The Brock women\u2019s rugby team will tackle their next season under the leadership of new head coach Lauryn Bons.<\/p>\n
Bons spent last season as an assistant coach with the Brock Badgers, where she was responsible for transition and attack as well as backs-specific skill development, and has coached with Rugby Ontario\u2019s 7s and 15s programs, including at the 2025 Canada Summer Games.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a huge privilege to have been selected to coach the team,\u201d she said. \u201cThe team has really exemplified their value of family, and I\u2019m honoured they want me to be a part of that family and that they have the confidence in me to lead this team forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coaching is a way for Bons to give back to a sport she says has given so much to her over the years. An Ontario University Athletics (OUA) champion and two-time U SPORTS bronze medallist with the Queen\u2019s Gaels, her playing career also includes stints with the Ontario Blues senior women\u2019s team and the semi-professional Premier Rugby Sevens league.<\/p>\n
\u201cLauryn has thoroughly impressed us with her professionalism, her understanding of today\u2019s student-athlete and her\u00a0clear vision\u00a0for the future of our program,\u201d said Courtney Smith, Associate\u00a0Director, Brock\u00a0Sports\u00a0and Recreation. \u201cHer background in sport psychology and mental performance, combined with her coaching and playing experience at the highest levels, gives her a unique ability to help our\u00a0student-athletes\u00a0thrive both on and off the field.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bons\u2019 coaching philosophy is driven by the values of belonging and connection.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really think that if athletes feel like they belong, regardless of their role on the team, their performance will follow. Keeping an athlete-centered approach and making sure they feel connected is only going to drive motivation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Her approach was shaped, in part, by working with renowned performance consultant Owen Eastwood at a New Zealand rugby academy in 2019. His guidance helped her define her values and sparked an interest in sport psychology.<\/p>\n
Bons studied sport psychology while completing a master\u2019s at Queen\u2019s University and continues to research the topic as a PhD student at Brock.<\/p>\n
She believes all these experiences have equipped her to help the team navigate the challenges of being student-athletes.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s important that part of their identity is rugby, but it can\u2019t be all of it,\u201d she said. \u201cI want them to know they are valuable to this team while also recognizing there are other parts of life. Ensuring their relationships on and off the field are strong matters, and the girls and women I have coached have really influenced this holistic approach as the women\u2019s game is highly relational.\u201d<\/p>\n
Looking ahead, Bons is optimistic about the coming season and the future of the program. After seven consecutive OUA semifinal appearances, the Brock Badgers women\u2019s rugby team is aiming to reach the OUA final for the first time in program history.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe already have a strong foundation built on a group of exceptionally talented, motivated and resilient student-athletes,\u201d she said. \u201cNow, our focus is on developing those strengths, both on and off the field, by creating a training environment where teammates are going to challenge, support and empower each other and help prepare the team to perform at the next level.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Brock women\u2019s rugby team will tackle their next season under the leadership of new head coach Lauryn Bons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":110797,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1,58],"tags":[256,4437,14163,582,640,7584,4620,1691],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110794"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110794"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110794\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":110800,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110794\/revisions\/110800"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}