Revenge.
That’s the one word that would describe the Bow Valley Grizzlies provincial final match up with the Leprechaun Tiger Rugby Club, who defeated the Grizzlies in the final game last season.
The Grizzlies wrought their vengeance with an 88-5 beat down of the Edmonton team when they took to the pitch on Sept. 30. The win marked the Grizzlies first provincial championship trophy.
Grizzlies head coach Ty Hawes said the championship win was six years in the making, built up since the team first started competing in 2011.
“It’s a fantastic accomplishment, not only for the boys on the pitch that have worked their tails off over the years, but also for the club as a whole,” Hawes said.
“There are a lot of passionate people involved in the club and the success of this season is the culmination of all their hard work.”
Hawes also said he could tell his team was locked and loaded right from the opening whistle.
“We had a goal line stand about 20 minutes into the game, and their attack could not breach our defence,” Hawes said.
“They got the turnover and it was really great to watch. The boys were relentless all game long, and the scoreboard shows that at the end of the game.”
Hawes wants his team to enjoy all the perks that come with winning, but also wanted to stress that training for the upcoming season, one in which his team will be defending a provincial championship, isn’t too far down the road.
“Some of the boys will have to make some decisions in the next couple months on what they want to do next season,” Hawes said.
“Regardless on what they decided to do, we’ll be back training in January preparing for the upcoming season.”
Winning also breeds interest, which Hawes and the Grizzlies are hoping to acquire some new players that are looking to give rugby a try.
“I would hope we get a number of new players next season, with or without experience, if you’re keen to give rugby a shot, come out and give it a try!”
The Grizzlies will take a couple months off and return to training in January to prepare for the new season, which will start in May.
