Gareth Jones Cup
The Gareth Jones Cup will be played with heavy hearts Thursday at St. Albert Rugby Football Club.The sixth edition of the Battle of St. Albert between the Bellerose Bulldogs and Paul Kane Blues in men’s rugby will honour the memory of Gareth Jones.
The Godfather of St. Albert rugby died Dec. 31, 2017 at the age of 78.
Jones is one of the Nervous Nine founding members of SARFC and its first president.
Jones also coached Paul Kane’s first rugby team in 1980 and was inducted into the Alberta Rugby Hall of Fame in 2005.
Kickoff is 4:45 p.m. on the premier pitch.
Bellerose was the inaugural winner at the 2012 St. Albert high schools’ tournament and Paul Kane was victorious by scores of 12-11 in 2013 and 31-0 in 2015.
Bellerose is the current keeper of the Gareth Jones Cup with wins of 27-5 last year and 20-7 in 2016.
In the metro Edmonton season openers in the division two pool A fixtures, Bellerose stymied the Sturgeon Spirits, last year’s playoff champions, 43-26 and Paul Kane lost 27-19 to the Bev Facey Falcons.
Baseball games
The baseball season is in full swing for the St. Albert Cardinals.Tonight the bantam AAA Cardinals (3-1) host the Sherwood Park Athletics at 6:30 p.m. at Legion Memorial Park.
In the Norwest midget AAA league tonight, the Red Cardinals (4-0) play the Edmonton Padres at Footz Field and the Blue Cardinals (2-5) are up to bat in Spruce Grove against the Baseball Alberta Tier I champion Parkland Twins. Game times are 6:30 p.m.
The North Central Alberta Baseball League opener for the senior AA Cardinals is Thursday against the Sturgeon Paladins at 7 p.m. in Bon Accord.
Crude lacrosse
The St. Albert Crude junior B teams run the floor this week in the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League.Tonight the Tier II Crude (1-4) visits the Edmonton Wizards (1-3) at 8:30 p.m. at Londonderry Arena and Thursday the Tier I Crude (0-2) are in Sherwood Park to play the Titans (0-1) at 8:30 p.m.
Saturday’s doubleheader at Akinsdale Arena starts at 2:30 p.m. between the Tier I Crude and Edmonton Warriors (1-1), followed by the 5 p.m. tilt between the Tier II Crude and Lloydminster Xtreme (2-1).
Sunday the Tier II Crude host the Lakeland Heat (3-0-1) at 1:30 p.m.
