Clearwater Secondary School has a boys rugby team this year for the first time ever.
The school had a girls' rugby team for several years until six or seven years ago. That team gained a certain reputation as its members refused to be intimidated by the girls from the larger schools.
The CSS boys rugby team is in a similar situation. It is the only Single-A school in its league, with all the others much larger Triple-A schools.It is also much less experienced.
The first game of rugby ever for all the team members was in April against South Kamloops, the largest school in School District 73. South Kamloops has a very strong rugby side and have had good results against a couple of the AAA private rugby programs from Vancouver Island. Final score for the game was 67 – 0.
The boys have shown much improvement since then, however.Game two was against NorKam. This was a close game, with the two teams within five points of each other until the last five minutes. Final score was 27 – 17.
The team's third game was a rematch on Tuesday, April 30 against SKSS and, although the boys lost again, the score of 33 – 5 was not so lopsided as before.
Clearwater's single try or touchdown was scored by Jules Crombie who ran nearly the length of the field on a kick return.
After he scored the SKSS coach yelled to his team, “Don't kick to that back again. He just ran through everybody.”Karter Romeo also played an outstanding game and was named player of the game for the backs. Player of the game for the forwards was Cory Redman.
The team's next game was the league semifinal against Norkam at Kamloops Rugby Club Tuesday. A win would have earned them a berth in the Okanagan playoffs. Look for results in a future issue of the Times.
“Our players are extremely hard working and coachable,” commented co-coach Gabe Francis. “The coaches could not be happier with the development of the team thus far.”
The team's other coach is Charles Kramer.