OAKVILLE, Ont. - The Sheridan College Athletics and Recreation department announced today the hiring of Alex McCallion as the new head coach of women's rugby. 

"I am proud to take on the responsibility of coaching the Sheridan women's rugby team," McCallion said. "My experience as a five-time OCAA rugby champion and as a competitor at the University Nationals Sevens has provided me with insight into what it takes to be successful at the collegiate level. I plan on bringing that experience and enthusiasm to the Double Blue."

After playing a pivotal role as scrum half on Sheridan's first ever OCAA men's rugby title-winning team in 2017, McCallion returned to the squad last season as an assistant coach.

"Alex has an infectious passion and enthusiasm for rugby and I felt that from him from the day I met him," varsity rugby coordinator Tahir Khan said. "He is definitely the right coach to elevate our women's rugby program and I'm confident he will make it podium relevant."

McCallion is a former Rugby Ontario U17 and U18 player, a three-year competitor at Rugby Canada's National Sevens tournament (2013-15), and is currently the president of the Brampton Beavers club team. He is hoping that his affiliation with grass roots rugby will allow him to build on the pre-existing foundation for the program and bring heightened success to it.

"There is a lot of rugby talent in Brampton and my goal is to try to tap into that," he said. "Rugby 7s is a completely different game from 15's, so I really want to focus on player conditioning, which I believe will have a great effect on our results."

Training camp will begin in August, with the OCAA season kicking off in early September.