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The Ontario Arrows have confirmed their staff for the 2018 season. As expected the new privately-funded elite rugby side has appointed Chris Silverthorn as Head Coach, with a strong supporting cast behind him including recently retired Canadian international Aaron Carpenter. The Arrows will play a six-game spring schedule against New York, Boston, and Major League Rugby sides Houston SaberCats and the Utah Warriors. Additional fixtures remain a possibility.
Silverthorn, 45, is one of Canada’s most successful domestic coaches having led the Blues to five Canadian Rugby Championship titles in the past seven years. The Lindsay, Ontario, native spent five years with Canada’s u17 program before taking over the senior Blues squad. He was named 2012 Rugby Canada Coach of the Year and has since been an assistant for Canada’s senior team at the 2016 Americas Rugby Championship and most recently with Canada ‘A’ for the Americas Pacific Challenge.
With a record 80 test caps to his name former Carpenter needs no introduction. The 34-year-old moves straight from the professional ranks to a senior coaching role. Cory Hector and David Butcher round out the assistants, with the trio also acting as lead coaches for the newly minted Academy program. Hector is the Head Coach of the Guelph Gryphons, 2016 Ontario University champions, and Butcher, formerly with the Scottish Rugby Union, led the Queen’s Golden Gaels to the 2017 OUA title.
Other staff includes therapist Chris Kelly, an experienced coach in his own right with the Burlington Centaurs. Oakville Crusaders coach Rodin ‘Koko’ Lozada leads a two-strong video analyst team that includes Trent Excalibur coach Tom McLeod. Long-time Blues manager Mark Winokur will act as General Manager of the team and he has drafted in former Canada senior men’s team doctor John Gillis, regularly sighted on the Atlantic Rock sidelines.
Strength and conditioning is supplied by Elite Training Systems based out of the Iroquois Park Sports Centre in Whitby, just east of the Greater Toronto Area, with Sean Harrison and Jeff Watson assigned to the team. Press guru Brock Smith puts his rugby hat on again after a brief hiatus and former Niagara Sports Commission director Bram Cotton rounds out the comprehensive staff list as Logistics Manager.
Head Coach: Chris Silverthorn
Assistant Coach / Academy Head Coach: Cory Hector
Assistant Coach / Academy Defence Coach: David Butcher
Assistant Coach / Academy Forwards Coach: Aaron Carpenter
General Manager: Mark Winokur
Video Analyst: Rodin Lozada
Academy Video Analyst: Tom McLeod
Athletic Therapist: Chris Kelly
Team Doctor: Dr. John Gillis
Strength & Conditioning Coaches: Sean Harrison & Jeff Watson (Elite Training Systems)
Communications Manager: Brock Smith
Logistics Support Manager: Bram Cotton
