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

(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.

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.

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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.

Read Full Article Here

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.

Read Full Article Here

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.

Read Full Article Here

Junior Boys Provincial Results – 2016

Junior Provincial Final Game Summary

Jr. Boys Provincial Rugby Championship: Shawnigan Lake captures historic first ever BC crown

On Friday, May 27th, the Shawnigan Lake School Colts squared off against the Carson Graham Eagles from North Vancouver in the first ever Jr. Boys Rugby Provincial Championship match in Abbotsford’s Rotary Stadium. Like any title fight, the two opponents appeared to size each other up and spar in the opening minutes of the contest, carefully probing for attacking opportunities.

Both sides landed blows early, and the score remained 5 to 3 for Shawnigan Lake almost until the half-time interval, when the Colts managed to overcome the more physically powerful Eagles by moving the ball out wide and into space to secure a more comfortable lead of 12 to 3 with a converted try just before the half-time hooter.

Early in the second half, however, Shawnigan’s momentum proved to be too much for Ryan Kerluck’s Carson Graham sqaud, which appeared to tire as the game wore on after defeating a powerful South Delta side on only Tuesday at Klahanie Park. Indeed, the Colts became completely dominant as the contest wore on, with James Macdonald, Kyle McCallum and Reece Tudor-Jones all being threats to score with the ball in hand. Two tries were scored by Macdonald, one by Tudor-Jones, with two additional Shawnigan trys also scored by Jack Shaw and Nolan Young. A pair of conversions then rounded out the Colts 29 points. Carson Graham’s lone 3 points came on a first half penalty goal.

Strong performances for the Colts were turned in by Fernando Gutierrez, Nolan Young and Moaman Elhendawi. Reece Tudor-Jones, who managed to not only score but make punishing tackles while playing with broken fingers the entire contest, gave a gutsy and heroic effort. The Stags’ captain and double-try scorer, James Macdonald, was superb in all facets of the game.

Ultimately, however, both teams can take pride in taking part in this year’s historic first ever Jr. Boys Provincial Championship Final, and Ander Monro’s championship team from Shawnigan Lake School set a bar of sound defensive play and attacking flair for all teams taking part in next year’s expanded 8 team Jr. Boys Provincial Championships to measure up to.

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