Smithers was recently the host of the third annual NorthWest Rugby Round-Up, an event where players and coaches from across the region come together to build on their rugby foundations.
The goal is to provide a fun, community-driven environment for the rugby clubs and teams in the northern regions to connect and grow together. BC Rugby’s Darcy Patterson was in attendance at the event and gives the following account:
The first year of the NorthWest Rugby Round-Up event was just females only, garnering initial interest from around 70 kids. In 2017, the numbers were down slightly, but this year there were over 130 girls and boys in attendance, coming from a huge geographic area that stretched from Prince Rupert to Prince George.
Each community has done a commendable job building the sport through tireless work of volunteers and parents. By coming together for this event, not only does it open the players’ minds up to the sport on a bigger scale, but also helps to connect the coaches and supporters to make a stronger rugby network.
The weekend itself was a mix of skills development and games. There was a full day camp where coaches led the players through six stations in the morning to develop key aspects of the game. These skills were then transferred into small sided games, where the players who were new to the sport were able to get a better understanding of the game, while the experience players refined their knowledge and skills.
Saturday was game day. The most exciting part of the weekend was the Grade 8 girls games, which had all the girls playing their first game of rugby ever against other girls their age.
Though many of the communities in the area are small, they are punching well above their weight in terms of the size of rugby programs you might expect. Vanderhoof, a town of 4,400, boasts both a Senior team and a Junior Grade 8 team while Houston, a town of 3,000 people, have an enduring rugby history and now fields both a Junior and Grade 8 Rugby Sevens teams, along with their Senior team.
Even the diminutive Burns Lake community, less than 2,000 strong and a new addition to the regions rugby fold, is producing notable rugby talent. Twins Emily and Jessica Wipfli played for TORA in the Provincial Regional Championships (PRCs) in Vancouver earlier this summer, along with their older sister Sara Wipfli and friend Tiera Bishop. Not to be outdone, Smithers own Katie Nicolls was part of the BC U15 Girls’ XV team that competed at the U16 Western Canadian Championships.
These communities, along with Prince Rupert and Prince George, have all done fantastic work in growing the presence of rugby in the area. Alan Slater and Sean Levenson, both of Smithers, have been pushing the growth of rugby in the area for years and have forged connections in the area, fueling new life particularly in the female side of the game. These two did a fantastic job hosting the event and connecting the groups together.
Meanwhile, Prince Rupert has done a great job in building up their program. Aided by a huge grant from the Port of Prince Rupert, they have been able to purchase new equipment and get rookie rugby into the school system. Led by Jason Scherr, Cody Curry, Andy Enns and Amanda Barney, the Prince Rupert Rugby community has produced some notable rugby athletes over the last two years, with Cody Shaefer, Dionte Stephens and Hannah Scherr to name a few.
It is fantastic to see a new wave of talented athletes from these northern reaches beginning to make an impact in Provincial teams. Perhaps they will even follow in the footsteps of Olympian Kayla Moleschi (Williams Lake) in going right to the very top of the national game.
Overall, what the Northern Rugby Round-Up is all about is creating opportunities that keep the athletes interested and the coaches driven. This is the key to keeping the growth going. Rugby is all about the ties that bond, and in these more remote areas of B.C., it is even more important to foster a healthy network of collaboration.
Teams from many of these towns will be travelling to the various communities throughout September and October before making a big journey south for the climactic Kamloops Sevens Tournament on Oct. 20 & 21.