It’s undeniable—the Jasper Cougars Rugby Club just finished up its best season yet.
To mark the end of the season, the club held a dinner and awards ceremony to celebrate the club’s achievements, June 2.
Before praising individual players, the club’s director Marshall Corbett took a moment to applaud everyone who has made the club what it is today.
“When I first came to Jasper and I was interviewing for my current teaching position the first question I asked was if there was a rugby program,” Corbett told the attentive crowd. “The answer was no and my response was if I get hired then there will be.”
Six years later, the club has flourished and now includes 60 players and four different teams—more than double the previous year.
“I never imagined that it would come to this, especially in a such a small school,” he said. “To me this is amazing and I’m so excited for the future.”
In his speech, Corbett noted April’s Downhill Sevens Rugby Tournament as one of the club’s major highlights of the season. During the tournament 23 high school teams, including five from Jasper, took to the town’s sports fields for two action packed days.
At Centennial Field, the junior boys team dominated their opponents winning all three of their games to win the championship title. The senior boys came out of the weekend with one winning game.
On the other field, at the Jasper Junior/Senior High School, three female teams represented Jasper.
The two junior girls’ teams finished second and fourth respectively, while the senior girls found themselves in a tough draw losing all of their games.
However, as Corbett reflected on the season, he said the year wasn’t about winning or losing.
“All of our teams showed a tremendous amount of success in one way or another which doesn’t always mean winning, but rather improvement throughout the season,” Corbett said. “Our junior boys went undefeated all season long, our senior boys won their last game and our senior girls tied against a team they’ve been losing against all year—it was just great to see them all try so hard.”
The club handed out 14 awards to members from all four teams. Andreanne Bolduc won the coach’s choice award for the junior girls, while Ethan Morin snagged the coach’s choice for the junior boys. Teslin Olinkin took home the coach’s choice for the senior girls, while Liam MacKinnon received the same award for the senior boys.
Marshall also gave a special thank you to many of JJSHS’s staff and parents who helped with coaching, games and trips this year.
“We couldn’t have had such an amazing year without all the support,” he said. “So thank you to everyone for all the help they provided.”
Next season, Marshall said he hopes the program will continue to build on this year’s success and that more students will try the game.
“Rugby is very special...it includes players of all different heights and sizes—all players are able to find a way to make an impact on the game,” Corbett said. “When there’s a score it’s the whole team that gets the glory.
“It’s a game that requires heart and attitude which is often more important than raw skill.”
Kayla Byrne [email protected]
