Located in the city of Christchurch, one of the largest cities in New Zealand, is the Crusaders International Academy, an elite rugby program that for the next eight weeks will be the home for one of Cochrane’s very own developing athletic talents.
Caleb Graham was born and raised in Cochrane. Last year he graduated from Bow Valley High School as a promising dual threat athlete, excelling in both rugby and football. He just completed his first year at Trinity Western University in British Columbia as a member of the men’s rugby team. Last week he packed his bags and got on a plane that took him farther from home than he had ever been.
Graham will be in New Zealand until June, and for the next eight weeks he will be put through an exhaustive, round the clock training schedule. Along with a Trinity Western teammate, Graham and other college-aged rugby players will train among and play with the Christchurch Crusaders, an elite team that competes in New Zealand’s Super Rugby competition.
“This is going to be a whole other experience for sure,” Graham said.
After graduating from Bow Valley, Graham had a choice to make: would he go to a school to play football or rugby? He was waiting for his layover flight in Denver, returning home after visiting a Division Three school in Appleton, Wisconsin, where he was offered a scholarship to play football, when he made his decision.
“I got a call from Trinity Western and they said I’d been admitted with the Dean’s Scholarship,” Graham recounted. “I had been told by [Trinity Western rugby coach] Andy [Evans] to apply and let him know when I did, that was the stage I was at…I felt like I wanted to connect with coach Andy.”
According to Graham, the rugby programs at B.C. schools far exceed those schools located elsewhere. Even though Trinity is a relatively younger program–about six years old–the team has competed well against some of the bigger and more established schools.
Graham’s rookie season did not start exactly as he had envisioned. In fact, it barely started at all. While playing with the Bow Valley Grizzlies, a men’s team in Cochrane, Graham broke his thumb, putting him in a cast and keeping him off the rugby pitch for eight weeks. He returned in time for the U18 Canada West camp, but during a friendly inter-squad match on the final day, Graham collided with one of his teammates, who drove the top of their head hard into the left side of his face, fracturing his orbital bone.
“The day I broke my face was August 17,” Graham said. “The whole left side of my face just went numb, the top left side of my mouth was numb for weeks.” The medical staff at Trinity was worried the slightest knock to his healing face could cause enough damage to require surgery. Graham spent the next few weeks recovering at his aunt's house in Kamloops, his training regimen consisting of the most basic throwing and kicking exercises.
Finally, once he healed, Graham joined his team and was able to show off his skills in a handful of matches in the U.S. against Arizona State and Grand Canyon University. With his season and academic year finally over, Graham has his attention turned towards New Zealand.
“Rugby in New Zealand is like hockey here,” he said. “The companionship is so unique and I want to learn more…about the game that I didn’t know before. At this camp I really want to focus on bettering myself as a player in my individual skills and of my knowledge of the sport and the community of rugby, because it’s beautiful.”
