Born in a barn? No.
Raised in one? You bet.
Bow Valley Grizzlies Rugby Club men’s team is in its second indoor training preseason at its “secret” Jumping Pound location. The indoor equestrian centre sessions give Grizz a flying start to the season starting in May.
“It’s a fantastic facility. It’s dust-free dirt. It’s a special dirt they use,” says Grizzlies head coach Ty Hawes. “It’s not heated, per se. But It’s not as cold as it is outside.”
Given the most-recent winter conditions in the Rocky View region, Grizzlies’ unique training centre and work ethic could give them an early-season edge in their first season of Calgary Rugby Union Division 2 men’s play. The team played Div. 3 until last fall and moved up for 2015.
“It gives everybody a chance to train,” Hawes says between drilling his players during a training session at the private, Jumping Pound facility loaned the team for twice-weekly, pre-season training.
“Definitely,” Hawes enthuses of the edge the early, indoor training gives his first 15. The squad works on fitness and set plays like lineouts and scrums. His draught horses in the first two rows, and his back-row thoroughbreds, all benefit from training time on the dust-free dirt surface at the equestrian centre.
“I think that was the difference-maker for us at the beginning of the season last year,” Hawes says of his team that went 15-1 in CRU Div. 3 play last season, the one loss coming in the league final. “We had regular training twice a week for a month-and-a-half before the regular season started. We hit the ground running. We were ready to go.”
He’s confident similar preparation will allow Grizz to harness that early-season success when the season starts next month.
“I’m hoping that will be the case this year as well. There won’t be any training cancelled, which is nice, as a coach. No excuses, you know?”
