Former U SPORTS Lineman Makes NFL Debut, Canada Rugby Star Named World Player of the Year
+ Laurier swimmer wins silver and bronze at World Para Swimming Championships, U SPORTS’ undefeated soccer teams, quick hits, and marquee matchups
The NFL has added a new Canadian name to its offensive line.
Vancouver native and former UBC offensive lineman Theo Benedet made his NFL debut for the Chicago Bears this past Sunday against the Las Vegas Raiders.
A two-time U SPORTS Lineman of the Year, Benedet played five seasons with the UBC Thunderbirds.
He signed with the Bears as an undrafted free agent in 2024, first joining their practice squad before earning a spot on the 53-man roster for the 2025 season.
Benedet isn’t the only former U SPORTS player on an NFL roster this season.
Benedet’s first NFL start is a reminder that, slowly but surely, U SPORTS football is establishing itself as a legitimate pipeline to the NFL.
Sophie DE Goede Wins World Rugby Women’s 15’s Player of the Year 🏆
Victoria, BC’s Sophie de Goede has been named the World Rugby Women’s 15s Player of the Year.
De Goede is coming off a massive year in which she led Canada’s Women's Rugby national team to the World Cup final and made history as the all-time leading scorer in Canadian women’s rugby.
She is also a Queens alumna, where she competed for the Women’s rugby team and received multiple awards, including the U SPORTS Athlete of the Year Award in her final year at Queen’s.
The Canadian rugby star also played for the Gaels women’s basketball during her time at Queens.
With a World Cup final appearance and a player of the year, the future for Canadian women’s rugby is looking bright.
World Athletics Para Championships: What You Need to Know 🇨🇦
The World Athletics Para Championships kicked off this past week — here’s what you need to know.
📍New Delhi
🗓 September 26th - October 5th
26 para athletes are suiting up for Team Canada, 8 of whom are either current or former U SPORTS athletes:
Addisyn Franceschini (Lakehead)
Amanda Rummery (Alberta)
Charlotte Bolton (York)
Greg Stewart (Thompson Rivers)
Jesse Zesseu (Guelph)
Katie Pegg (Saint Mary’s)
Nicholas Neri (Windsor)
Oluwasegun Makinde - Guide (Ottawa)
Laurier Swimmer Wins Silver at World Para Swimming Championships
Laurier University swimmer Katie Consgriffe captured silver in the women’s 100m backstroke and bronze in the 100m butterfly this past Sunday at the World Para Swimming Championships in Singapore.
Her performance marked Canada’s 12th medal of the tournament — including two golds 👀.
Quick Hits:
The Canadian Women’s Rugby National Team lost their World Cup final matchup against England 33-18 in front of a record crowd of 82,000.
The Laval Rouge et Or fell to the host team, Shanghai University, 3-1 in the FISU women’s world cup final.
Saskatoon’s Ashlyn Renneberg set a Canadian and Americas javelin record at the World Para Athletics Championships with a throw of 33.20 m in the women’s F13 javelin.
Cal Wither for OUA MVP? Laurier’s QB has thrown for 1,805 passing yards, while averaging 300 yards per game with a 73% completion rate, and has 18 touchdowns on the year, with three games still left to play.
Western’s Ethan Dolby is off to a historic start, where he has amassed 858 rushing yards with 11 touchdowns through 5 games, averaging 171 rushing yards per game, the most since 2017, and 10 yards per carry, the most since the 2015-16 season.