New Governance Proposal: An Open Letter to the Principals and Athletic Directors of BC
Hello Everyone,
For over one year, I along with the rest of the BC Secondary Schools Rugby Union Executive have been deeply concerned about a proposed change to the way BC School Sports is governed which is coming up for a vote after Spring Break. If adopted, my main fear is that the sport of rugby would be completely unrepresented in a new “Legislative Assembly” which is being proposed and that even worse, we would lose virtually all of our ability to regulate, improve and make key decisions about the future of high school rugby in this province.
Quite frankly, as your Commissioner, I would be deeply ashamed of myself if I let down all of you and especially the people who came before me by not standing up for our sport.
However, I am just one volunteer and nothing more. Therefore, for over one year I have worked with everyone, including the Executive Director, Staff and Board of BC School Sports to prevent and mitigate any negative changes which might affect high school rugby, such as losing the right to elect our own Executive, determine the structure of our Provincial Championships and to always make decisions which are in the best interests of the student-athletes and coaches who are at the heart of our sport.
Despite frequent calls (and even one of 90 minutes) to BC School Sports, emails, repeated Zoom meetings and every type of appeal you can imagine, BCSS has now officially sent out its final package which would actually eliminate all of our Sport Commissions, including rugby, and replace them with appointed “Sport Advisory Committees” which have no real authority or ability to make decisions. Therefore, a total of 15 Sport Commissions have now gone officially on record by signing the attached letter to the Principals and Athletic Directors of BC who will ultimately be voting on this proposal.
Please take time to read the attached letter and feel free to contact me, including over Spring Break, if you have any further questions. I urge you to talk to your Athletic Director and urge him or her to vote NO to the new governance model which is being proposed.
There is a lot at stake, not just for our sport but for all sports, which is why the overwhelming majority of sports in this province have now come together.
Thank you,
Walter van Halst
Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary
Commissioner, BC Secondary Schools Rugby Union
Email: vanhalst_w@surreyschools.ca
Cell: (778) 855-9937
An Open Letter to the Principals & Athletic Directors of BC Schools 
BCSS COVID 19 Memo 3 – April 7, 2020
Hello Everyone,
I think we all knew this was coming, but now it’s official. BC School Sports has officially cancelled the Spring Season of Play in all schools for this year. Attached is a memo from Jordan Abney, the Executive Director of BC School Sports.
In addition, our Scholarship Chair, Ian McPhee has asked me to pass along a note that obviously, without either a season or a provincial championship taking place this year, the BCSSRU will not be awarding any scholarships this season. Of course, once life, school and sports all return to normal, and we all can’t wait for that, we will be delighted to do so again.
Finally, as mentioned in Jordan Abney’s memo, it’s important to note that a controversial new governance proposal for BC School Sports has been put on hold for now. Essentially, the proposal would centralize a great deal of authority, if not all of it, from all the existing 19 member Sport Commissions, and I can tell you in the over 10 years I have volunteered with the BC Secondary Schools Rugby Union, I have never seen so many different sports such as basketball, football, soccer, rugby and so on agree so strongly about how wrong and impractical that would be.
So, as it stands, there will be a virtual BC School Sports AGM sometime in June, but the critical issue of what the future of all high school sports looks like going forward has been postponed for now. At the appropriate time, when we are all dealing with far less serious issues than we are today, I will be sending all of you more details about that.
For now, sadly, the main news is that there will not be a Provincial Championship for BC High School Boys Rugby for the first time since the strike-shortened year of 1987, but that is to be expected.
Please take care, and take care of those you know who may need support at this time.
Walt
Walter van Halst
Commissioner, BCSSRU
Notice of BCSSRU 2019 AGM
Notice of BCSSRU Annual General Meeting: Wednesday, May 29th at 6 pm.
This notice is to remind and invite a representative from all member schools to attend the BC Secondary Schools Rugby Union Annual General Meeting (AGM) held during our BC High School Boys Rugby Provincial Championships. As always, this meeting will be held in the upstairs meeting room of the Legacy Centre building in Abbotsford Exhibition Park, across the field from Rotary Stadium.
The meeting will take place at 6 pm on Wednesday, May 29th, and should finish by approximately 7:30 pm. There is no charge to attend this meeting of any kind.
A reminder, this meeting is open to all member schools, not just those which have qualified for the Provincial Championships. If anyone has any questions or a discussion item which they would like to bring forward, please email me at vanhalst_w@surreyschools.ca by 3 pm on Friday, May 24th. An agenda will be sent out to all member schools on Monday, May 27th.
