Coming off a season where they finished
second in the province in Tier II high
school rugby, the Banff Community High
School Bears boys are looking for another
strong season.
Then again, for BCHS girls’ rugby,
players are looking to take their first crack
at some league play to see how they match
up against more established programs.
Last week, both teams launched their
high school season in Okotoks, with the
boys’ squad defeating Holy Trinity Knights
26-5 on Tuesday (April 23) and losing 26-7
to a much larger Tier I Foothills Composite
Falcons on Thursday (April 25).
On the same days, the girls lost 48-0 to
Trinity, then turned things around somewhat
in a 31-14 loss to Foothills.
Rugby is always popular in Banff, but
this year, said coach Ian Higginbottom, the
boys outdid themselves, with 30 players
(including two from Canmore) good to go
for the season.
“At the start of the season, I thought 30
players was a lot,” he said. “But after our
first two games, we’re down five players to
injury. The fact we have 30 players means
we have some flexibility to fill in spots and
get guys playing time.”
Having a large roster also means when
players can’t hit the pitch due to other
commitments, an upcoming Seattle band
trip for example, others can step up and
step into the lineup.
“And I’ve already got Grades 7, 8 and 9s
asking to play,” said Higginbottom, “which
is great.”
The Bears have a strong core of Grade
11 and 12 players which went to the
provincial final last year against Winston
Churchill High of Calgary, but also many
Grade 10s itching for a chance to get in on
the action.
“We don’t have any Grade 10s as starters,”
said Higginbottom, “but we get five or
six a game into the lineup. We want to get
them in, get some experience and see how
they handle things.”
Handling things was the name of the
game against Foothills, he said, and there
may have been some nerves among his
players as, being from a small Tier II
school (under 800) with a student body of
150 Grade 10-12 students from which to
create a team, facing a team from a Tier
I school of 1,000 students is somewhat
daunting.
“And that team is massive,” said
Higginbottom. “Their back line likely averages
180 pounds. We have a fast, skilled
back line, but that Foothills team can wear
you down.
“They made it to the quartefinals in
Tier I last year and I expect they’ll do
extremely well this year and wouldn’t be
surprised if they are Tier I champions.
“But really, I’m happy with that result
against Foothills. The guys played really
well and we had some first timers out, but
they ran hard, tackled hard and took some
pretty hard hits.
“There might have been some nerves,
but once the game started, the guys were
ready and used the techniques they’ve
learned. That game against Foothills meant
nothing, it was a chance for the guys to see
how they do against a big school.”
Higginbottom shares coaching duties
with a pair of community coaches from
the Banff men’s team, Cody Skrine and
Alex “Boof ” Boston.
“Our core is a really strong veteran
group and hopefully we never lose that,” he
said. “Every new school year brings a new
group of Grade 9s and they want to move
up. We have a huge body of Grade 11 and
12s, enough to field a strong starting line,
but you need those Grade 10s to train,
learn and step in when needed.
“For a small school like ours, it’s about
the passion, the drive, the soul.”
For the girls team, a pair of opening
week losses will be part of the learning
experience.
“It was cool to see the girls out there
too,” said Higginbottom. “For their first
year in a league, to take on two huge
schools, was big for them. Just the amount
of improvement they showed between the
first and second game was impressive.
“The passion is there and they have a
couple of strong Grade 11 and 12 players,
but their core group are Grade 9 and it’s a
good core.”
Up next for the Bears are games
Monday (May 6), versus Bow Valley High
School in Cochrane and Thursday (May 9)
in Springbank.
The Bears take to the Rec Grounds
field in Banff on May 16, when the teams
host Strathmore, with games at 5 and
6:15 p.m.
