The defending Big Sky Rugby Union champions have kicked off their bid for consecutive titles in the 11-team league in fine form.
The Holy Trinity Academy Knights won their Big Sky debut in impressive fashion by dispatching Chestermere High School on April 19 and proceeded to win their exhibition tournament in Edmonton three days later.
“We’d beat up some pretty big teams like Bev Facey and Strathcona High School and we’re only small right so that’s kind of where we are,” said head coach Joe Buck. “The whole team played really well and I wouldn’t really pick any guy out really.”
The Knights boast an impressive roster with U17 Canadian team member Reid Watkins and Rugby Sevens provincial team members Peter Hillman, James Read and Ryan Hassler as well as William Barrett, Sam Stange, Adam Stanley, to name a few.
“We’re not big, but we have more experience in two players that most have on a team and that’s what shines through,” Buck said. “But the issue is as you progress through you’re going to find teams that have size and experience and that’s what’s going to be a challenge.”
Buck said the Knights’ strength is speed, but a real emphasis in training is put on decision making and trusting instincts on the pitch.
“We don’t play a particular style, we just play what’s in front of us and our job is to make the decisions we need to make with what’s in front of you and what the opposition gives you,” Buck said. “That’s what we teach the kids and ask the kids to do and they can be at times pretty good decision makers.”
“We work on our attitude, a positive attitude with each other, towards opponents and making good decisions on off the field,” he said.
The Knights will have a good balance of seniors and juniors, with the latter expected to receive lots of playing time, said Buck.
“We’re opting up for Tier I to give the boys a good challenge,” Buck said. “One step at a time and it’s going pretty good.”
Crucial to HTA’s prospects this season is staying healthy, a feat made all the more difficult by the preseason injury of Hassler.
“We can’t have any injuries, that’s it, and it’s tough to go through the rugby season without them,” Buck said. “(Ryan’s) injured already and that’s really disappointing, but we’ve got to get over it.”
Buck is taking a wait and see approach with regards to his Big Sky competition.
“We don’t know yet, we can’t control the competition, we can only control what we do,” Buck said. “We do that by coming to practice and having a positive attitude and we’ll deal with the opposition when we’re there.”
The Knights are hosting the Clearwater Cup at the Calgary Rugby Union on May 4-5. The boys and girls tournament will feature some of the top programs in the province including Bowness, Bishop O’Byrne and St. Mary’s among others.
“That will be a tournament to really find out who’s who,” Buck said. “There will be some good squads there.”
In Big Sky Union play, the Knights hit the pitch against Bow Valley Composite today, April 25, at the HTA field.
Foothills Falcons
Steve Wager returns for his eighth season on the sidelines for the Foothills Falcons and he’ll have a number of familiar faces joining him on the pitch. Key returning players for the Falcons include Chance Hamilton, Matt Carr, Caleb de Waal, Richard Kulhanek, Jamie Irving, Ryan Cole as well as Jack Graham, Coulton Karch and Thomas Kurth.
Wager said the Falcons have a good balance of youth and experience, with a solid mix of seniors and Grade 10 and 11s. He said newcomers Ben Myers, Harry Parkin and Jake Gaetz are poised to make an impact on the pitch.
“We have a pretty good mix, I would say it’s about half and half,” Wager said. “Which is good because we can continue to build.”
Wager said the Falcons have a blend of size and speed and will look to get everyone on the team involved, as they lack any real position of particular strength or weakness.
“What I think we’ll have to do is make sure we maintain our fitness.The game is changing all of the time,” Wager said. “But, our game plan is to involve the forwards and the backs. There’s always a good mix when you are mixing new players with the veterans and you kind of have to play a game like that.”
The Falcons coach knows they’ve got a big hurdle to overcome in the Big Sky Rugby Union in the form of crosstown rival HTA.
“HTA has become a well respected powerhouse in the rugby community, not only locally, but around the province as well,” Wager said.
“We’re going to have more wins this year than last year and that’s what I would base our goal on with the good mix of players on our team.”
