The Foothills Lions celebrated a season of unprecedented growth at their annual Festival of Rugby.
All five levels of Lions rugby were represented at the festival June 16 at the John Paul II Collegiate field in Okotoks, from four and five year olds in the Minis division to middle-aged men on the Lions’ two Senior men’s teams.
Marcelle Tremblay, vice-president of the Junior Lions program, said 2012 has been marked by the expansion of the Foothills youth academy.
“We have had new Minis and U-11 teams which is brand new in Okotoks,” Tremblay said. “We have a U-13 team and a U-15 team and as soon as the high school’s are done we are starting a U-18 team.”
Under the guidance of Holy Trinity Academy boys rugby coach Joe Buck, the U-15 Lions have been absolutely dominant in the Calgary Rugby Union boys summer league. The Lions have gone undefeated and have scored more than 90 points more than once this season, including a 92-7 victory over the Calgary Canadian Irish Athletic Club at the festival of rugby.
The U-15 Lions will face some stiff opposition in July as Audenshaw School, a touring rugby team from the United Kingdom, is coming to Okotoks July 16-17 to face the vaunted Lions.
“It’s going to be amazing rugby because the U-15 haven’t been beaten here in Alberta, but I think this UK touring team is going to give them a tough test,” Tremblay said.
The U-13 Lions, coached by Chris Isherwood, have but one loss on the season and have put up impressive offensive totals through six games as well.
“The U-13 team started last year, it was their first year and we finished in third place with brand new players,” Tremblay said. “We have some very good hope for this year to be very successful, even for provincials.”
Lions Senior men’s head coach Darcy Gallant is heading up the Lions Minis, featuring players aged four to eight.
“We run them once a week, one practice a week just because this year most of our team is young,” Gallant said. “We started off intersquad and now we’ll play in the city three times and finish our season that way.”
Gallant said the Minis program is all about introducing the youngsters to the basic elements of rugby.
“It’s just about getting the kids out there running around,” he said. “It’s just pass and catch and the main thing is just trying to get them to pass backwards, but those are the main three things.”
The Lions have 17 players in the Minis division, a figure Gallant expects will triple next season.
The increase in the number of players is reflective of the Lions program as a whole.
Tremblay said the Lions will face some tough decisions next season as they tackle the considerable growth in demand.
“It’s just been an amazing thing in Okotoks, it’s just taking off like crazy,” Tremblay said. “Next year we have a challenge ahead of us because we are going to have to go into two teams (per division).”
“The big concern at that point is how much do we keep it home league and how much do we stay with a stronger team and a weaker team.”
The Lions are hoping to add a Junior women’s team next season at either the U-16 or U-18 levels. They currently have girls playing in the Minis and U-11 divisions.
“We definitely see the need to add a women’s team at this point it’s just a matter of finding coaches that will be able to provide good coaching,” she said. “We have that amount of girls in high school rugby already that would definitely close the gap and be able to very soon have a women’s team.”
Talks are currently in place to form a girls team representing Okotoks and the foothills for the Stampede Sevens Tournament in Calgary in July.
For more information on the Junior Lions go to www.foothillslionsrugbyclub.com/juniors-rugby
