Pincher Creek Voice: Girls Rugby season begins: Flyers defeat Hawks

Friday, April 25, 2014

Girls Rugby season begins: Flyers defeat Hawks

Pincher Creek JV and SR Girls
Janelle Jorgenson photo

Chris Davis

Pincher Creek's Hawks Senior and Junior Girls Rugby Hawks hosted Fort Macleod's J.T. Foster's Flyers for a chilly first game of the 2014 season at Sproule Field on the evening of April 23. There was a third particpant on the field - the wind. Temperatures hovered around 6°, but with the blistering westerly wind it felt a whole lot colder. That didn't deter the hardy young ladies of the pitch from giving it their all, but the team with the wind at their back had a definite advantage, an advantage that reversed at the halfs.

SR Girls
Janelle Jorgensen photo

The senior teams played first. For the first half, the Flyers had the wind at their back and made the most of it. They also proved to be a very strong team throughout, challenges aside. They were well ahead at the half and ultimately won the game 29-10. The junior varsity (JV) game also went to the Flyers squad by a large margin.

SR Girls
Janelle Jorgensen photo

Hawks stalwarts Dakota Van Loon, Kyla Lewis, and Tamara Parkin were captains for the senior team, with Coach Randy Whitehead mixing it up for the younger JV team. He's got a laid back style of coaching that his teams seem to appreciate, and Rugby is a game very close to his heart. He loves it. Afterwards he was pragmatic about the losses, particularly since the inclement weather and Easter break of the last few weeks hasn't allowed the teams any practice time. Of the improved performance of the senior Hawks in the second half of their game he said "The wind helped out but, they just got the first game jitters out in the first half and started playing much better in the second half, and that was good to see. The same with the JVs. Every minute is a positive minute for JV rugby."

"We've got about 26 girls altogether."

SR Girls
Janelle Jorgensen photo

"We've got a good group of veterans, and we've got a lot of rookies this year, which is good, we needed some fresh blood."

"I'm just happy to finally get a game in."

SR Girls
Janelle Jorgensen photo

“The only trophy we won this day, was the blood and sweat we left on the pitch…. and it was enough,” said an anonymous fan (quote from www.rugbybanter.com) of this very physically demanding game. That was true of the Hawks, who played through pain, weather, cuts, bumps, and bruises, smiling all the while.