ATHABASCA – Athletics can provide students with a variety of opportunities – from scholarships to self-confidence, playing a sport in school can enrich a student’s life.
They can also provide opportunities to travel, as twelve members of the Edwin Parr Composite (EPC) rugby sevens team learned when they took a ten-day tour through New Brunswick May 29 to June 7.
“I’d never been to eastern Canada before, and it was nice to see a little bit of what that’s about,” said Devon Walega, who just finished his Grade 11 year at the high school. “Everyone got to learn a little more, get together and try new things, it was pretty fun.”
The trip was the brainchild of the program’s coaches, RCMP constable David McLenaghan and physical education teacher Derek West.
“I had some good rugby contacts there, I knew coaches there that we could play against,” said McLenaghan, who grew up in the coastal province. “I knew it was a good level of rugby that the boys were going to get to experience.”
The squad played five games while they were on the other side of the country, finishing the tour with a 4-1 record after a successful season that saw the team win its first ever game. One school had to pull out of two games, so the team didn’t get as many opportunities as planned, but McLenaghan said it was still a success.
“I’m super proud of them, they’ve built more confidence this year and with that confidence has come way more victories, not just on the field, but off it as well,” said McLenaghan.
The tour took the 12 boys across the province, playing games in the provincial capital of Fredricton, as well as Moncton. Tourism stops into the City of Marimichi, 165 kilometres north, and Kouchibouguac National Park gave the students an opportunity to see the Atlantic Ocean, try new foods, and get exposure to a different way of life.
“There were new experiences for everyone, I mean some of the guys had never even been on a plane,” said Walega. “Honestly, the trees (stood out), there’s so many more trees there. Lots of older houses, and lots of history behind the houses around the area we went as well.”
For many students, including Walega and teammate Alfie Wigham, the season was their first experience with rugby as well.
“It’s different from other sports I’m used to playing,” said Wigham, another soon-to-be Grade 12 student at EPC. “I think it was really fun for sure.”
The team paid for the trip through a variety of fundraising efforts, including bottle drives, bake sales, and over the Christmas holidays, a sober driving service.
“They raised close to $17,000 between December and May to go on that trip,” said McLenaghan. “They had the assistance of the town, but they put in a lot of work themselves. They had to do that. There’s more to it than just the trip and the season.
“We wouldn’t have been able to go without the town’s help.”
The rugby program experienced a lot of growth during the 2023-24 school year, nearly doubling in size from 13 players its first year in 2022-23, and McLenaghan is hoping they’ll be able to continue to expand it with each passing year. He said he hoped the program would be able to expand to field a 15s team — a larger, slower, and more physical form of the game — as well as have a girls’ team soon.
“If we don’t have enough guys for 15s, we’ll play two teams almost every tournament,” said McLenaghan, who added they would need 27 or 28 players for a full 15-man squad. “It creates good competition within the team. When you join a sport, you want to play.”
