As the Banff Community High School Bears girls rugby team rushed to the try zone in the dying seconds of the bronze medal game this past weekend, the moment marked the final time original members will play together.
BCHS finished fourth at provincials in Edmonton, being barely edged out of third by Rimbey Junior-Senior High School Spartans, 25-21, on Saturday (June 6). The team’s honourable play on the pitch during the two-day tournament earned them the sportsmanship award to add to the wall of banners beside their 2015 zone title, won earlier this month.
The undefeated Bears didn’t know what to expect going into the provincial weekend and wanted to leave it all out on the field. It was the young ladies’ first trip there in the BCHS program’s four-year existence and coming from the growing pains of learning the game to becoming a provincial contender is impressive, said head coach Cody Skrine.
“The effort and strength of character that the girls have shown is great. We’re a small school, a lot of our players were brand new to the sport and generally speaking, we’re a smaller team physically as well, so being able to go as far as they have and compete against who they have has really shown that they’re willing to put their bodies on the line for each other,” said Skrine.
BCHS finished with a 1-3 record at provincials and two losses could have gone either way.
In their opening game on Friday (June 5), the Bears mauled the Cold Lake High School Rebels, 43-0. But it was in their next game the girls experienced something they hadn’t all season long – a loss. In a physical and low-scoring game, the Bears lost to Rimbey in the first of two games, 8-5.
The following morning, the girls challenged the F.P. Walshe Flyers of Fort Macleod, but were shut out, 38-0. The Flyers would go on to lose in the gold medal game against Lethbridge’s Winston Churchill high School Griffins, 19-5.
The back-to-back losses landed the Bears in the bronze medal game and a rematch against Rimbey. Unfortunately, in a “mirror match” of the first, they were unable to exact their revenge against the stubborn Spartans.
After a stellar year, though, where BCHS won the South Central zone title, Skrine said the team already achieved what they set out to this season.
“Our success this season was particularly sweet because the Grade 12s who played have been there since the very start of the program four years ago,” Skrine said.
The team shared an emotional moment following the final game. After battling back in the second half to make things interesting, the loss had stung, but the tears shared were over the end of era. It was the final game for the original girls who had started in the upstart BCHS rugby program.
Grade 12 player Miki Kawano started rugby when she was in Grade 9 at BCHS, but had to idly watch the second half of the game from the sidelines due to a minor head injury.
“I cried a couple of times during the last game because I was sad it was our last game together,” she said. “They came out strong at the beginning and I think our team is more of a cardio team and do better at the end. We were down by three tries and we were so close, 10 more minutes and we could have taken it.”
Kawano added that each game the team was better, giving everything they had on the field in each of the games.
“I think it was awesome (to have been at provincials) because we were the ones who started the program … every year it’s improved so much and everything just came together this year like all the players and skill and all that,” Kawano said.
