MANAGER, PLAYER ADVANCEMENT and ALUMNI RELATIONS
Al Charron
The Manager, Player Advancement and Alumni Relations will oversee and coordinate Rugby Canada’s alumni program with an effort to engage them in Rugby Canada activities and involve them and others to become financial supporters of the organization through the Player Sponsorship Program, fundraising events and other giving programs. As part of Rugby Canada’s Strategic Pillars supporting and adding value to all partnerships within Rugby Canada servicing key relationships and alumni is crucial in both delivering on programs and support in developing visibility / revenues for Rugby in Canada.
Al Charron joined Rugby Canada full-time in January 2013 as the Manager, Player Advancement & Alumni Relations. Al is a former Canadian National Team player with an impressive international career. Al brings an incredible knowledge of the Canadian Rugby landscape, which will aid him in his role developing programs designed to engage alumni and other supporters. Previously, Al wrote a weekly rugby column for Rugby Canada for several years and has assisted in numerous public relations initiatives since his playing retirement in 2003.
Al’s rugby accomplishments include achieving an impressive 76 appearances for Canada. He played for the British Barbarians five times and also in a World 15 match against Argentina for their centenary, captained Canada on 25 occasions and participated in 4 Rugby World Cups, and in the inaugural 7’s Rugby World Cup in 1993. He played club rugby for the Ottawa Irish and professionally overseas at Bristol, Pau and Dax and also Moseley in England. While playing with Mosley and Bristol he was voted the supporters' Player of the Season for 1996/97 and 1998/99 respectively and was awarded the BBC West Rugby Player of the Year award in 1999. To round out his accomplishments, Al was also inducted into the Eastern Ontario Hall of Fame, Ontario Rugby Hall of Fame, Ottawa Sports hall of Fame, and is recognized as being one of the top 100 athletes to come from Ottawa.
Al lives in Ottawa with his wife Annette and son Rylan.