Congratulations to the following teams on their successful tours to Ireland, Australia and New Zealand this past Spring Break.

Collingwood ‘Cavaliers’ to Australia
Blue Mountains Grammar School, Wentworth Falls NSW   Loss 0-22
Central coast Grammar School, Erina Heights NSW   Win 19-10
Knox Grammar School, Sydney NSW   Win 14-10
Matthew Flinders Anglican College, Sunshine Coast QLD   Win 18-17
St. Teresa’s Catholic College, Noosaville QLD   Win 10-5

L.V. Rogers ‘Bombers’ (Nelson) to Ireland
Balbriggan RFC, Dublin, Ireland   Win 39-5
Monivea RFC, Athenry, Co. Galway, Ireland   Loss 12-36
North Munster Cadets, Co. Limerick, Ireland   Loss 15-41

Robert Bateman ‘Timberwolves’ to New Zealand and Australia
Otorohanga College, Otorohanga (Waikato), New Zealand    Win 20-5
Katikati College, Katikati (Western Bay of Plenty), New Zealand   Loss 5-27
Homebush Boys’ High School, Sydney NSW, Australia   Win 25-15
St. Augustine’s College, Sydney NSW, Australia   Loss 10-32

Shawnigan Lake ‘Stags’ to Australia
Matthew Flinders Anglican College, Maroochydore QLD   Win 22-5
Somerset College, Gold Coast QLD    Win 33-14
Barker College, Sydney NSW   Draw 5-5
Epping Boys’ High School, Sydney NSW   Loss 15-20

Claremont Secondary (Saanich) is set to host its third annual Scrum Fest Tournament.  The event will run over three days (April 9 to 11), and feature more than thirty teams in three divisions – Senior Boys, Junior Boys and Mixed Grade Girls.  Participants include teams from Vancouver Island, the Lower Mainland , the Okanagan , the Northern Interior and Alberta.  Each team will play three pre-arranged games.  The event also features

• A ‘Player Clinic’ hosted by members of the Canadian Men’s National Team
• Tournament T-shirts and program
• On-site concession, change rooms, bleachers for spectators, and more…

You can find more about the tournament by accessing the following link:

http://claremont.sd63.bc.ca/course/view.php?id=204

Please note that the tournament is presently at full capacity.  If you wish to be placed on the waitlist, please complete the registration form and submit it as soon as possible

Best wishes for success to the following teams travelling to the United States or overseas this season:

Carson Graham to Argentina
Club San Marcos, Buenos Aires
Colegio Del Solar, Bahia Blanca
Holy Trinity College, Mar del Plata
Club Los Caranchos, Rosario
St. Mark’s College, Buenos Aires

Collingwood to Australia
Blue Mountains Grammar School, Wentworth Falls NSW
Knox Grammar School, Sydney NSW
Matthew Flinders Anglican College, Sunshine Coast QLD
Immanuel Lutheran College, Maroochydore QLD

Kelowna to Nevada USA
Las Vegas International Tournament

L.V. Rogers (Nelson) to Ireland
Portlaoise RFC, Togher, Co. Laois, Ireland
Monivea RFC, Athenry, Co. Galway, Ireland
Castletroy College RFC, Newtown, Co. Limerick, Ireland

Prince of Wales to California USA
Fullerton Youth Rugby Tournament

Robert Bateman to New Zealand and Australia
Otorohanga College, Otorohanga (Waikato), New Zealand
Katikati College, Katikati (Western Bay of Plenty), New Zealand
Homebush Boys’ High School, Sydney NSW, Australia
St. Augustine’s College, Sydney NSW, Australia

Shawnigan Lake to Australia
Matthew Flinders Anglican College, Maroochydore QLD
Somerset College, Gold Coast QLD
Barker College, Sydney NSW
Epping Boys’ High School, Sydney NSW

This time twelve months ago, our organization began the task of formulating a proposal to change our existing tier structure at the senior level.  The purpose was twofold.  Firstly, we wanted to increase the participation of our student-athletes at the Provincial Championship level by adding up to eight more berths.  Secondly, we wanted to address the issue of an increasing competitive imbalance among teams competing at each of the two existing tier levels.

An active committee laid the groundwork, feedback was sought from all coaches throughout the Province and a plan was presented to all schools for an e-mail vote.  The support was overwhelming.  The proposal was enthusiastically endorsed by the Competitive Standards Committee, and unanimously approved by the BC SCHOOL SPORTS Annual General Meeting last May.

We are very much looking forward to implementing this format for the upcoming season, and believe that it takes a significant first step towards meeting the objectives outlined above.

