In decisive fashion, the Lloydminster Comprehensive Barons punched the high school’s first ticket to the Alberta Schools’ Athletic Association (ASAA) provincial girls’ rugby 7s championship.
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Playing at home May 15 in the Northeast region qualifier, the Barons made the most of the new provincial rules governing high school rugby in the province.
“We are typically a 15s team, but the rules have changed to allow players to do both this year,” said Barons girls’ rugby coach Mark Grillandini.
“So, we’re excited about the opportunity to try a different version of rugby.”
Under cool temperatures, Lloyd Comp swept its two games in the three-team, tier-less regional qualifying tournament. The Barons defeated Cold Lake 24-5 and Holy Rosary 39-0 to earn a berth in the provincial championship, set for May 23 and 24 in Edmonton.
“It’s a quick turnaround,” Grillandini said. “We’ve got three practices and away we go. Looking forward to it.”
The Comp girls didn’t look back as they got the job done in front of an appreciative home audience that braved brisk weather conditions. Their
experience from high school and provincial-level rugby showed on the field.
“The kids played very well today,” said Grillandini, an LCHS teacher for about a dozen years. “They passed the ball well, they tackled extremely well, and they were just all over the ball, stealing the ball and controlling the game. It’s always good to be on the front foot on offence, versus being on defence.”
The Northeast region has a limited number of rugby teams, so the participating schools opted for a tier-less zone championship to enable more games and a variety of competition.
Lloyd Comp and Cold Lake competed for the local provincial berth for schools with an enrolment of 800-plus students, while Holy Rosary emerged as the provincial qualifier for smaller-sized schools.
“Holy Rosary gets to go to provincials because their school size is below 800,” Grillandini said. “Because our zone doesn’t have a lot of rugby teams, we decided to do a tier-less competition, just so we can get (more) games. And we’re just doing a single zone champion, not a tiered championship.”
In similar thinking, the provincial governing body wanted to broaden its participation tent. Regulations were changed this year to enable students to compete in both rugby 7s and 15s provincials.
“For the ASAA, they were just trying to grow the sport,” Grillandini said. “To get as many teams as possible in, so the sport can grow and keep people interested.”
The veteran coach knows that, for as well as they’ve done, the Lloyd Comp girls are stepping into a deep talent pool at the 7s provincials this weekend.
“They are going against schools from Edmonton and Calgary that play in a full 7s league, so they’re much more experienced this year,” he said.
“Whereas we do both. We go between 7s and 15s. Whatever is coming up on our tournament schedule is what we practise the week before, and away we go.”
The Barons’ busy spring turns back to 15s play for that zone championship May 28 at LCHS.
“It’s actually a big rugby day in Lloyd,” Grillandini said. “We’re going to have the middle school students open things up, and then we’re going to have our big zone qualifier game, and then we’ve got the mini rugby happening afterward. Then the (senior) Reapers are practising afterward, so it’s a big rugby celebration on May 28 here in Lloyd.”
The ASAA rugby 15s provincials are scheduled for June 6 and 7 in Lethbridge.
CANADA GAMES WATCH
This has been a banner spring for Lloyd Comp’s rugby girls. Along with their high school achievements, multiple members of the Barons are candidates for the Saskatchewan entry in the Canada Summer Games. The provincial team is expected to be chosen in early June, with the Canada Games scheduled for St. John’s, N.L., in August.
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