The foundation is in place at the St. Albert Rugby Football Club to construct another women’s championship team.
Last year’s winners of the Edmonton Rugby Union and provincial second division crowns are working toward first division honours in the team’s second year under head coach Byron Elliott. They were coming off another losing season, 1-12 and on the verge of folding because of a lack of players, before pulling off an impressive U-turn by going 11-4, culminating with the fifth provincial women’s championship in SARFC history and the first since the 13-1 second division Blues in 2009.
“Last year, and the girls will hate me for saying this, but it was very much a rebuilding year. They already had previous rebuilding years, I guess, but it was. I was new to coaching. We were a new team in terms of a new coaching staff. We had new players coming in. It was just a new group. Now it’s a development year so we want to take the success we had last year and very much build on it,” Elliott explained after Saturday’s training session. “The unanimous goal we set at our team meeting a couple of weeks ago was we want to be competitive in first div, which is excellent because it means we’re all singing from the same hymn sheet.”
To be the best, you have to play the best and beat them so this year’s objective is to finish at or near the top of the ERU spring league fixtures for Alberta division one status. Teams below the qualification cutline scrum down in the ERU division two.
“We can’t be scared to fail because if we’re scared to fail there will be no improvement because we’re not testing ourselves,” Elliott said. “The girls had a very good season last year. They had a couple of losses and they realize why those losses happened. They’ve been in the gym through the offseason as well trying to get more stronger and more physical.”
Eight-man Sabrina Kelly, a force in the forwards, is confident the girls are up to the challenge.
“We’re hoping for first div and hopefully we’ll get there,” Kelly said. “Two years ago it was a completely different team and last year we did really well so we’re hoping to improve upon that.”
Kelly, 22, rejoined her hometown club last year after stints with the Strathcona Druids and Lep/Tigers.
“I wasn’t on the team when they had the losing streak but I know (the returning players) were really excited how successful the year was. It’s much better to win than it is to lose. There is way more excitement in the game,” said the former Alberta Pandas’ standout in rugby and wrestling. “Overall, it was just development from the year before because we had the basic skills and we had Byron come in and Ashley (Hanson) to help us so it’s nice to have the same coaches back again to be building upon the skills we cemented last year.”
The pieces are in place for another winning season.
“Last year I could see the talent was there, they just needed a poke in the right direction and now our job as coaches is to push them as players. I still know in most of those players there is still a lot more to come from them so now it’s up to us as coaches to reach in and dig that out. If our players are getting better we have to be better too. We’re driving each other, which is great,” Elliott said.
An early spring has allowed the team to get a head start on training outdoors.
“I’m immensely excited. I’ve been itching to get outside since January, since we started doing indoor training, just so we had the space and to see what we had to develop,” Elliott said. “It’s a long offseason so there is a period of kind of like re-going over fundamental core skills so if we can pick them up quickly, and they’re getting there, then we can start to develop the game we want to play and especially for this level it’s more of an expansive way we’re going to play, more dynamic.”
Twenty-seven players signed up at the team’s pre-season meeting but a large number haven’t done the mandatory Rugby Canada online registration process for insurance purposes.
“We’ve got a good core of the group back and we’ve got some new players coming in, which is good to keep things fresh and keep the tide coming through as you keep your experienced heads, just like any team. We’ve got players here who are just trying rugby for the first time and experienced players, the leaders I guess, help the new ones as well,” said Elliott, a forwarded with the defending Labatt’s Cup provincial premier men’s team at SARFC.
The May 2 lid-lifter against the Druids kicks off at noon at Lynn Davies Rugby Club in Sherwood Park.
The women will also host the first home match of the season May 20 against the Parkland Sharks at 7 p.m.
“We’re really excited. We’ve got enough girls out this year, which is nice,” Kelly said. “We just want to do as well as we can.”
A sweet repeat at provincials for the women’s and men’s teams would be a historic win-win feat for SARFC.
“It would be really good for the club. It would help get the younger children from St. Albert to join our club and it would give them something to strive for coming out of high school,” said Kelly, a product of the Lorne Akins and Paul Kane rugby programs. “I’ve always loved this club. It’s really welcoming in all aspects with the men’s and women’s teams. There’s really a lot of cohesiveness.”
