SHS girls rugby concludes undefeated season as provincial champions
By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Photo Courtesy of Jerry Flaws
The Strathmore High School (SHS) girls rugby team concluded an undefeated season, bringing home the gold from their provincial tournament, May 26 and 27.
According to Head Coach, Jerry Flaws, though the girls team has medaled at provincials before, becoming champions and running an undefeated season were both school firsts.
“The tournament went really well. The first game against Peace River from the North Zone ended up being our closest game. We scored with about 30 seconds left to secure victory in that one,” he said. “They played super physical and just slowed down the game where our team prefers to run and keep it wide open. We got a couple of lucky breaks and scored.”
After Peace River, the Spartans took on Vulcan, who Flaws said brought a star player of sorts who was a particularly challenging opponent.
“In that game, they had this one really amazing player and in the first half; she got away from us a couple of times and scored,” he said. “In the second half, the girls were able to hold her back and then we took over. All weekend, we would take over in the second half.”
The tournament took place over the two days at the Pirate’s Rugby Club in Edmonton. Flaws noted the venue was smaller and more restricted than in previous years in order to accommodate for unrelated games elsewhere in the park.
Moving into the finals, SHS was up against Frank Maddock High School, hailing from Drayton Valley. Flaws explained right out of the gate that he knew it was going to be an uphill battle for his squad.
“They scored immediately off the first kickoff and I knew we were in trouble here. And then we just slowly kept clawing our way back in,” he said. “We were able to put up 22 points and hold them to one more try after that. At no point did I feel relaxed. Every game we were on the edge and then we would score in the last minute to kind of pull away.”
For the Spartans, the girls took on their provincial tournament largely shorthanded, as all but one of the Grade 12 players stayed behind from the tournament to celebrate their graduation.
Flaws said it was a challenge to play without the depth and strength of most of their senior players, but being able to claim the championship speaks volumes about the juniors who will be returning next season.
“For the Grade 10s and 11s to pull that out is pretty amazing, and then we got a couple of good Grade 9s coming up next year, so we should be strong again,” he said.