The Chatelech Girls’ rugby team travelled to Fen Burdett stadium in North Vancouver on April 17 to compete against the best high school Sevens teams in the Lower Mainland. In their initial qualifying games the Senior Girls scored 32 points against two strong teams and allowed none, later finishing third in a pool of 11 teams to earn their berth in the provincial finals.
The highlight of the tourney was without doubt the Seniors’ game against McMath Secondary from Steveston, a school with a long-established and strong girls’ rugby program. This was a closely matched contest with some amazing goal-line defensive stands by both teams, fending off repeated attempts to score from just yards away. One series on Chatelech’s goal line ended only after Cailey Nikodem managed to strip the ball from the McMath player, leading to a break-away try by Maddie Clucas. Our girls exceeded all expectations with a 22-0 win with additional tries from Jessica Nelson, Lauryn Stinson and Kizzy Douglas, in what was arguably Chatelech’s best-played rugby game yet this season.
Both the Senior and the Junior girls were scheduled to compete in the provincial finals at Klahanie Park in North Vancouver on April 25 and 26.
Having two teams playing in the provincial finals is a significant achievement for a small school with a girls’ rugby program that’s only in its fourth year. Even more remarkable is that the bulk of this team are in Grade 10 or younger, yet are playing competitively against teams with many older and more experienced players. The next two years should be very exciting for Coast rugby fans.
As always, huge thanks to coaches Mike Clucas and Cam Dezura for volunteering to lead these two teams through seven matches in one day, and to Carrie Bowden for looking after the athletes and keeping everyone fuelled with drinks and snacks.
– Submitted by Ron Nelson
