St. Albert Rugby club decided to capitalize on the Olympic craze on July 26 by hosting a "Try Rugby" event to bring kids in to try the sport, and watch it at the Olympic level.
The event came to be after Rugby Alberta approached the club in the hopes of boosting community interest in the sport. Kids came by to learn rugby basics and even had a chance to meet a real-life Olympic medallist in Ashley Steacy, who won bronze with the Team Canada rugby sevens team in Rio in 2016.
Club president Kendra Fiddler said events like this weren’t possible even before the pandemic because of large team sizes. However, after coming off the heels of a pandemic it was perfect timing to start recruiting kids who might be interested in playing.
“We’re moving back toward the position where we are going to have to start recruiting more kids,” said Fiddler. “The opportunity came up because Rugby Alberta has been going into lots of communities outside the major centres and hosting ‘Try Rugby’ events.”
Fiddler said the turnout was great and that the feedback from the kids was encouraging.
“We had a pretty decent turnout and I think we will continue doing ‘Try Rugby’ events in the future,” said Fiddler. “Even if the camp fills up, it’s worth it. The kids have a lot of fun.”
Duncan Maguire, the captain of the men’s team at the club, participated in the event as well. He helped the kids with drills on the field, but he said the ability for those kids to actually be able to watch professionals at the Olympics inside the clubhouse was just as valuable.
“We watched the [Olympic rugby] games and then we all went on the field with a bunch of kids between the ages of five and 17 to play a bunch of fun rugby skill games,” said Maguire. “Watching the Olympics was so much fun, the kids were loving it and it was cool for all the kids involved in rugby to see the sport at such a professional level ... it was good motivation for them.”
“We were also very lucky to have Ashley Steacy, who went to the Olympics and won bronze, to help out and organize the event.”
The presence of Steacy was a major win. She brought along her medal for kids to try on and helped to motivate them to pursue their rugby dreams.
Steacy said the event was a blast and that St. Albert is definitely a rugby hub in the province.
“It was an awesome event, the St. Albert Rugby Club is an amazing host,” said Steacy. “They have that really authentic rugby culture and it really showed during this event.”
They won’t be waiting long for their next big events. The first games of the summer will take place this Saturday. Rugby enthusiasts in the community can head down to the club to take in a full day of rugby from all age groups, from the little kids to the adult teams.
Visit "St. Albert Rugby Football Club" on Facebook for more information.