Click here for

• Policies and Procedures for Implementation of Changes to the Tier Structure for the 2011 Season-of-Play and Provincials 2011
• Configuration of Games at Provincials 2011 for an Open Tier of Four, Six and Eight Teams

• Our Season of Play starts on March 7, 2011.  Competition between a school team and a team outside that school may not take place before that date.
• Student-Athlete Registration Forms must be submitted to the BC SCHOOL SPORTS office by way of the on-line registration system no later than April 1, 2011.  Please carefully read Section C2.3 (Adding Names to Student-Athlete Registration Form) in the BCSS Directory – Competitive Rules and Regulations 2010-2011.
• Earl Marriott will be hosting the Fraser Valley Sevens at South Surrey Athletic Park from 12:00 noon to 6:00 pm on Friday, April 8, 2011.  Contact: Adam Roberts at roberts_a@sd36.bc.ca 
• Kitsilano will be hosting the second annual Vancouver Sevens at Connaught Park on Friday, April 8, 2011.  Contact: kitsrugby@gmail.com.
• Clarence Fulton (Vernon) will be hosting the Okanagan Sevens on Saturday, April 9, 2011.  Contact: Rick Smith at ricksmithvernon@hotmail.com.
• Applications for BCSSRU Scholarships must be received no later than April 15, 2011.
• BCSSRU Sevens 2011 will be held on April 16 and 17, 2011, and will be hosted by St. George’s School (Vancouver BC).
• The final day on which teams may qualify for Provincials 2011 is May 19, 2011.  The final rankings and game schedules will be posted on the website the following day.
• Provincials 2011 will be held as follows:
  Round 1 Games (at various locations around the Province) on May 28, 2011.
  Rounds 2, 3 and 4 Games at the Rotary Stadium and Exhibition Park Complex in Abbotsford on June 1, 2 and 4, 2011.

We are pleased to announce the fifteen candidates selected to receive BCSSRU Scholarships for 2010.  These were presented at the Provincial Championships held at Rotary Stadium in Abbotsford from June 2 to 5, 2010.

BC Secondary Schools’ Rugby Union Scholarships
Dustin Dobravsky (Shawnigan Lake)
Wonjin Kim (St. Michaels University)
Adrian Semmelink (Kelowna)

Derek Hyde-Lay Memorial Scholarships
Lucien Nel (Shawnigan Lake)
Xavier Semmelink (Kelowna)

Pacific Northwest Over 40 Rugby Union Scholarships
Dillon Alexandre (Norkam)
Greg Breedveld (Grand Forks)

BC Rugby Union (Benj O’Connor) Scholarship
Erik Hunter-James (Rockridge)

Lower Mainland Zone Rugby Scholarships
Chase Kelliher (Argyle)
Patrick Rushton (Rockridge)

Bruce Howe (UVic) Scholarship
Steven Thompson (Oak Bay)

BC Secondary Schools’ Rugby Scholarship (Sponsored by International Athletic Co. and KooGa Made for Rugby)
Chris Massot (Hugh McRoberts)

Fraser Valley Zone Scholarships
Matthew Bianchini (Yale)
Matthew Turcotte (Robert Bateman)

BC Rugby Referees’ Society/BC Secondary Schools’ Rugby Union Referee Scholarship
George Van (Prince of Wales)

• To view photos of the 2010 Recipients click here

Following the third round of games this past Friday, the host team continues to forge ahead on the points table, amassing more than all of the other five teams combined, and the opposition has yet to cross their line.  Grand Forks is currently in second place with J.L. Crowe (Trail) not too far behind.  Many thanks are due to Mike Joyce, Ike Edwards and Brad for being such great hosts.   Also to Gord Weiss, Brad and Greg Haydu for refereeing the games..  Once again it was a great event with the gods smiling down on us all day, and holding off on any rain until the posts were down and put away.  The final round of games will be hosted by Mt. Baker in Cranbrook this coming Friday.

• Click here for a summary of updated scores.

At the BC SCHOOL SPORTS Annual General Meeting held on Saturday, May 8, unanimous approval was given for the BCSSRU to add a third tier to its Provincial Championships, effective next year.  Please note that there was an amendment to the original draft with respect to the structure of the ‘Open’ tier, and this has been highlighted in the amended draft which you can access below.  There were a number of strong commendations for the leadership we have taken in addressing the issues of broadening participation and correcting the competitive imbalance that developed in our sport over recent years.  Work on implementing the revised tier structure will get underway early in the fall.

• Click here for the amended draft of the Resolution.

The 2010 Annual General Meeting will be held in the Legacy Sports Centre Conference Room (Rotary Stadium, Abbotsford) at 9:00 am on Thursday, June 3. 

• Click here for the 2010 Annual General Meeting Agenda
  
• Click here for Minutes of the 2009 Annual General Meeting