Cougars rugby returns after hiatus

By Lethbridge Herald on April 14, 2023.

By Justin Seward

Lethbridge Herald

For the first time since 2012, the Catholic Central Cougars are fielding a senior girls rugby team this season.

“I think the group of girls that had played for LCI were a big driving force behind that,” said head coach Lynn Suttie.

“They wanted to play for CCHS and the athletic director, Ryan Myndio, at CCHS right now was the right person to start asking around and I just happened to run into him just through the school division. I’m also a teacher in the school division. So he put a bug in my ear early  (to see )if I wanted to be coaching, and I’ve been a coach in the division for years — for a decade — since I started teaching and rugby’s my sport (and) my main passion. I’m doing my Masters in coaching right now. So it all kind of perfectly aligned with this group of girls that really wanted their own CCHS team.”

Suttie has seen the girls really surprise her in preparations for the season.

“The buy in and the hard work that they’ve shown me has been incredible,” said Suttie.

“We had a JV (junior varsity) festival, so we had a lot of new girls able to play a couple of weekends ago and they really impressed me there. We have two teams; we have a lot of girls that  will have to play both junior and senior. So the grit and the hard work that’s going to be required, I can definitely see in them. So that’s been exciting.”

When Suttie thinks back to the 2012 team and compared it to this year’s team, it’s a night and day difference.

“This group has so much talent and so much drive,” she said.

“I’m really excited to see where we can take them.”

Suttie thinks if this team continues on the trajectory they’re going on, they will be right in the mix.

“And we’ll be competitive each and every week,” said Suttie.

“I tell the girls all the time,  the way you do anything is the way you do everything,” said Suttie.

“And I really try to support them in being the best people that they can be — students, sisters, friends, daughters — and then from that relationship with them, then I really see the hard work that we can put in once we have that established. The magic for us is in the details and showing up every day and putting in the work with the little things and then just trusting that over time that will equal to the wins.”

The Cougars will open up the season against Winston Churchill on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. at CCHS West.