The Ravens announced last week they hired Patrick Thompson as women’s rugby head coach. Thompson will replace Denis Blondin, who left the team in December for personal reasons.
A native of Ottawa, Thompson played rugby at St. Francis Xavier University before moving on to coach the St. Peter Catholic High School in Orleans, Ont. and the Eastern Ontario U16 Boys team. He has been an assistant coach at Carleton since 2012.
“There will definitely be a change in direction in terms of how we play and also in terms of how we prepare off the field,” Thompson said. “We’re definitely focused on being more competitive and creating an environment that is more competitive for our players. We feel that if we can create that environment and that culture . . . we’ll experience a lot more success.”
Thompson and Blondin worked as a team to coach the rugby team before Blondin’s departure. Thompson said he will be making some adjustments to the team’s philosophy—on and off the field.
“In the grand scheme of things in rugby, the main principles are the same, but there’s different ways of going about different things, different aspects of the game,” Thompson said.
Former Canadian Interuniversity Sport All-Canadian Jackie Titley has been brought on as assistant coach to fill Thompson’s spot.
“She brings in new ideas and new approaches to the way we play . . . that will make us more competitive,” Thompson said.
While recruiting players to Carleton will challenge the team this late in the season, Thompson said he recognizes that bringing in new players is an ongoing process.
“Once we get through our off-season, we’ll put a bit more focus on recruiting—not just for this upcoming year but for the following years as well,” he said.
The team’s season will start in September 2016.
