Three Bow Valley Grizzlies are in the hunt for spots on Alberta’s under-23-year-old (U23) men’s rugby team.
Fullback Dave Evans and flankers Connor Gilbert and Mackenzie Tivendale are all in the tryout loop with the Calgary Mavericks, a southern Alberta development program hatched to identify elite men’s players. The team trains in Calgary and travels to Red Deer for trial matches against the northern Alberta development team (Edmonton Gold).
The ultimate goal is a ticket to play on Team Alberta and then the regional senior men’s Prairie Wolf Pack team comprised of top players from Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Grizzlies’ James Patterson was a member of last year’s U19 Wolf Pack.
“The Alberta team will be chosen from the trial games,” Evans explains. The 6-foot-5, 240-pound fullback, who’s also played No. 8, has tackled many of the athletes he’s seeing in the Alberta development stream. “I’ve played with a lot of them throughout the years. It’s all the highest-level athletes. The Edmonton team, they are all big. The Calgary teams are all small and fast. You need a good mixture of both to come together.”
The 22-year-old is a cog in the Cochrane-based Grizzlies rugby machine, routinely advancing the ball with epic runs in Calgary Rugby Union Div. 2 league games. He also kicks converts and field goals for the Grizz.
While not as big as Evans, at 6-foot-1, 190 pounds, Gilbert’s calling card is the bruising you get from his smashing tackles. His ball handling, rugby sense, and his team play at the openside flanker position make him an ideal candidate for Alberta’s U23 program.
“I think it’s awesome. It’s a great step up. A chance for the younger guys to develop,” says Gilbert. There are a lot of good players across the province. It’ll be a good challenge.”
Mavericks and Gold train into the third week of July, playing four matches against each other along the way in Red Deer, before the provincial team is selected July 22 in time for regional U23 rugby championships starting July 25 in Saskatoon.
“It’s nice. The guys are a little bit fitter and a little bit faster,” Tivendale says of the Mavericks and the U23 tryout process. The Grizzlies blindside flanker is always around the play, providing support to teammates while rarely making a mistake handling and distributing the ball. “The game flows a little bit more with the higher level of coaching and the high expectations of coaching.
“It’s a good group of guys and excellent top-level coaching. I’d like to make the Prairie Wolf Pack at some point.”
