We are pleased to share that 2025 was another year to remember for Toronto Inner-City Rugby Foundation (TIRF), with widespread programming delivered in TIRF’s priority neighbourhoods. Additionally, there were notable on- and off-field successes by TIRF alumni, and significant on-field successes by current TIRF athletes. We are happy to share our 2025 year-in-review article as we look to continue growing awareness of TIRF throughout the city of Toronto, the province, and beyond, thanks to your support.
Winter
Our year kicked off with our flagship Rising Stars program. These weekly skills, games, fitness, and fun sessions were hosted under the dome at Crescent School. Rising Stars is the program where we see the most growth in our TIRF family.
It serves as an incubator of on-field talent and leadership skills, while giving our staff the opportunity to implement our core values of Discipline, Respect, Integrity, Passion and Solidarity throughout the eight weeks. It was a great start to the year for 80 athletes, from 9 different high schools. Rising Stars often serves as our first interaction with future TIRF employees and young community leaders.
Typically, in the winter, TIRF’s Leadership Team spends time on the hiring process to establish our summer workforce (i.e., the TIRF Summer Dream Team). In 2025, over 70 applicants expressed interest in joining the Dream Team, noting how desirable it is to be part of such a dynamic group.
Also, during the winter months, a significant amount of time is spent in reflection. We assess our strengths, successes, vulnerabilities, and objectives while ensuring our values are aligned as we plan for the coming year.
Spring
Spring, being the season of change, brought many changes to TIRF as well. Project Manager Daniella Popal began her maternity leave, and Sam Rowan joined TIRF as Project Coordinator.
Our Dream Team was confirmed by mid-April, and these 15 staff members were split up across TIRF’s 4 Target Communities (Rexdale, Driftwood/Westminster-Branson, Flemingdon, Steeles-L’Amoreaux/Woburn). Notably, we were able to satisfy our internal goal of achieving gender balance amongst our Team. The fact that nearly 50% of our summer Dream Team were themselves TIRF Alumni is a clear indication of the leadership and loyalty we are building among future community champions.
During the last week of April, TIRF Dream Team members engaged in TIRF’s onboarding process. The onboarding took place at the Toronto Pan-Am Sports Centre (TPASC), during which we built the skills and relationships necessary to handle the demands of the summer. Dream Team members received training on rugby facilitation for youth of all ages, including Rookie Rugby and Mixed-Abilities training. They were also upskilled in the highly contestable art of Flag Rugby refereeing, as one of our first assignments was supporting the various tournaments throughout the city. Community outreach to foster new relationships and enhance existing ones is a major focus early in May.
In May, TIRF began multipurpose programming. Our Rookie Rugby delivery and our refereeing of Flag Rugby tournaments increased significantly. TIRF’s first Try Rugby Day event at Driftwood Public School garnered greater than expected engagement, with 30 athletes taking part.
Our focus towards the end of May was on our signature corporate and fundraising event, Rugby in the Square (RITS), which is facilitated in partnership with Rugby Ontario. This was the 5th and largest version of RITS to date, featuring the most teams (28) on a glorious day at the Toronto City Hall grounds, in the heart of Canada’s biggest city. TIRF Alumni and former Toronto Arrows player Marcello Wainwright’s team, EQ Bank, finished as champions. The biggest win was the level of volunteer buy-in TIRF generated to support this vital event. Planning for RITS 2026 is already well underway.
The beginning of June was just as busy with the culmination of the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) Flag Rugby Season being held on June 5th at North Toronto Collegiate Institute through the Toronto District Elementary School Athletic Association (TDESAA). The entire TIRF staff was on hand to support by refereeing and presenting medals and banners. It was a key inflection point for TIRF to inform and share the benefits and opportunities of TIRF membership.
At the high-school level, our annual TIRF Plate was held on June 6th. This is our celebration event for TIRF schools that are still building their rugby programs. Thanks to the tournament hosts, William Lyon Mackenzie Collegiate Institute, we were able to provide a balanced yet competitive tournament for both boys and girls. Congratulations to the girls’ team from Georges Vanier Secondary School and the boys’ team from Victoria Park Collegiate Institute for becoming TIRF Plate champions in 2025! It was no coincidence that both teams included numerous athletes from our Rising Stars program, who went on to become leaders of their school teams.
For the elementary and middle school demographic, June marked the start of TIRF’s House League events at Cornell Junior Public School in Woburn and at Driftwood Public School in Driftwood. These evening-time House Leagues events are valued components in our Target Communities for their quality, consistency, and reliability. Through such programs, youth with TIRF experience are becoming more engaged and encouraging additional family members and friends to the sport.
Summer
TIRF’s Prep 4 Competition programming dovetailed nicely at the end of high school rugby season, allowing athletes to continue their rugby education once a week at Gateway Public School. An average of 28 athletes and 6 TIRF staff engaged in becoming better at their chosen craft under the leadership of Head Coach Spencer Robinson.
As the summer began, TIRF announced the appointment of Sheldon Persad as Executive Director. Sheldon brings a unique blend of leadership, strategic vision, and a deep-rooted passion for sport and community development to the TIRF Team, which will be beneficial to TIRF’s continued growth and development.
In July, TIRF wrapped up its Mini’s programming with strong attendance in both Driftwood and Woburn. The Woburn House League was particularly successful, as many participants who registered were introduced to TIRF at Cornell Public School and registered on the spot.
