A ‘big deal’
Three Oaks senior Devon Clark looking forward to playing in David R. Voye Memorial tournament
It’s an opportunity Devon Clark has waited a long time for.
The Grade 12 student will experience playing for the Three Oaks Axemen in the David R. Voye Memorial rugby tournament in Summerside today for the first time.
“It’s a pretty big deal to play in the Voye as it is our coach’s (James Voye) father who the tournament is played in memory of,” explained Clark, who missed last year’s event with a concussion. “It means a lot to him and, as his players, we need to try our best to try and win that banner for him, because we know how much it means to him.
“He puts a bunch of time into us, so we need to come back with something that means a lot to him.”
The Axemen, who were undefeated in 2016, are the defending Voye tournament and P.E.I. School Athletic Association senior AAA champions.
“It’s going to be a hard team to live up to,” added Clark, who plays the prop position.
However, the Axemen have started 2017 with a bang. They recently went undefeated in repeating as champions of the Rothesay Netherwood School RugbyFest tournament in New Brunswick.
“We haven’t played a game since Rothesay,” Voye said. “They’ve been having a lot of practices, so they are really hungry and eager to play a game.”
Returnees Clark, Jonathan Rose, Brandon Thomas, Kyle Ross, Camren Gavin and Connor MacKay will be counted on for leadership. The Axemen have 11 seniors in total on their roster as Garrett Reid, Mac Buchanan, Nathan Perry, Tanner Compton and Reid MacBeth are in their first season playing AAA.
“Everybody is trying to get better, and work on different things,” said Clark, 18. “We are focusing a lot on defence.”
The Axemen open tournament play against the Bluefield Bobcats today at 6:30 p.m. Three Oaks closes out roundrobin play against Cobequid Educational Centre from Truro, N.S., on Friday at 7 p.m.
“Bluefield is a team that is going to be on the rise this year,” said Voye. “They had a
successful A program last year, and won the AA league.
“We are going to have to be ready to play.”
One opportunity tournament play presents is facing different opposition.
“It’s definitely fun to play off-Island teams, because they bring different strategies, different size players,” offered Clark. “P.E.I., typically, doesn’t have a whole lot of big, big players.
“It’s definitely different when you throw bigger guys into the mix. It changes the whole game honestly, and you have to change your strategy accordingly.”
Clark said two keys for the Axemen will be pace and defence.
“Don’t watch the ball when you are on defence, and watch the person in front of you,” explained Clark. “We need to come up hard at line speed.”
Voye is looking for “continuing improvement,” and to return to game speed.
“As long as we continue to improve every game, I will be happy regardless of the result,” concluded Voye.