LRC offers rugby options

By Lethbridge Herald on April 14, 2015.

Dylan Purcell
LETHBRIDGE HERALD
sports@lethbridgeherald.com
The high school rugby starts tonight.
Lethbridge’s Ashley Steacy was just named captain of Canada’s senior national team at this weekend’s  Womens Sevens Series event in Langford, B.C.
And the Lethbridge Rugby Club is hoping to catch that wave, too.
The LRC is holding its first night of mini rugby tonight at Palliser Field (3305 9th Avenue N) from 5:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. The club is offering the fun way to learn the basics of rugby to kids of all genders from ages 8-14. Sessions run Tuesdays and Thursdays.
The $80 registration fee includes an LRC-logoed rugby ball. The purpose, said LRC president Rory McKeown, is to build bridges between the various stages of rugby.
“The minirugby, we’re just trying to get kids involved with the sport and let them have some fun,” said McKeown. “They’ll practise for half an hour then play flag rugby (called RippaRugby) for half an hour. It’ll be fun, we’ve got some good coaches lined up.
“It’ll give these kids a good, basic knowledge of the game before they start playing high school rugby. We want to build the sport.”
McKeown invited interested parents to swing by the club tonight or Thursday to watch a minirugby session, with registration taking place at the practice.
“This is the best age to start teaching children the rules of the game in a non-contact setting,” he said. “They’ll learn proper techniques and rules and a love for the game.”
In that vein, the club is going to run a junior program for U18 boys and U 19 girls as well.
“We’re really excited about the juniors because it’s a way for the club to get players involved in the sport outside of high school, to extend their season,” said McKeown. “Southern Alberta is the best high school rugby league in the province, but we don’t have any way to keep those kids engaged and involved with the club once the high school season is over.
“Hopefully this accomplishes that and we continue to see great rugby players from around here develop and grow.”
McKeown said the club tries to keep the cost low on the junior and minirugby programs to encourage growth in the sport and build the LRC’s membership.
“I want it to be a real force in the community, not just with the club teams but by providing these camps and some different ideas.”
For more information, contact McKeown at mckeown_rory@hotmail.com or call the LRC at 403-328-0411.

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