The Elmira District Secondary School girls’ rugby team has just wrapped up their best season in a decade, winning six of their nine games.
The team came third in their division after a slow start, but head coach Matt Bauman says other members of the team stepped up to make the team the best they could be, even with plenty of young players unfamiliar with the game.
“We have a lot of juniors this year. They have been really keen, and the seniors have always been really good on our team, taking the juniors and showing them what to do. The captain of our team, Cassandra Tuffnail, has been around for four years, and she helped out in terms of coaching,” he said, adding that some junior players were put in team positions they may not have been comfortable in, but they came through in the end.
“A lot of junior players also stepped up into senior positions when we had all those injuries. I would say Tiffany Weber, she really improved. She is only in Grade 10, but she went into one of the most important positions on the senior team, she played fly-half. Then, Sylvia Horst, also did a great job stepping into a position that she doesn’t normally play. She is in Grade 11. She played scrumhalf, which is really important. It is a really tough position to play. It is what I would say is the most important position on the field.”
At the start of the season, the team was plagued with injuries, which left a few holes in their lineup. Bauman says it had everything to do with their practice space ahead of the season. Next year, they are looking to find a practice area that would allow the team to become well versed in every aspect of the game.
“The start of the season was not so good, because we had quite a few concussions, which was mostly due to not having field time. We don’t really have field space here. The girls’ rugby starts sooner than boys’ rugby, so we basically practice in the cafeteria or on asphalt – not ideal for rugby, because you can’t practice tackling and things like that,” he said. “We actually had our first game before a lot of girls had ever had a chance to tackle, especially the juniors and some of the girls haven’t played contact sports. We had, I think, around four concussions in our first game and we already had two girls out from concussions in other sports and they happened to be our two strongest players, so that didn’t help. The confidence level wasn’t there.”
The team came around, though, and managed to win against top tier teams later in the season. The league is divided into two divisions: A and B. EDSS is in the B division, but fared well against A division teams.
“We crossed over and played one of the teams in A division, Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School, and we managed to beat them, which was a big surprise. Then we played the second place team in the whole league and we almost beat them. We only lost by three points, which in rugby is the equivalent to a penalty kick,” he said. “That was a big upset, so the season ended up being really good for us.”
Overall, Bauman says the team was a pleasure to coach, and while he is looking for some extra hands to help out next year, he is glad he coached the girls’ team this past season.
“They are just such a great team. They are always really pleasant and easy to coach and also, they care more about having a good time than winning, which is great and the kind of team that I like to coach,” he said.
To finish up their rugby play for the year, the girls’ team will be taking part in the Trent Karges Memorial Rubgy Tournament at Grand River Collegiate Institute on Friday.
The team is looking for a grassy field to practice on next season, and Bauman is looking to the community for someone who has a spot they can use. He is also hoping for a bit of community support in coaching next year. It is a big job for one person.
If you have a practice space, or are interested in joining the coaching staff, email him at matthew_bauman@wrdsb.on.ca.