Download AGM Notice (pdf format)
Photo Gallery – 2018 Provincials
To view photos from the 2018 Provincial tournament please visit the links below.
Photos courtesy of Rick MacDonald Photography
Opening ceremonies/Awards
https://www.flickr.com/photos/bigmac65/albums/72157669892642928
Day 1 Action
https://www.flickr.com/photos/bigmac65/albums/72157694424043002
Day 2 Action
https://www.flickr.com/photos/bigmac65/albums/72157694442431592
Day 3 Action
https://www.flickr.com/photos/bigmac65/albums/72157691861441740
Day 4 Action
https://www.flickr.com/photos/bigmac65/albums/72157697754865485
South Delta’s rugby Sun Devils enjoy an epic rise to new heights, but BC’s new AAA Tier 1 champs play from a deeper place
ABBOTSFORD — Andrew Kraft could appreciate the surreal nature of the moment.
Two years ago, if you had dared breath aloud the fact that the South Delta Sun Devils could win a B.C. boys high school rugby championship at the second-highest tier of provincial competition, the response would have been a lot louder than mere snickers.
Yet as you watched it all unfold Saturday at Abbotsford’s Rotary Stadium, as Tsawwassen’s finest kept the hometown Robert Bateman Timberwolves at arm’s length for the entire B.C. Triple A Tier 1 title match, you realized just how quickly great coaching and the right collection of physically-gifted and committed players could precipitate a rise.
And anyway you slice it, this has been an epic rise.
For Collingwood, speed thrills! Cavaliers find bounty of offence to top Brentwood College and win first B.C. title since 2013
VANCOUVER — If Ethan Lucke had picked another sport to make his specialty, you could quite easily picture him suiting up in any number of different roles.
Perhaps anchoring a defensive backfield in football as a strong safety?
Certainly crouching into the blocks awaiting the starter’s pistol in the 100-metre sprint.
And definitely using that foot speed and anticipation with a glove on his catching hand in centre field.
Alas, football, track and baseball did not end up winning Lucke’s heart.
Rugby did, and on Saturday, as one piece of a total team effort that saw West Vancouver’s Collingwood Cavaliers beat Brentwood College 45-31 for the B.C. Double A Tier 1 provincial title, the easiest way to define how speed set the Cavs apart from the rest of their competition this season was to start with the effort of the team’s Grade 12 back.
Oak Bay coach Atkinson: “I’m almost speechless…” Barbs first public school in a decade to win B.C.’s top-tiered rugby crown!
LANGLEY — When you spend your entire high school rugby career growing up in the shadow of Goliath, finally getting a chance to step out into a spotlight of your own can be a little blinding.
“For all these years, Shawnigan Lake has been like a super-hero,” Oak Bay Barbarians’ senior Nick Carson explained on Friday evening. “Just unbeatable. So this means a ton. I knew since the beginning of the season that we could do it. But now that we’re actually here? It’s pretty surreal.”
They’d already beaten the Stags once this season, 20-15 in the Vancouver Island Quad-A final.
Yet taking down the single most reliable program in all of B.C. high school sports in the provincial championship game environment they have come to call their very own by winning it all in eight of the previous nine seasons?
High School Rugby to Honour Don Burgess
Lower Vancouver Island Senior Boys Rugby will honour the late Don Burgess with the establishment of a memorial trophy in his name. The trophy will be presented for the first time in May of this year, and recognize the most outstanding local high school player from the 2018 season.
Burgess, who passed away February 6 at the age of 85, was an absolute legend of the game, as a player, coach, administrator and innovator.
Educated at Vic High and then Western Washington University, Burgess went on to teach and coach at both Mt. Newton JSS and then Parkland SS for 32 years. He made a hugely positive impact on literally generations of students and players.
An outstanding rugby player himself, Burgess toured the UK with Canada in 1962, winning headlines in the British press for his superb performances. Two years later, he was part of history, with his contributions critical in British Columbia’s famous 8-3 win over the touring British Lions.
At every level, including with his beloved Oak Bay Wanderers, he was renowned for his side stepping ability, deadly accurate kicking and crunching tackles.
Obituary: Rugby legend Don Burgess was inventor of the Burge tee
Cleve Dheensaw / Times Colonist
There wasn’t a pair of uprights Don Burgess couldn’t clinically slice right through the heart.
Burgess, one of Canada’s greatest rugby kickers, influenced hundreds of young players as a coach and invented the Burge kicking tee. He died Tuesday at age 85.
