Rocky View Schools is giving rugby a try as the sport continues to gain popularity in the teenage ranks and around the world.
“The sevens has become a very popular game nationally and internationally,” said Rocky View Sports Association (RVSA) spokesman Brian Utley this week. “We thought we would do a sevens tournament … I’m certainly excited about it. It’s a great thing.”
The RSVA is the umbrella organization for interschool sports activities in the division’s middle and high schools. Currently, leagues from 11 educational institutions compete in badminton, basketball, curling, football, golf, soccer, track and field, and volleyball.
While some schools have been able to field rugby teams – including a combined Bow Valley/Cochrane union out of the Riversong high school – there historically hasn’t been enough interest to run a full league.
However, that’s all starting to change. With the inclusion of rugby sevens for the first time in the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro last year, the visibility of the sport is drawing teens to the pitch.
“Traditionally, rugby has gone through the (Alberta Schools Athletic Association) zone, not through a league per se,” said Utley. “(But) it’s an Olympic event now … a couple schools have two teams ... It’s not full, but it’s a start.”
To capitalize on the traction of the growing group of players in the division, the RSVA will host its first rugby sevens one-day tournament tomorrow in Springbank, with junior and senior boys and girls participating from that rural school, as well as from Chestermere, Cochrane, and Airdrie’s Bert Church and WH Croxford schools.
“I think it’s great,” said Corina Bauer, head coach of the combined Bow Valley/Cochrane High team. “More and more kids are getting into rugby … I love the quick action, the fact that you have constant play. All positions are key positions – everybody has a chance to touch the ball … everybody has a chance to score.”
Bauer, who is a passionate supporter of the sport, has been instrumental – along with volunteer coaches from the Bow Valley Grizzlies men’s team – in growing the sport in Cochrane at the high school level.
“You have to have somebody who’s passionate about the sport in the school,” said Bauer, who is a chemistry and biology teacher at Bow Valley High, adding she would be proud to see the sport continue to grow. “I would love it eventually to get to the point where Cochrane has their own team.”
Utley said he hopes this weekend’s tournament will be a successful first step to moving toward bringing rugby into the RSVA fold.
“It’ll be great and just hopefully it’ll build.”