The summer of 2025 was the first in which TIRF participated in the entire Minis Festival season! Furthermore, TIRF hosted its own Minis Festival with close to 30 teams from 7 Clubs across the Province participating at York University to wrap up the Mini Rugby Season.
With TIRF’s camp programming wrapping up in August, TIRF’s progressional development days for the summer Dream Team also concluded. TIRF was grateful to have Arnold Witt, Nicole Neverson, Graham Brown and Andris Pone facilitate the professional development sessions and impart their wisdom. The topics discussed included leadership, the politics of sport, gender challenges, and personal branding. The diversity of topics enabled TIRF’s summer Dream Team to think more deeply about the work they do at TIRF, why it matters, and the opportunities that may arise from it.
Furthermore, for the 2025-26 academic year, TIRF awarded $72,750 in scholarship funds to 21 phenomenal student-athletes. TIRF is proud to support and invest in these remarkable individuals. In addition to playing, supporting, and growing the game of rugby, these students continue to give back to their communities and inspire their peers. TIRF Scholarship Awards are made possible thanks to the generosity of the Doncaster Foundation, Eventi, YTM Capital Partners, and other individual donors who contributed this year to the 2025-26 TIRF Scholarship Awards. For more information, please check out our 2025 Scholarship Awards article here.
TIRF also participated in Don Valley North MP Maggie Chi’s community “Back to School” day on August 31st. TIRF’s Leadership Team was joined by summer Dream Team member Jahlesha Roye to engage with the community and toss around the Rugby ball with youth and families attending the event.
The following weekend, we hosted our annual TIRF 7s tournament at Eglinton Flats. TIRF hosted a full tournament with boys and girls divisions in the U-14, U-16, and U-18 Divisions, featuring 36 teams in total, with some clubs coming from as far as Ottawa. Despite not having the same number of touchpoints as other club teams, both of TIRF’s U18 boys and girls teams played excellent rugby on the day and finished with 2-1 records. All the boys and girls who participated in the TIRF Teams were great ambassadors for the sport and our organization.
Finally, the Canadian Women’s team played inspiring rugby in England at the World Cup. It was amazing to see them reach the final against the hosts after an amazing performance against New Zealand in the semi-finals. TIRF alumni Asia Hogan-Rochester was one of the stars on and off the field in the tournament.
Fall
Alongside the TDSB high school 7s season, TIRF hosted its fall version of the TIRF Plate, which included 16 teams (7 Boys, 9 Girls). Congratulations to the tournament winners, the Central Toronto Academy Boys team, and the Girls team from Monarch Park Collegiate Institute.
TIRF also supported Josiah Morra’s free rugby clinic at Canoe Landing Park on Sunday, October 18th. The event included over 70 Athletes from across the province. Roughly half of the participants were TIRF athletes.
On October 29th and 30th, TIRF entered girls’ and boys’ select teams into the Henry Street Invitational Tournament. The TIRF-select teams for this tournament were made up of TIRF athletes from schools throughout the Greater Toronto Area. In the absence of an OFSAA event for 7s rugby, this tournament acts as both a championship and a University recruitment day, similar to our own event in March. The girls and boys teams equipped themselves particularly well, with the girls demonstrating incredible progress throughout the day, qualifying for their final game against TDSB City Champions Malvern, and falling just short in the final seconds. On the following day, TIRF’s boys became the first TIRF team to go undefeated at Henry Street H.S. in the group stage, falling just short against Uxbridge Secondary School in the final. Thanks to Henry Street High School for hosting such a great tournament, and to teacher Dan Burton (from George Vanier Secondary School) for volunteering his time on both days.
Adding to the growing success of TIRF alumni in the fall, TIRF alumnus Kiki Idowu played a vital role in the UBC Thunderbirds winning their second consecutive National Championship title. Kiki was named Player of the Game in the final and was named as a member of the tournament First XV. This was another incredible step taken by Kiki from high school rugby at Newtonbrook S.S. to becoming a standout player at the national level. Also, during the national tournament, TIRF summer Dream Team member Steph Douglas featured regularly for the Queen’s University women’s team and scored their winning try in the bronze medal game against Guelph University.
At a local level, the Humber Hawks Men’s side won their second straight OCAA title on November 16th. Humber’s team includes 5 TIRF alumni: Chris Brown, Harry Lutumba-Mpongo, Joshua Dunbar, Sultan Butt, and Coach Prince Ndukwe.
In December, TIRF alumnus Asia Hogan-Rochester’s trailblazing year reached another level on December 4, when it was announced that she had signed with Sale Sharks of the Premiership in England. Asia’s contract marked the first time a TIRF-supported athlete signed a professional contract in Europe. Congratulations to Asia!
To conclude the year, TIRF hosted its annual Holiday Social at Crescent School on December 20th. Over 60 members of the TIRF community, along with their families, attended. It was a fantastic evening of touch rugby, followed by a social gathering of food, fun and award presentations to notable supporters and Dream Team members.
We are so grateful to have the generous support of our key stakeholders. The Maytree Foundation and Eventi Capital Partners have been ever-present, while Gilbert Rugby Canada continues to clothe our staff off the field and our athletes on it with the same dependability of their fabrics. Crescent School has provided access to its top-class domed facilities, where we hold our winter programs, while the Toronto Pan Am Centre Sport Centre in Scarborough is the main training ground for our staff and young leaders in the spring. Our partnerships with the Toronto District School Board, the Toronto Catholic District School Board and Toronto Community Housing have been integral to our ability to serve the youth of Toronto throughout the entire year. We are so grateful.