WINDSOR, N.S. — King’s-Edgehill School’s girls’ rugby team wanted to start the short season off strong and that’s exactly what they did for their home opener against Park View.
KES defeated the Park View Education Centre Panthers by more than 30 points on April 12, allowing just 12 points to be scored.
Coach Rory Campbell said this year’s team is comprised of a fairly even mix of returning players and student athletes new to the sport.
“We were pretty successful last year. We had four girls go on to play university rugby at a pretty high level. We graduated another four or five outside of those. In a lot of ways, we’re a young team,” said Campbell in a phone interview.
“My goal is to have the girls get introduced to the game and hopefully fall in love with it and be safe and have an enjoyable experience. Anything outside of that is a bonus,” he said.
While they’re hoping to have a competitive run at provincials – especially since the tournament will be hosted by whichever Valley-based team wins the VHSRL title this year – Campbell said he’s focusing on how he can help the athletes get the most out of their experience.
“I’d love to have a whole team full of girls who are excited about the sport and who feel empowered after playing it,” he said.
WHO TO WATCH
Campbell says they have at least three exceptional athletes that rugby fans will want to take note of when watching upcoming games. These student athletes are Téa Racozzi, a Grade 12 captain for the team who is “a pretty dynamic athlete,” and Grade 11 students Camryn Kleynhans and Courtney Ells.
Kleynhans “has been playing with us since Grade 9. She’s definitely one of the top rugby players in the province,” and Ells only recently joined the school.
Kleynhans and Ells are both heading to Florida this week to compete at an international tournament with Rugby Nova Scotia.
“They’ll be missing a couple of games for us but only because they’re so good at rugby they’ve been invited to join this outside team,” said Campbell.
Upcoming games for teams within the Valley High School Rugby League can be found by visiting: http://valleyrugby.blogspot.com/
