LANGLEY — Its blueprint leads you to believe it has been designed specifically to guide its student-athletes through the unique emotional demands of the current global pandemic.Yet the coaching co-operative which was poured as part of the foundation of the Trinity Western Spartans men’s and women’s rugby teams back in 2019 is proving itself to […]
High School Rugby
At Burnaby’s Byrne Creek, Athletic Council class gives students an empowered ‘voice of community’ in a time of disconnect!
BURNABY — This past September, on what was the first day of a freshly-minted class in the curriculum at Byrne Creek Community School, the teacher posed a defining question to his students.“I had the kids write down what they thought the athletic climate was at Byrne Creek, and how they would perceive us if they […]
The future of B.C. high school rugby? Free webinar builds momentum as players, university coaches prep for virtual meet-&-greet March 3!
SURREY — By the time B.C. high schools stage cap-and-gown graduation ceremonies this July for its Class of 2021, boys rugby will have missed two straight seasons of play due to the global pandemic.Adam Roberts knew there was a need to keep high school rugby players and their families in the loop regarding the uncertain […]
A Sunday Read: The origin story of Victoria’s Sophie de Goede! At 21, Canada’s rising rugby superstar makes her mark with London’s Saracens
Last October, as she packed her rugby bags pre-flight for what was to be an extended overseas professional residency in the birthplace of her sport, Sophie de Goede made sure to leave a little room for the other half of her athletic alter-ego.“I brought my basketball shoes over, hoping that I would be able to […]
The Fab Fifty-B.C.’s Top 50 high school boys Grade 12 rugby players! Despite a lost season, BCSSRU salutes the skill, heart & grit of its Class of 2020!
LANGLEY — Theirs was a season which was ended in its infancy back in March.Yet while the B.C. boys high school rugby graduating Class of 2020 didn’t get a chance to experience the tests of league, playoff and provincial matches due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was no doubting its heart and its skill.That’s why […]
“I got some rocks, and I loaded them in a bag”: Trinity Western Spartans’ rugby recruit Josiah Levale never shies from the heavy lifting!
LANGLEY — When you take a second to consider the quality of stone from which Josiah Levale has been chiseled, perhaps it’s not surprising to learn just how resourceful one of the prized signings in Trinity Western rugby’s incoming 2020 class of recruits was in tending to his training regimen over the early stages of […]
A Sunday Read: Song Sung True — Lord Byng rugby performs profound rendition of the Coast Salish anthem before New Zealand tour cut short by COVID-19
VANCOUVER — Last month, Nathan Berrington-Dom stood on the other side of the world, flanked by his 25 fellow teammates from the Lord Byng Grey Ghosts senior boys rugby team. They were ready to sing a song.
B.C. high school rugby 2020: As ‘The Boot’ classic enters its second quarter-century, SMUS vs. Oak Bay gets a TV audience
VICTORIA — One of the gems of the B.C. high school rugby calendar becomes less of a secret outside of the provincial capital beginning this season.That’s because Thursday’s 26th playing of the annual Boot Game (6:30 p.m.) between storied rivals St. Michaels University School Blue Jags and Oak Bay Barbarians at historic Centennial Stadium on […]
BCSSRU offers teachers free rugby coaching clinics on Pro-D Day: “Why can’t we develop coaches the same way we develop teachers?” asks commish
SURREY — During the summer, as Walter van Halst contemplated some of the best ways to both recognize and enhance the many dedicated teachers who volunteer their time to coach rugby in B.C. secondary schools, he kept asking himself the same fundamental question.“Why can’t we develop coaches the same way we develop teachers?” asked the […]
A Rugby World Cup of their own! UBC Thunderbirds travel to Japan for eight-nation World University men’s championship
VANCOUVER — Canada opens play in Japan at the 2019 World Cup of Rugby on Sept. 26.And while the UBC Thunderbirds men’s team won’t be able to attend any of their home nation’s matches, they’ll be returning from the Land of the Rising Sun with some world-class rugby memories of their own.That’s because the ‘Birds […]