In honour of National Indigenous Peoples Day we take a look at the Thunder Rugby program which was formed to introduce rugby to Indigenous youth. The program is led by some notable First Nations players and administrators, John Lyall, Phil Mack and Bobby Ross.
The BC Provincial Rugby High School Championship wrapped up on Saturday with Shawnigan claiming the title in Boys AAA and West Van claiming the title in Boys AA. Yale won the title in Girls AAA and DW Poppy were victorious in Girls AA.
by Adam Roberts
Were Back! Fantastic weekend out in sunny White Rock which hosted the Junior and Senior Boys BC Open 7s tournaments. The Shark Tank at South Surrey Athletic Park, home of the Bayside Sharks, was the host for the weekend. The new clubhouse is eagerly awaiting final occupancy from the city, so it kind of sits there, gorgeous, as a total tease for the viewer. It will play host to the BC Club Finals on May 7th, so this was a great dry run for the club. (A little background: During Covid the BC School Sports Membership had a vote, which passed, for BC School Sports to govern each sport. In the case of rugby basically removed BC Secondary Schools Rugby Union from governance. On April 20th the deadline was set for teams to declare for a 7s or XVs season. After the declaration teams could not play the opposite code with the exception of the BC Open 7s tournament on April 29th/30th/ 1st )
There’s a 7s tournament on Friday, hosted at Westshore RFC, featuring high schools from across the Island, competing in four divisons, Senior Boys, Senior Girls, Junior Boys, Junior Girls. Thunder Rugby is also entering an Indigenous team.
The Junior Championships were held on Sunday to close out the BC Fall Season. The Island championships were held at Cowichan, the Mainland championships were held at UBC. Posted below are the results reported by the BCRU on their Results page.
The BC club season wraps up this Sunday with the Junior championships. The mainland tournament will be held at UBC Thunderbird Stadium and the island tournament at the Cowichan Rugby Club.
Adam Roberts who has been heavily involved in rugby development in BC has taken the initiative to organize a meeting December 4th, specifically looking at growing the boys game at the high school level in BC. His note is below along with a link to register.
[ed. comments below]
Last week I travelled with the Thunder Indigenous program to document their youth camps in Shawnigan Lake, Capilano and Abbotsford. The tour was supposed to continue to Kamloops and Prince George but with the wildfires closing down the Coquihalla Highway earlier that week and the air quality index a concern, the decision was made to cancel the last two stops. It turned out to be a moot point as the truck carrying the coaches and equipment broke down on the 4 lane highway between Vancouver and Abbotsford. The truck decided it wasn’t going any further than Abbotsford anyway.
Thunder Indigenous Rugby are on the road in July and August holding camps in Prince Rupert, Shawnigan, Capilano, Abbotsford, Kamloops and Prince George. Although focused on identifying Indigenous athletes all aspiring rugby players are welcome to join in. The camps are free. Youth attending need to be covered by the BCRU/RC insurance, either through their local rugby club or by signing up for the BCRU/RC insurance as a Thunder player. More details and camp signup can be found at: https://thunderrugby.ca/index.php/thunder-rugby-bc-tour-august-16-23-2021/
On National Indigenous Peoples Day it merits looking at what rugby is doing to help Indigenous Peoples in BC. That conversation would quickly turn to the Thunder Indigenous Rugby organization featuring former national team players Bobby Ross (Songhees Nation) and Phil Mack (Toquaht Nation) as leading figures. Director of Thunder Rugby is John Lyall, a rugby player for over 25 years, who is of Kwakwakawakw descent. They’re focused on creating opportunities through rugby for Indigenous youth.