BANFF – With fewer numbers than expected, the Banff Bears rugby boys are switching things up on the pitch.
For the first time, the high school team will be playing sevens for a full season, which is the faster in pace and shorter game play version of the contact sport.
In the past, the boys have fielded championship-level 15s teams, but with only 14 players on the seniors squad, they are forced to adapt to the ebbs and flows of high school sports. In the past year or two, the team has experimented with sevens as numbers remained low.
“For whatever reason there's just lack of interest in the student body this year and we've only got 14 boys on paper,” said Ian Higginbottom, Banff Bears boys’ rugby coach.
Banff's starting seven are looking solid on the pitch, said Higginbottom, but the team lacks depth currently.
“We can compete with almost any team, but we just don't have the depth and experience in our reserves that are necessary,” said Higginbottom.
They lost three key players going into this season from injury and other interests, which would have made a “world of difference.”
“All three were strong runners and knew the game, so we're definitely missing those guys,” he said.
Playing sevens, however, presents an opportunity for smaller, faster guys a chance to shine in the sport.
“We got a bunch of young guys who might not be 15s players - they're not big heavy guys, so it gives our fast, quick guys opportunity play the ball,” he said.
Banff's rugby girls have joined forces with the Canmore Wolverines to allow them to continue playing 15s, but they will play sevens at the season-end championships due to low numbers.
“It's one of the only sports that they're actually playing together rather than across the field or across the court so it's nice to have that and the camaraderie of that,” said girls coach Maya Russow.
Oli McKay, rugby girls head coach, is hoping the merger of the two communities will lead to bigger and better things for women’s rugby in the valley, like a senior’s club which hasn’t been present in the area for around 12 years.
“The hope is by building these friendships at a high school level, maybe in a year or two down the road there could be a women’s seniors club playing,” said McKay.
