Carolyn McEwen’s journey to the Gallagher High Performance Academy WXV 2024 has been an unconventional one.
She was 22 before she played her first game of rugby, having switched from the very different sport of figure skating, where she competed at national level, via bobsleigh racing.
But McEwen made rapid progress once she swapped sequins for studs, winning international honours with Canada as a loose-head prop then moving into coaching as forwards coach of the University of British Columbia, and Canada’s women’s team.
“After retirement, I didn’t initially have a desire to coach. I was encouraged to help the university team I had played for and to give back,” McEwen told World Rugby.
“Providing opportunities for athletes was what kept bringing me back and currently pushes me to be a better coach.”
Her background in figure skating helps McEwen to bring a different perspective to her coaching, as do her professional qualifications as associate professor of teaching at UBC.
“I bring knowledge from different and diverse contexts to my coaching practice, such as expertise in evidence/scientifically informed coaching, training in sport psychology and mental skills consulting,” she said.
“Working as a high-level figure skating official means that I value engaging with diverse ways of thinking and doing in sport.
“My career as an educational leadership professor in kinesiology at a university allows me to bring strong pedagogical knowledge and practice to rugby spaces.”
McEwen will have the chance to share her expertise on the Gallagher High Performance Academy, but she is also hoping to learn from the knowledge and experience of the other participants.
“This programme aligns with my goals as it offers invaluable opportunity for mentorship, networking, knowledge exchange, feedback and observation of diverse systems, team dynamics and coaching strategies,” she said.
“Learning from experienced facilitators, mentors and fellow participants will broaden my perspectives on team and player management and the technical and tactical aspects of the game, pushing me to refine and apply the sessions at the highest levels of play.
“Specifically, a key opportunity for me is to be embedded within the national senior team during a major tournament which would push and challenge me in applying my coaching knowledge, as well as putting learnings from programme sessions into practice, trying out these ideas, reflecting on their implementation and making adjustments.”