai and Cape Town.
“Being named top-30 among so many athletes from across the country who tried out is amazing and I am grateful for this support at this point of my career,” said the all-rounder Pye, the UBC Thunderbirds freshman and biology major, who was back-to-back Island high school girls’ basketball MVP in both Grades 11 and 12.
“Especially when I look up to someone like Krissy [Scurfield], who came out of this program, and see what she has done. Los Angeles 2028 is the big picture. But there’s a long way to go.”
As a triathlete, the 20-year-old Verkerk is used to training on the roads around the Island. But the try-out assessments showed a body type suited more for potential on velodrome tracks: “RBC Training Ground has opened up a whole new world for me. Whatever Cycling sa国际传媒 saw with my test results in Halifax was enough for me to earn this funding. It’s really exciting.”
The dates for the 2025 RBC Training Ground regional try-outs at the UVic CARSA field house, for 2026 funding, will be announced.
