The playoffs in men’s rugby kick off Saturday for St. Albert’s first and second division teams.
At 2 p.m. the seconds visit the Clansmen at Airways Park in the Edmonton Rugby Union semifinals. The Clan (7-5) finished second and the seconds (6-6) placed third in league play. The Clan swept the seasonal series by scores of 34-20 in May and 31-24 in June.
The winner advances to the J.W. Shaw Cup final Sept. 18 at Ellerslie Rugby Park. The Lor-Ann Cup provincial final is Sept. 25 at Calgary Rugby Park.
This is St. Albert’s first year in the second division after the club’s first 15 went 18-1 overall as the 2007 ERU and provincial champions.
At 4 p.m. in the Alberta Cup quarter-finals, the firsts host the seventh-place Red Deer Titans (5-7) at the St. Albert Rugby Football Club. In June the firsts throttled the Titans 57-7.
After back-to-back pennant-winning seasons, St. Albert (10-2) finished second behind the defending champion Calgary Hornets (11-1) in the premier table. In last week’s first-place showdown, the Hornets pulled off a convincing 26-10 victory over the firsts in Red Deer to wrap up the league fixtures. The firsts were undefeated in nine straight prior to the rematch of the 2009 Labatt Cup provincial final, won by the Hornets 24-22.
A playoff win would send the firsts into the Sept. 18 semifinals at Ellerslie. The final is Sept. 25 at Calgary.
Sunday’s start time for the Sandy Beach fall duathlon is 9 a.m.
Competitors run five kilometres, cycle 30 km and then finish the race with a five km run.
The transition area is located within the day park in the Summer Village of Sandy Beach.
To register, visit the Alberta Triathlon Association website at www.triathlon.ab.ca. More information is available at
www.sandybeachduathlon.com, or by contacting Roy Jackson at 780-293-0572.
This weekend’s McPherson Hoopfest at Servus Credit Union Place has something to offer athletes, alumni and fans of wheelchair basketball.
Presented by the Alberta Northern Lights, the event is named in honour of Dr. Gary McPherson (1946-2010), a dedicated disability advocate and builder of wheelchair sport.
Friday’s open scrimmage is from 6 to 8 p.m. Skill camps and skill contests are part of Saturday’s activities. Sunday’s jamboree tournament for minis, juniors, adults and alumni is from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For more information, or to register, visit www.albertanorthernlights.com or contact Neil at [email protected]
