St. Albert’s speedy McKenzie Pusch will run the pitch with the Dog River Howlers at the U18 7s women’s rugby tournament next week in Medellin, Colombia.
The Grade 12 Bellerose Bulldog is the only Alberta player on the Howlers’ roster.
“I’m very excited,” Pusch said. “I’m really looking forward to meeting girls from all over Canada and making new friends and just creating a bond, a rugby bond.”
Pusch, 17, was recruited for the club tour by Karl Fix, the founder of the international rugby club in 2007, on the advice of Chal Smyth, who coached the U18 Edmonton Gold fly-half this summer.
The Howlers' home base is Dog River, Sask. – the fictional home for CTV’s award-winning comedy series Corner Gas – but are actually based in Regina.
The honorary captain is Lorne Cardinal, a policeman on Corner Gas who acquired the rights from CTV for the club to use Dog River as its name.
The Howlers are made up of male and female players and supporters from across Canada and other countries. They believe that rugby is more than a game but a way of life.
The Howlers use rugby as a vehicle to build bridges between people around the world. They tour interesting parts of the world, play rugby and enjoy unique culture experiences while giving back to the country’s sport and/or people. The club raises funds and contributes to worthwhile endeavours that are not related to rugby.
“I’m really looking forward to going around and teaching little kids how to play rugby because that’s what the program does there,” Pusch said.
The Howlers will scrum down against the Antioquia Selects A and Selects B teams from the province of Antioquia, of which Medellin is the capital; the Pijao Selects, a municipality in the southeastern part of the department of Quindio and the Cali Selects from the city of Cali, which is the capital of the province of Valle del Cauca.
The 7s game is seven-minute halfs of adrenaline.
“Speed is a big factor. Lots of training, lots of cardio and lots of hard work for sure,” said Pusch of seven-a-side rugby that will make its Olympic debut in 2016. “It is a little bit of a tough adjustment (from 15-a-side) because you have to make most of the tackles and there are shorter amounts of people on the field so you kind of have to know what’s going on half the time and not rely on most of your team.”
Pusch plays to her strengths as a fly-half or winger.
“I feel like I’m pretty good in both positions but it really doesn’t matter to me (what I play). As long as I’m out there doing my job and whatever the coach wants me to do,” said the Team Alberta bronze medallist at the Rugby Canada National Festival Championships this year in U18 and last year in U16.
Rugby is the ultimate sport for Pusch to embrace.
“I really like the team aspect of rugby. It’s more of a bond thing for me because I love creating bonds with people and I love having team support. When a team’s got your back over anything it’s literally the best feeling ever,” she said. “I like the speed of the game too. I feel like that’s something I’m good at. I’m fairly fast.”
After the high school season ended Pusch ran wild for three ties in her women’s debut with the St. Albert Rugby Football Club, an 80-5 rout of the Parkland Sharks in late June.
The youngest player on the SARFC division two team also scored tries in the 36-22 come-from-behind victory over the Grande Prairie Sirens in the Edmonton Rugby Union final in Grande Prairie and the 29-12 provincial final against the Calgary Saints in the Cow Town.
“It was awesome. I had the best time. The women were so welcoming. I didn’t feel out of place at all. It was amazing being part of something like that,” Pusch said.
The first women’s championship since 2009 and the fifth in team history was celebrated in dramatic fashion as SARFC overpowered the Sirens in the second half with 31 unanswered points and in the provincial showdown rolled to a commanding 22-5 halftime lead to finish with an 11-4 overall team record.
“Winning div two provincials was really big. It was awesome for me,” Pusch said. “The celebration afterwards and the win too, I can’t even explain it. It was just incredible.”