He competed at the club, Island, provincial, national and international levels and was inducted into both the B.C. and Victoria sports halls of fame. He played 17 games for Canada and was the national team fullback through much of the 1960s, when Test matches were rare.
Brent Johnston, manager of the Castaway Wanderers club and former national team manager, said Burgess “was as good, if not better, in his era” than D.T.H. van der Merwe, the all-time Test tries leader for Canada.
Scrum Fest 2018
Claremont Secondary School in Victoria is hosting the 10th annual Scrum Fest exhibition rugby tournament on April 12-14. This event is open to school teams in the following categories:
- Sr. Boys 15’s (Grades 11 & 12)
- Jr. Boys 15’s (Grades 9 & 10)
- Mixed Grades Girls 7’s (Grades 9 -12)
- Download Tournament Registration and Information
Tournament Contact: Phil M Ohl
BC High School 7’s Championship Results
BC High School 7’s Championship
June 9 – 10, 2017
Brentwood College School
Tier 1
1) Shawnigan Lake
2) Oak Bay
3) Brentwood
4) St. George’s
5) SMUS
6) Earl Marriott
7) Mt. Boucherie
8) Aberdeen Hall
Tier 2
1) R.E. Mountain
2) Elphinstone
3) Argyle
4) Reynolds
5) Cowichan
6) Belmont
7) Ballenas
8) Edward Milne
9) Esquimalt
10) Sa-Hali
11) G.P Vanier
12) Brentwood B
13) Earl Marriott B
14) Burnaby South
15) Rutland
16) Charles Hayes
Scores and Updates – Provincials 2017
If you are looking for all the latest scores during the 2017 tournament please visit the Scores and Update page here.
Game Day Schedules – Provincials 2017
Don’t miss any of the action, you can live stream games at the link below.
http://sportscanada.tv/bcss/2017-bcss-boys-rugby-championships
Junior Boys and AA Day Three Schedule
AAA and AAAA Day Three Schedule
BCSSRU 2020 Annual General Meeting
To: All Sr. Boys Rugby Coaches
In preparation for the upcoming AGM on Saturday please review the meeting Agenda. The AGM will take place at the Sr. School Campus of St. George’s School, which is located at 4175 W.29th Ave in Vancouver. The meeting will take place in Room # 103 from 12:15 to approximately 2:30 pm.
Download Agenda of 2020 AGM (pdf format) 
Thank you,
Walter van Halst
Commissioner, BCSSRU
Notice of BCSSRU Annual General Meeting
To: All Sr. Boys Rugby Coaches for 2016-17
Please accept this communication as notice of the BCSSRU Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Wednesday, May 31st, at 6 pm at the Abbotsford Rugby Clubhouse, located at 31929 Mercantile Way, Abbotsford.
An agenda, together with the Minutes of the 2016 Annual General Meeting, will be posted on our website at a later date. If you have any items which you wish to bring forward for discussion, please email me at vanhalst_w@surreyschools.ca no later than Friday, May 19th, 2017.
Please note, all member schools, not just the schools which qualify for the Provincial Championships, are entitled to attend.
Thank you,
BC School Sports Male Coach of the Year
I just wanted to share some fantastic news. One of our own fraternity, a very dedicated and principled rugby coach named Chris Turpin, from Gleneagle Secondary in Coquitlam, has been selected as the BC School Sports Male Coach of the Year for 2016-17.
This is, first of all, a very prestigious award to win. Not only are there a lot of great rugby coaches out there, but I can’t even begin to count how many THOUSANDS of teachers and community coaches give their time for free every year to help make a difference in the lives of student-athletes. When you add up all these coaches from all these sports, this award is truly impressive.
I first met Chris a number of years ago, when we were both being threatened not to coach during a time of limited job action. This guy stood up for our kids’ RIGHT to play sports when very few other people wanted to. His words at the Celebration of Life for Tony Whitham were truly moving, and I know Tony is up there, very proud.
In everything he does, this award is well-earned, and if you want to pass a note along, his email has been cc’ed above.
Congrats, Chris, and the Turpin tradition of excellence continues!!
Walter van Halst
Commissioner, BCSSRU
It’s a Try: The History of Rugby in Canada
If you have ever thought that rugby faces challenges in Canada, you should truly see what challenges it has already overcome !! In fact, if you have ever coached rugby or been involved in it as a player, referee, manager or served in any other capacity, you probably know Doug Sturrock, who has given well over 40 years of service to our game. Doug Sturrock coached at Magee Secondary for decades, was deeply involved with the Meralomas Rugby Club and of course, has given endless service with the BC Secondary Schools Rugby Union…and still continues to.
