Girl’s Sevens Rugby Third in BC

Everything in life always leads up to something else. Elementary school leads to high school; university leads to a job, and hard work and training for seven months leads to Brentwood’s Girls Sevens Rugby team going to provincials.  After seven months of hard work and training in the unpredictable British Columbia weather, twelve girls went down to Victoria on April 15th & 16th to show off their skills. After winning games against Edward Milne (29-12), Elgin Park (41-0), Duchess Park (42-14), Earl Marriott (34-5) and Valleyview (17-12) the girls went into the semifinals to play Oak Bay.  With their heads held high, they were ready to play, although they were all a little nervous because winning or losing this game determined if the girls were going to be able to go on to the final and repeat their provincial title from last year. Huddling up before the game, these girls and their coaches took a deep breath, tied up their boots as Coach Felix called them, and got ready to play.  As Vince Lombardi once said, “It’s not whether you get knocked down; it’s whether you get up.” With thoughts like these in their minds, the girls had a very successful start to the game. With the speed of Denise R, Alex ‘17 and Mckenna H, Mackenzie ‘16 and the power of Danika E, Hope ‘17,  Delany M, Hope ‘16 and Imisi A, Allard ‘17, the girls were set. With Coach Felix’s words of wisdom and Captain Avi S’s Alex, ‘16 leadership, the girls were ready to go out on the field and finish off the game. In the last half of the game Oak Bay was running towards our try line. With Brentwood’s fantastic forwards targeting her, they pushed her out of bounds - at least that’s what most people saw. The ball carrier then crossed the tryline. But the linesman was inexperienced and the ref was on the blind side of the tackle: this play was controversial. Oak Bay went ahead and the final score was 10-7 for Oak Bay. They had won the semi-finals game and Brentwood was out. As Marie L, Allard ‘16 stated, “It was a shame to have such a close and intense game that wasn't the finals.”  This year's girls may not have come out on the top of the Provincial 7s Tournament but they came out on top in the coaches’ eyes with an impressive 3rd place earning their bronze medals. As the whole team would say, they aren't thrilled with where they placed but they couldn't have done it without the coach's teachings and support.  But watch out BC, Brentwood will be back next month ready to defend their title in the BC 15s Provincial Championships. Emma H, Allard ‘18 & James S Privett ‘18