Curtis Lauzon does it all, he’s a father, a friend, a husband, a son, an athlete, and a coach.
He fuels off building meaningful relationships with others through teams and sports, using this energy to spend time with kids and family. Curtis has two kids: a 4-year-old named Colby, and a 2-year-old named Myles. He lets his kids play any sports they want, from gymnastics to ice skating. Just last spring Colby picked up flag rugby which Curtis was excited about—what with him playing and coaching rugby most his life—but no matter what his kids want to pursue in life, he will be there to help coach them all the way.
“Parenting is very similar to coaching. It is very important for me to know in what ways both my kids and athletes like to receive feedback, the different ways they learn, when they need empathy and when they need to be pushed, etc.” - Curtis Lauzon
In grade 9 Curtis moved to a small high school in Ontario, Bracebridge Muskoka Lakes Secondary School. He was upset at the fact that they didn’t have a football team – until he discovered the rugby team, joining the sport and never looking back. They joined a conference outside of their own so never had any home games, their coach/bus driver would have to drive at least an hour for every game, and the team struggled to keep an eligible number of players. Even with all these problems, Curtis continued to play and quickly fell in love with the sport. He loves the inclusivity and culture around the sport, as well as the team aspect, the contact, how much the players get autonomy to make their own decisions on the field, as well as the flow of the game and the tactics that coincide with that.
Curtis picked up rugby quick, after only a year of playing he tried out for the provincial team and made the cut for the U15 Ontario team. He tried out as a centre (a position where the players are generally faster and get all the glory) but he got moved to a forward position (doing the hard and gritty work). Despite the move to an unfamiliar position, he was still the team’s top scorer, aiding the team to win both matches they played against the Newfoundland team. The year after, they hosted a tournament in Toronto and placed 2nd, Curtis weighted 180lbs at this time and was playing against guys weighting over 270lbs in the same position. Despite being at a large disadvantage due to his size he was still dominating the pitch and ultimately got invited to a National U17 camp in British Colombia.
Prior to the camp, Curtis caught the swine flu and was stuck in bed for two weeks, because of this he showed up to the camp out of shape. Despite his disadvantage, he was still able to earn himself a spot on the development tour. On the flight to this tour he lied to his coach and said he played a different position, going on to score three trys (the rugby equivalent of a touchdown in football). Curtis was noticed and was selected to go on the final tour for the program, travelling all the way to Wales and England for the Wellington Junior Tournament.
This was a great experience for Curtis playing large countries like Portugal, Italy, and Scotland. He scored two try’s that tournament and earned himself his first ever yellow card by hitting a player late.
He is very grateful for these matches against difficult teams he played over the years.
“Often they would come over thinking they would destroy us Canadians. Usually when we would take it to them games would get scrappy - they were always a lot of fun to be a part of.” -Curtis Lauzon.
One of Curtis’s most memorable moments in his rugby career was when he played in a televised match against a club team touring from New Zealand who performed a Haka in front of him and his team.
Sadly, the real most memorable moment was his U18 year with rugby Ontario. They travelled to Calgary for the national championship, they had a good team and believed they could avenge the loss a few years prior. The team lost a teammate to suicide that season, but as Curtis said, he could “feel him playing alongside the team on the pitch in the final match”.
With just a mini left they were stuck back inside the oppositions 22m line, Curtis was the captain of the team and had the authority to call an 8-man pick, the Ontario flyhalf—former Canada 7s star Lucas Hammond—called it off to go to the backs. On that play the 8-man performed a skip pass which was intercepted and the opposition winger who went 80 meters in to score the game winning try.
Curtis, along with his teammates, felt decimated by the match.
Curtis realized very early on into his rugby career that coaching might be a path for him. He’s had many great experiences playing rugby and wants to help others share these experiences as well. He has always been a leader, taking a role as the captain of many teams growing up.
“In many of my Provincial games, I remember thinking, ‘this player should be passing the ball in that scenario’ or ‘that drop ball is going to really affect him, I need to find a moment to have a chat with him and get him mentally past that’. It wasn't until later that I reflected that the teammates around me who went on to excel weren't thinking these things, they were thinking ‘I need to do this, to impress’ or ‘I really crushed that guy’ ” -Curtis Lauzon.
A big part of why Curtis coaches today is thanks to his high school coaches, Dave Whiteside in particular. Coach Whiteside was also a teacher at the high school. He cared for the players and would constantly have them come to his class just to bond and chat rugby—he would even stop his class and give them a chapter to read if Curtis stopped by during his spare class.
Dave Whiteside’s passion for coaching and approach is what made Curtis consider coaching in the first place, even using some coaching techniques today that Dave used back then.
In the spring of grade 10, just a year after Curtis’s first-time playing rugby, he began coaching; helping out the women’s rugby team at his high school.
Once in college Curtis wanted to continue coaching and he applied to coach the provincial U16 women’s team. He ended up with a manger/coaching role with the team, helping lead them to dominating the National Championship that year. This experience really showed him how much time and effort are put into coaching, but still really enjoyed the experience and continued with it. He has been coaching for 14 years now.
After the season with the Ontario U16 girls, though having never participated in Judo, Curtis moved to New Brunswick for a role as the Executive Director of Judo NB. After moving to New Brunswick, he soon got connected with the Rugby scene and began coaching the U16 boys, winning 3 silver medals in 3 years.
In 2017 the role of Technical Director opened up at Rugby NB, and, although hesitant, Curtis applied and secured the job for a sport he was very passionate about. Since taking the job, Curtis has worked with all of the high-performance programs in the province in some capacity or another with roles coaching and working at the National level as well.
“My goal is to continue to develop the high-performance rugby programs in NB. At some point I would love to be part of a program full-time in a daily training environment. Additionally, I'm hoping to lead one of the junior National programs.” -Curtis Lauzon.
Curtis takes the role of coaching athletes very seriously. He is always trying to be the best coach he can be, always learning and taking part in over 100 hours of professional development every year. He also loves reading and tries to read 1-2 books a month around coaching, leadership, and learning.
A talented athlete turned ideal coach: Prioritizing the athletes, wanting them to reach their best potential and understands the role he plays in their lives.
Many coaches could learn from Curtis Lauzon.
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