Cochrane was well represented at the Alberta Regional Competition (ARC) over the weekend as four Cochrane Bears players were part of the all-star Under-18 Calgary Mavericks rugby team that took home gold.
The ARC is an annual tournament – held at the Calgary Rugby Union this year – which pits four clubs (the Mavericks, Edmonton Gold, Saskatchewan, Central, and the South) against each other at the Under-16 and Under-18 levels for both boys and girls. Apart from bragging rights, it’s also a major event for scouts to see the best talent Alberta and Saskatchewan have to offer in order to invite players to the provincial camp.
Rylen Waugh, Austin Dixon, Craig de la Mare, and Brennan Bourchier all impressed over the course of the tournament as their side went unbeaten in four games, beating Central (Red Deer) 34-10, Saskatchewan 19-7, and the South 24-0, before stomping the Edmonton Gold 29-5 in the final to claim the championship.
“Not losing a game all weekend was great for us,” said Mavericks assistant coach and Bears head coach Anthony Battistone. “We didn’t know what to expect going into the tournament, but the week before we beat Edmonton 19-10 so we were in good shape. We knew that Saskatchewan were a little less skilled than Gold, but they were very physical. That was our toughest game.
“Having said that, we expected the South to be our biggest competition just from experience playing against them at provincials. They had a lot of big, skilled, strong players.”
Waugh, Dixon, and Bourchier all started every game, with Waugh being named team captain, while de la Mare – who faced stiff competition in his position at front row – impressed coming off the bench.
“Rylen played in his natural position at scrum half, and he just makes things happen,” Battistone said. “One thing that I noticed was his leadership skills jumped significantly. He really controlled the offence and defence making sure everyone was organized.”
Bourchier, who was an offensive beast scoring a try every game, while Austin Dixon’s pace and determination made him a constant thorn in the sides of the opposition.
“With the formation we played, Brennan spent a lot of time on the outside, so he got to run against a lot of big wingers,” Battistone said. “He was able to sneak in and played exceptionally, he did his job and made some great runs.”
For Battistone, this was his first time coaching with the Mavericks organization and it’s an experience he believes helped his coaching immensely.
“I enjoyed it quite a bit,” he said. “Being on different levels with these guys made it so I could work on tactics a lot more than I normally do. We worked on some plays, and the players picked them up so fast. Working with elite players really helped myself get better as a coach.”
Going forward to the Team Alberta camp, Battistone believes all four of his Cochrane players have more than a good shot at making the provincial cut.
“They’ve all worked their butts off to get where they are, and I think they should all be at the camp,” he said. “I’ve told them they’ve played Bow Valley Grizzlies games so they should more than be able to hold their own against U18 players.
“The confidence they have shown has been a big plus.”
