B.C. boys hold their own
It was an outstanding week of rugby at the Western Canadian under-16 championships in Kelowna.
The BC U16 Blue Team — featuring Kelowna’s Storm Buck, Anders Fahlgren, Finn Hussey and Colby Miletto — captured the gold medal.
Such a performance by the team demonstrates the exceptional level of playing and coaching both locally, regionally, and provincially, team officials said.
The team went undefeated in six games over three days of playing in high heat conditions against the best age-level players in Canada.
Teams from BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba competed in the tourney.
The BC U15 Team, featuring Kelowna players Sulivan Curran, Cruz Fisher, Cameron Halverson, Sol Jacques, Lewis Jenkins, Jocob Jobst, Tanner Milligan, Declan Monaghan and Kieran Messier — played six hard-fought games against all U16 teams (as they were the only U15 team) and emerged into the finals as the 4th seed.
With player development in mind, U15 Team BC coach Ryan Banks said, “BC Gold had a better game against Alberta, even though they lost the game. The game was more competitive and they were able to match up physically . ... Although I love to win, playing competitive games where the boys are able to compete and can learn from this experience as a development opportunity is a better option for us.”
Final games on Sunday saw the U15 team tie Manitoba in a well-matched game and secure a win over Saskatchewan for an overall 5th place finish.
Local players participated in the Thompson Okanagan Rugby Alliance (TORA) practices in Kelowna and the provincial regional championships in Burnaby at the end of June.
Based on their performances at regionals, these athletes were selected for the provincial rep team camps held in Vancouver at UBC earlier this month, and then from there selected for Team BC to play Western Canadian Championships.
Of additional note is the selection of 12 year old Ollie Jacques of Penticton to the BC U14 Team Camp held July 24-29 at UBCO in Kelowna, with two inter-squad games played during the Western Championships.
Based on his performance at camp, he was selected as a reserve player for the U14 Team BC, who will be playing a game against a Washington team at the Capilano Rugby Club in Vancouver on Saturday.
Jacques had his start in rugby playing in a touch league coached by Ken Simpson of the Penticton Harlequins Rugby Club.
On the girls side, Aja Good of Lake Country cracked the girls under-15 team roster. She plays her rugby for the Kamloops Raiders.
Taylor Harron (Mount Boucherie SS) represented B.C. on the girls’ under-16 team.
Connor Laing represented Kelowna on the boys’ under-16 Gold Team.