Incredibly, Doug has been amassing rare photographs, game summaries, Test Match reports, high school, club, provincial and International results all this time and has now just written and self-published an amazing book called “It’s a Try: The History of Rugby in Canada.” At over 1000 pages, it truly is an exceptional labour of one man’s love for our sport. And there is truly nothing else like it in Canada.
Attached is a photo showing just how comprehensive this tome of stories, memories, shared sacrifices and achievements really is. To obtain a copy, please email the author or call him directly and he will gladly autograph it personally for you as well. At $ 65 the price is an incredible value, and the photos alone are so rare that this book is worth more than twice that.
Doug Sturrock can be reached via email at dougsturrock8905@gmail.com; or via his landline at (604) 888-3949. This book is a great tribute to the history of our sport, written by a man who has been an incredible tribute of selfless service to it himself.
Walter van Halst
Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary
Commissioner, BC Secondary Schools Rugby Union
2017 Junior Boys Rugby Provincial Championship Format
(Download Junior Boys Provincial Format – pdf file)
The inaugural 2016 Jr. Boys Rugby Provincial Championship featured a 4 team format. Therefore, for 2017 we are expanding to 8 teams.
Berths for the Jr. Boys Quarter-Finals will be allocated accordingly and played on Saturday May 27th
Game A 1) Vancouver Island #1 vs 8) Wildcard Selection @ Vancouver Island #1
Game B 2) Lower Mainland #1 vs 7) Fraser Valley #2 @ Lower Mainland #1
Game C 3) Fraser Valley #1 vs 6) Vancouver Island #2 @ Fraser Valley #1
Game D 4) Lower Mainland #2 vs 5) Okanagan #1 @ Lower Mainland #2
Please Note:
1) These Quarter-Final matchups were pre-determined to ensure as much cross-zone play and ranking balance as possible.
2) Only the top 4 teams will advance to the Semi-Finals. There is no loser bracket for 2017.
The Semi-Finals will be played on Wednesday, May 31st at Rotary Stadium, Abbotsford.
Game E Winner of Game A vs Winner of Game D KO TBA
Game F Winner of Game B vs Winner of Game C KO TBA
The BC Jr. Boys Final and Bronze medal match will be played at Rotary Stadium on Friday, June 2nd.
Game G Loser of Game E vs Loser of Game F KO @ 4:30 pm
Game H Winner of Game E vs Winner of Game F KO @ 6:30 pm
A KO time of 2:00 pm will be used as the default time for the Quarter-Finals, but is subject to change depending on the needed travel arrangements for each team. The KO time for the Semi-Finals will be determined at the time that the Sr. Boys Provincial Schedule is set for that day.
The Wild Card selection will be made by a Jr. Boys Provincial Championship Committee and be based upon the size and quality of teams in all zones over the course of the season.
Tony Whitham: A True Rugby Gentleman and Great Steward of our Game
Celebration of Life July 6th @ 2pm at the Evergreen Cultural Centre, Coquitlam
A Tribute by Chris Turpin, Gleneagle Secondary School
The rugby community in BC is saddened by the news that a true legend has passed away. Tony Whitham passed away on June 23rd . Tony was born in 1937 in Halifax, England. His early years were shaped by growing up in working class England during and after the war. His father was killed in action in France shortly prior to the Evacuation at Dunkirk in May 1940. Tony was raised by his widowed mother who helped instill a work ethic and values that Tony was famous for. Upon graduating from Manchester University Tony taught for three years at Highlands Technical Grammar School. In 1963, Tony persuaded his wife that winter could not be much colder in Canada. So Tony and his wife, Kathleen, and young daughter, Jo-Ann, moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Whithams stayed for three years in Winnipeg before moving to BC. Tony taught one year at Princess Margaret Secondary in Surrey. Then Tony made the switch to the growing school district of Coquitlam and taught at Centennial Secondary School from 1967-1973. In 1967 the Whithams were blessed with a second child, a son, named Bob.
Day 1 BC high school rugby! Bateman’s Wolves carry high drama in our look at all 16 matches
Posted on May 25, 2016. 5:42 pm
by Howard Tsumura – The Province
ABBOTSFORD — Small in stature, small in numbers, but on the day, Abbotsford’s Robert Bateman Timberwolves showed themselves to be huge in heart as the B.C. boys high school rugby championships opened up a four-day run at their hometown Rotary Stadium complex.
