Comets coach sees a lot of upside ahead of season

By Lethbridge Herald on March 31, 2023.

The Raymond High School Comets senior girls rugby team took home the provincials banner for the 11th time in 12 years in Edmonton in this May 2022 file photo.

By Justin Seward

Lethbridge Herald

The Raymond High School Comets senior girls rugby team are doing some slight retooling as they look to bring home the team’s 12th provincial banner in 13 years this season.

“We have a good core of returning players,” said Comets head coach Dan Bikman.

“We lost some big like super star-style players last year and so we’re going to have to restructure our style a little bit. And then that’s kind of the fun of coaching, every year you get to work with the different talent that the kids bring.  But I’m confident in the group we have, they’re committed and talented, and so we’ll see. I mean we’ll know more once we hit some games and see how they do as a group. But what I’m seeing so far, it’s good.”

Bikman said they’re very balanced.

“You know some years you have some really strong spots and then you’ve got weak spots,” said Bikman.

“This is a team that just  kind of across the board, you’ve got kids at every position that will do their job —they’ll execute (and) they’ll role with a lot of efficiency.”

This year’s team knows more on how to play rugby because the 2022 team was coming during COVID and did not know as much about the game.

“So last year was the first time in 10 years that I didn’t have a returning provincial champion in training camp,” said Bikman.

“Whereas this year, I have about 20 kids, if you count our 7s and 15s provincial championships, that have won a provincial championship in rugby in the group. So when you’re talking to them and you’re preparing them as the season develops, I think that they see it different because they’ve been there. When you’re telling kids that haven’t done it, they kind of listen to you, but you always run the risk of being that crazy old coach that seems like a Vietnam war veteran. You know, like you’re telling them stories and they’re like ‘Yeah, yeah coach.’”

The coaches are challenging the girls with fitness regimes.

“(In) our program, we don’t actually make any cuts but we do run quite a bit with the ball,” said Bikman.

“Like we just run and pass a lot and so there’s been no shortage of that and we’ve practiced outside everyday whether it’s snowing or not. So those types of rigours to kind of implement that foundational grit that every rugby player needs.”

Bikman keep the possibility of a 12th banner in 13 seasons in the front of the player’s minds.

“That’s our goal,” said Bikman.

“That’s what we talk about, it’s what we are (and) that’s what we try to do. And so right off the top, we’re like we’re a championship program, we’re going to practice hard every single day, we’re going to work hard, it starts now.”

Raymond will kick off the season on Wednesday against Matthew Halton in Pincher Creek.