Foothills rugby has also benefited from a number of Falcons graduates, eight in total including Foothills Rampant Lions top defensive back Nathan Marquardt and Josh Penner, lending a hand in the coaching department.
“They come and help which is a plus and they’re good role models for the boys who are playing,” Wager said.
The Falcons begin their season on April 26 when they host Chestermere High at 5:00 p.m. and square off with the HTA Knights a week later on May 3.
Oilfields Drillers
The Oilfields High School Drillers will be moving up from sevens to fifteens this season and with a smaller pool of players to draw from could have to dip into its pool of Grade 9 players, a luxury afforded to Oilfields as a 2A school (less than 400 students).
“Our team this year is going to rely on some speed and power out of that eight, nine, ten combo,” said head coach Aaron Langstraat. “We’ve got a very strong lifting unit, we’re quite tall.”
Size in the middle could be the Achilles heel of the team.
“Where I think we’re going to struggle is we don’t have as much meat in the pack as we did last year,” he said. “I hope with the addition of our scrum machine which should be arriving any day, we’ll get strong technique to a level where it will compensate.”
Number 8 Brandon Powell and number 9 Cole Perrault should be key contributors.
“They both played for the (Foothills) Lions for the U17 program so they’ve been around the ball a lot,” Langstraat said.” And Brent Arkes is going to be the guy who holds it together for us in the scrum.”
“We only have three Grade 12s and two of them are new this year coming from a hockey background — Cam Lansdell and Dawson Lowry—and good hockey players make great rugby players,” Langstraat said. “They’re strong, they’ll go into contact and once they learn how the field works and how to run their lines I think they’re going to be pretty strong players.”
The Drillers dropped their season opener 15-5 to the Bow Valley Bobcats.
The Drillers are a Tier II team competing with both Tier I and II teams, including HTA and Foothills Composite, in the Big Sky Union. They only play one Tier I team per season, this year they’ll face the powerful Knights squad on May 17.
“It was a strong game the boys were in it. We had quite a few young, young players in the game, but they held up quite well,” Langstraat said.
The Drillers are back on the pitch on April 26 when they host the Highwood Mustangs at 7 p.m.
STS Spartans
The Strathcona Tweedsmuir School (STS) Spartans are in hot pursuit of a repeat berth in the Tier II provincials, where they finished in fourth place last season.
Spartans head coach Chris Ruskay said his squad is young, but doesn’t lack experience.
“We’re about two-thirds Grade 11’s so we’re a young team,” Ruskay said. “Numbers have been very good in the program, we have over 60 boys out in term of varsity and (junior varsity).”
Spartans captain Ben Pluck and fellow-back Brett de Bie provide the club with veteran stability, Ruskay said.
“(Pluck’s) been involved in club rugby in the Calgary areas for years and is quite skilled,” Ruskay said. “(Brett’s) also a high level club player in Calgary.”
Ruskay said newcomers to the varsity squad poised to contribute include prop Jordan Hutchings and number 8 Dan Mullie.
“Hutchings is a big guy, very agile and loves to run the ball,” Ruskay said. “Mullie, he’s a Grade 12 whose never played rugby before, one of our top basketball players. He’s new this year, but very athletic, just a natural and picked it up right away.”
As a comprehensive school, STS begins its rugby program in Grade 9, a year earlier than high schools, giving a lot of its players a taste of the sport at an earlier age.
“Most of them at least have a grounding in rugby in the school,” Ruskay said.
The Spartans are at their best in open play, said Ruskay.
“Traditionally in terms of physical size we’re usually small, but we tend to be fairly fit,” Ruskay said. “We don’t want to keep the ball on the ground, we just want to keep it moving, passing, kicking and just keep the other team running all the time.”
The Spartans kicked off their regular season with a 10-0 loss to the defending Tier II provincial champion Banff High School on April 18 and return to the pitch today, April 25, when they host the Springbank Phoenix at 5p.m.
