Commerford on national U20 team
Steve Commerford received an email in March while in class at Brock University he had to check several times to ensure it wasn’t fake.
It was an invitation to attend Canada’s U20 men’s rugby tryout camp.
Commerford, 19, had never tried out for Team Ontario or applied for a national team tryout so an invitation wasn’t expected.
The Peterborough native took full advantage of the invitation.
He not only attended the camp from May 16 to 19 in Langford, B.C., he was one of 26 players, from a pool of 44, selected to the final roster. Canada will play a two-game World Rugby Trophy qualifying series against the United States June 12 and 16 in Houston, Texas.
The team with the highest aggregate score will represent North America at the World Junior Rugby Trophy Tournament in Romania in August.
It’s the second-tier world championship for teams ranked nine through 16. The world’s top eight compete at the World Junior Rugby Cup. Canada finished seventh at the last WJRT.
As a freshman with the Brock Badgers, Commerford was named an OUA All-Star and Brock’s Rookie of the Year.
An alumnus of Adam Scott Collegiate’s 2017 OFSAA AA championship team, Commerford’s performance with Brock was noticed by national team staff.
His Peterborough Pagans coach Paul Hunter works for Rugby Canada and Commerford thinks that helped, too.
“When I got the email I was pretty stunned,” Commerford said. “I was in my Canadian studies class and I read the email over about 15 times to make sure it was real. I couldn’t focus the rest of class.”
The tryout was an intense four days, with an inter-squad game on the final day, unlike anything Commerford had ever experienced. The following day the players assembled for a meeting where the coaches read the names of the 26 players selected.
“The meeting was probably the most nervous 15 minutes of my life,” he said.
“When I heard my name, I went blank for a moment with relief that I had done it. It was pretty remarkable.”
It’s going to be special to don the Canadian jersey.
“I was always a hockey kid growing up so we’d always have a New Year’s Eve party and watch the Canada versus U.S. game,” said Commerford, of the world junior hockey championship tradition.
“I always imagined myself as a kid wearing the Leaf with a hockey jersey on but, obviously, my dreams have changed over the years as my sport has changed. It’s going to mean a whole heck of a lot to put the Leaf on and represent Canada because it’s something I always dreamed of and I never thought it could be a reality until now.”
Commerford, who plays fly half, said he owes a lot to his Adam Scott coaches, particularly Dave McCully, for helping him get this far.
“He’s had my back since Grade 9 through my fifth year and winning OFSAA,” Commerford said.
“He’s been tremendous in everything I’ve done and I have to credit him for the rugby player I am today.”
NOTES: Peterborough’s Kylie Shaughnessy, who attends Guelph University, was one of 40 players invited to the Canadian senior women’s team East Selection Camp at Queen’s University. She is among 74 players competing for roster spots for a Canadian team to tour the United Kingdom in the fall…. Also selected to the Canadian U20 men’s team was Trent Excalibur player Emerson Prior of Kingston, Ont.