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Vancouver, BC – December 3, 2019: The 2019 BC Rugby Junior Girls’ Club titles were decided during an exciting day of competition held at the UBC Thunderbird Stadium this weekend. Castaway Wanderers RFC and Abbotsford RFC contested both the U16 and U19 Finals, each team walking away with a victory. Abbotsford RFC took the U16 Title while Castaway Wanderers took the U19 Final. A mix of Westshore RFC and James Bay AA, playing as WestBays, claimed the U16 third-place match over a spirited mix of United RFC and Ridge Meadows Bruins RFC.
More complete match reports are available on the BC Rugby website
Awards were handed out by BC Rugby Board members Tanya Donaldson and Brad Baker and the players were treated to an exhilarating BC Senior Women’s XV exhibition batch between BC Blue and BC Gold. This provided a fantastic spectacle for the younger athletes watching from the stands as twilight settled over Thunderbird Stadium.
Rounding off the day in style, the BC Senior Women’s XVs squad held an exhibition match between the BC Blue and BC Gold teams. This was a great showcase for the younger girls to aspire to but also to highlight the path a female athlete can take in BC. While there were some familiar veterans of previous years on the field including Tess Woldring, Laura Russel and Amanda Thornborough, it was exciting to see a swathe of new faces pulling on the BC Senior Women’s colours.
The action on the field was fast and furious, both teams relishing the chance to stretch their legs and apply some training ground strategies in a proper match. In total 11 different clubs or teams were represented on the field, showing great promise for the future at both club and Provincial level.
Speaking with Darcy Patterson, Rugby Development Manager – Women & Girls, it was clear that games like this are intended as a sign of things to come. “We wanted to provide a high-level competitive matchup up so we can build that foundation within athletes born or based in BC. The more strong competition we can provide domestically, the stronger rugby will be in BC and Canada.”
Given the satisfaction of both the players and the spectators, it seems likely that more of these matches would be welcomed. Not only do they help provide more consistent game time and high-level performance from the top female players in BC, but they serve as a great visual example of aspiration and progression for the girls currently competing at the junior levels. “The next step for Women in BC is participating in club rugby or CanWest 7s starting in mid-January,” said Patterson, “then the Senior program will start again in the Spring, commencing with a Best of the West tournament vs Alberta at the end of June.”
BC Rugby would like to thank everyone who donated over the weekend. Finally, a huge thank you to the team staff, therapists, coaches, parents, match officials and UBC for helping to make the 2019 Junior Girls’ Club Finals such a success.
Full versions of all four match videos can be found at the BC Rugby Youtube Channel.
A complete gallery of the day's action will be available on Wednesday evening on bcrugby.com and Pixieset.
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