Rugby season gets underway this week

Posted on: Staff Writer

Jerry Flaws                                                                      
Girls Rugby Coach 
 
Rugby season is set to begin this week at Strathmore High School (SHS).  The weather may not be cooperating but the Spartans will begin practicing outside this week in preparation for this weekend’s home tournament.  
The Spartans have been practicing indoors since mid-March because the field was still covered in snow.  Now that the snow is gone we can start teaching the game of rugby. Until now the focus has been on individual skills and conditioning.  You need to practice game play so the new players can learn the game. Even then most players don’t figure it out until they have played a game. 
The boys rugby team looks to improve on last year’s placing.  The coaches have been working hard to round up players.  
Many of the boys have played for the Spartans before and the Grade 10’s have played for Crowther Memorial Jr. High. 
The girls team is also looking to improve on last years placing.  The girls only lost two players from last year’s squad and replaced them with 10 athletes in Grade 10.  The Spartans will rely on the leadership of third year players and second year captains Jenna Gigantelli and Alecia DeMott.  These girls have been great role models to the younger players and played at the High School provincials two years ago.  With veteran leadership and very strong second year players, the rookies should be able to learn the game at a little bit of a slower pace then in years past.  In Rugby you can overcome lack of knowledge with hard work and athleticism.  The grade 10’s are full of both so they will be impact players as the year progresses. 
This weekend’s tournament, held on April 13, is meant to be an icebreaker for many of the new players.  The rules have been modified to increase safety and allow the players to learn the game.  The Spartan teams will each play three 30-minute games, with the last game being played with no modifications to the rules.  The sport of rugby only allows U19 players to play 90 minutes of rugby a day so the games are going to seem short compared to a normal game, which has two 30-minute halves.  The Lady Spartans will get a bit of a head start by playing an exhibition game against West Island College in McMahon Stadium on Thursday, April 11.