Thompson is known for cultivating plenty of competitive youth sports programs, but rugby isn’t one of them.
However, the governing body for every rugby program in the province is looking to change that fact at the end of the month, since they will be organizing a set of free clinics March 25−26 at the Thompson Regional Community Centre (TRCC).
Rugby Manitoba representative Christopher Chapman said they are going to use this two-day event to introduce the sport’s fundamentals to local girls aged 11−17, teaching them how to properly pass, catch and even tackle.
“It doesn’t matter your shape, size, athletic ability or experience,” he said. “Our primary goal here is to make sure that we expose our sport in a safe, non-threatening way to all people of the province.”
Chapman says that this camp won’t be a one-and-done affair. Instead, Rugby Manitoba is looking to build on their upcoming visit to Thompson by establishing a northern seven-player rugby team that can hopefully compete in the 2020 Manitoba Summer Games in Dauphin.
“Westman and Parkland already have those [programs] up and running,” he said. “There’s a little bit in Eastman, so now we’re looking to expand to make sure that we’re giving people in the northern region an opportunity to play.”
Chapman said the catalyst for this new outreach program started back in the fall of 2018, when Hayleigh Bell, one of their top athletes, moved to Thompson to work for Frontier School Division.
“We have boots on the ground in Thompson now,” he said. “That’s really the most important piece.”
Bell told the Thompson Citizen that rugby has been a huge part of her life for the last decade, having played at the high school, club and provincial level. While she avoided playing the game for most of her young life, Bell’s high school coach eventually convinced her to try out for a team in Grade 12 and she’s been hooked ever since.
“Rugby has become so much more than a sport. It’s become like a family,” she said. “It’s just a great environment to be around and there’s people pushing each other to be better and there’s a real sense of community.”
Bell’s also had the opportunity to slide into more of a coaching role in recent years and is looking to build that same competitive spirit in the north by overseeing this new rugby program.
“As long as I’m in Thompson I’ll be all hands on deck and doing whatever I can to help it grow,” she said. “I know there’s raw athletic ability in so many of the kids in Northern Manitoba, so it’s exciting that it’s going to get tapped into a little bit.”
Rugby Manitoba’s upcoming clinics will take place March 25 (3 p.m. to 5 p.m.) and March 26 (11 a.m. to 1 p.m.) at the TRCC. Anyone interested in participating can register by emailing executivedirector@rugbymanitoba.com or by simply showing up 15 minutes prior to each session.
Even though these events are primarily designed for female athletes, Chapman said interested male athletes will not be turned away.
