The DeWitt twins are double trouble for the Paul Kane Blues in women's rugby.
Emily and Kendall combined for three tries in Wednesday’s 37-10 victory against the Ross Sheppard Thunderbirds at the St. Albert Rugby Football Club.
The 17-year-old sisters are among nine players who contributed to the Blues winning the 2014 metro Edmonton division two championship. The first banner for Paul Kane women’s rugby since 2008 was also the sixth in team history.
“I like rugby for the aggression and out of any sport I’ve played I’ve never experienced the closeness that you get with your teammates. They’re all your family and that’s the best part about it,” said Kendall, a flanker who scored off a penalty play to the outside to make it 20-10 in the third quarter.
“It’s kind of like a sport for anybody; every shape, every size and every person. It’s not one standard kind of thing,” added Emily, a scrumhalf who crossed the try line on galloping runs in the first and fourth quarters. “There’s also a whole bunch of different personalities out there so when you put them all together it’s a great group of girls.”
The twins hail from a noted rugby family. Their parents, Clint and Krista, are SARFC alumni who rucked and mauled for several years.
“They have an understating for rugby. They get it and they always help us too,” Emily said. “My dad knows a lot about the sport so when he comes and watches our games he gives us a lot of good feedback.”
Emily is Kendall’s biggest fan.
“Her aggression probably is the most admirable thing that I guess any player on our team can say. You always know she will have your back. She is never afraid of anybody so I wish I was like that,” said Emily, the first of the twins to enter the world.
Kendall is huge supporter of her sister.
“Emily is a player that I aspire to be. She’s hard hitting, hard running and hard passing. She’s always there for support too,” said the player of the game against Shep.
The twins will be welcomed with open arms by the SARFC division one team in the Edmonton Rugby Union after the last match of their high school careers when they are eligible to play at the senior women’s level.
“I’m really excited. It’s going to be a good experience. We’ve been practicing with them for a little bit and the girls are really nice. They seem to have a lot of cool new plays and they have a lot more knowledge that they can teach us too,” Emily said.
But right now the Blues are focused on winning their first division one championship since 2008, when they competed in the premier conference. The top two teams in the A and B pools qualify for the May 17 semifinals.
The Bev Facey Falcons, winners of four consecutive division one banners, are in pool B and the Bellerose Bulldogs, last year’s finalists, are in pool A with the Blues. The Battle of St. Albert on May 10 between the Blues and Bulldogs on the main pitch at SARFC is also the grudge match for the Gareth Jones Cup. It was awarded only once and the Bulldogs were the recipients at the 2012 St. Albert high schools' tournament.
“We have a great team with great girls with great players and I can’t wait to see where it takes us,” Kendall said of the first season of division one for Paul Kane in four years. “I feel like it’s kind of like our redemption year from losing in the semifinals last year. I feel like we can bring it our all and make a name for ourselves in div one especially.”
Last year the Blues suffered a heartbreaking loss on drop goals from the 22-metre line that lasted 17 rounds in the division two semifinal against the Harry Ainlay Titans, the same squad they beat 36-24 the year before in the final. It was also Paul Kane's first setback of the season.
“It really did suck because I felt like we played really well, it was just that one little thing that we didn’t really practice on much but we have been practicing our drop kicks so if it happens again we’ll be ready,” Emily said. “It also happened in our club season too. When that happened (in the Edmonton Rugby Union U19 final) it gave us that ‘It happened again’ feeling.”
Emily busted loose for a long scoring run and Kendall kicked four conversions in regulation time against the Nor’Westers. Drop goals lasted 18 rounds and SARFC lost 2-1 after the 33-33 stalemate.
“Losing to anyone is bad but it wasn’t a worst loss per say (than against the Titans) except that we were playing for St. Albert and they’re kind of like our enemies,” Kendall said.
The Blues were amped up for the league opener and Emily lit the fuse by fielding the opening kick-off and sprinted the length of the pitch for the first try.
Emily also took one for the team, when she drew in the fullback and while tackled popped the ball to Camilla Hollody down the wing for a try under the posts.
Kathryne Pharis made it 15-5 by pounding through the heart of the Shep defence to score in the corner of the try area. A clean scrum win by Lauren Barter, followed by a textbook switch pass by standoff McKenna Marthiensen to the streaking Pharis ended the first quarter.
Shep put the hammer down in the second quarter but the determined Blues stopped the visitors in their tacks four times from inside the five-metre line. Punishing tackles by Pharis, Sydney De La Mare, Hanna Clarke, Kennedy Palmer and Jessica Currie limited Shep to only one try.
De La Mare, a powerful Grade 12 eight-man and U18 national team player, used her superior strength and speed to score twice in the fourth quarter. Emily converted the second try by Paul Kane’s MVP last year with a drop kick to pad the lead to 32-10.
“It was probably one of the most competitive games we’ve ever had. We’ve been in division two before this year so this is our first year being in div one and it was actually quite a good game. It taught us a lot to play against people that really match up well against us. They had good sportsmanship and we had good sportsmanship. Either one could’ve won,” said Emily, who ran outside off a ruck around the 22 to touch the ball down in the corner for her second try.
Tuesday at 4:45 p.m. the Blues scrum down against the Jasper Place Rebels and the Bulldogs tackle Shep at SARFC. The Bulldogs are coming off a 15-10 win over the Rebels.
