It is the dream of any athletic organization to find young people with raw or natural athleticism who are not currently in organized sports. RBC Training Ground is a concentrated effort to find those hidden gems across the country through free walk-on opportunities to anyone from 14 to 25.
The annual Island event, one of 35 across Canada in 2019, takes place Sunday from 9 a.m. to noon at CARSA Gym on the University of Victoria campus. Anyone wondering if they have the right physical skill sets for a wide range of Olympic sports can sign up in advance at rbctrainingground.ca.
At Sunday's trial, potential athletes will be measured for anthropometric suitability (such as wingspan and body type) and will perform speed, power, strength and endurance benchmark tests in front of officials from the Canadian Olympic Committee and national sport organizations in hopes of being discovered and directed toward an Olympic sport.
Vancouver Island has been one of the program’s most successful areas for uncovering possible Olympic talent. Out of 116 local hopefuls who attended the 2018 Victoria combine, 35 were discovered to have high-performance potential.
RBC Training Ground has put 5,500 hopefuls through the paces across the country and uncovered more than 80 possible future Olympians since 2015.