“It’s one of the smallest teams we’ve ever had, but so full of courage and with so much resilience,” coach Stephen Rowell said proudly after No. 8 Matt Calderone stole the ball deep and spun it out wide to fellow senior and outside centre Ethan Kupsch for the winning points in a 22-17 victory over Richmond’s R.A. McMath Wildcats.
DAY 2 B.C. high school rugby: Elgin, Argyle, LV Rogers, Bateman punch tickets to gold Saturday
Posted on May 26, 2016. 2:14 pm
by Howard Tsumura – The Province
Here’s our look at semifinal Thursday at the BC high school rugby championships at the double-, triple- and quad-A level.
QUAD A
The Shawnigan Lake Stags produced a result Thursday in the semifinal of the B.C. high school championships which, based on their recent run of dominance, puts them in perhaps the most unique position in this province’s entire sports history.
Are the Stags, who beat the Fraser Valley champion Earl Marriott Mariners 102-10 to earn a berth in Saturday’s title game, the first team you can honestly say is so good relative to the rest of the field that the thing they need most, is a higher-level of league to play in?
Defending champion Shawnigan, which has won six of the last seven B.C. triple-A titles, will face Vancouver’s St. George’s Saints, 25-10 winners over Victoria’s Oak Bay Barbarians, in Saturday’s final.
St. George’s defeated Shawinigan Lake in the 2014 final, the only title-tilt loss by the Stags over their current run.
Purdey’s late try carries the day, Stags find a way to hold off Saints in classic 4A boys rugby final
Posted on May 28, 2016. 7:49 pm
by Howard Tsumura – The Province
ABBOTSFORD — It was a match many had predicted would be a blow-out win in favour of the defending champion Shawnigan Lake Stags.
Instead, Vancouver’s St. George’s Saints never believed they were underdogs, and in the dying moments, almost had the opportunity to pull an upset of major proportions in the B.C. quad-A boys high school rugby championship final Saturday at Abbotsford’s Rotary Stadium.
Shawnigan Lake went on to win 12-8, but not before Owen Pitblado of St. George’s chipped the ball through the Stags try-zone with 1:13 remaining, and was just shy of pouncing on it for what would could well have been the game’s winning play.
Free Admission to BC Bears Game – June 3
The BC Bears Senior Men’s Team hosts England Counties XV on June 3rd at Klahanie Park (Capilano RFC) in West Vancouver. Kickoff is at 7:00pm.
High School students get in FOR FREE when presenting their school ID. For adults, tickets cost only $10 and are available at the gate on game day.
More details about the game can be found at http://www.bcrugby.com/news_article/show/651906
Stormin’ Norman triplets grow to new heights, huge, hungry brothers lead Prince of Wales rugby
April 30, 2016 at 8:51 pm
Posted by: Howard Tsumura (The Province)
VANCOUVER — If Hollywood ever gets around to shooting a re-make of the 1977 hockey classic Slap Shot, the casting call needs to come north to the classrooms, hallways and playing fields of Vancouver’s Prince of Wales Secondary School.
That’s because if you’re looking for three actors to play the roles of the movie’s hockey-playing Hanson brothers, there would be none better-suited than real-life Grade 11 triplets Broden, Kael and Dace Norman.
Sweeping changes expected to bring balance to B.C. boys high school rugby power structure
April 6, 2016. 4:54 pm
Courtesy of the Province – Howard Tsumara
Link to original article
VANCOUVER — B.C. boys high school rugby has finally addressed the elephant in the room.
Look back at its provincial tournament results over the past decade-plus at its highest triple-A tier, and two schools have dominated the proceedings to such an extent that its annual title tilt had become the most anti-climactic event on the entire B.C. championship schedule.
A SUNDAY READ: What both sides are saying in the emotional debate regarding BC School Sports’ proposal for a new power structure in BC high school sports!
March 14, 2021
by Howard Tsumura
LANGLEY — Varsity Letters is presenting both sides of the debate leading up to the pivotal voting day on B.C. School Sports’ pioneering governance proposal, set for the association’s May 1 annual general meeting.
If passed by a two-thirds majority plus-one vote of the province’s eligible base of 460-plus athletic directors, all 19 of BCSS’ member sports — including football, wrestling, boys rugby, and boys and girls basketball, volleyball, track and field, cross-country and soccer — would be brought together wholly under the umbrella of the association’s administration.
Hello world!
Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing!
Okanagan Tournament
This page will be updated soon. Check back for more details.
Junior Invitational Provincial Tournament
This page will be updated soon. Check back for more details.
Principles of Defense with Clark Laidlaw
March 6, 2019
7:30 – 9:00 pm
