Coyotes ready to howl into season

By Lethbridge Herald on April 18, 2023.

By Justin Seward

Lethbridge Herald

The Chinook Coyotes senior boys rugby return are hungry for more after their provincials appearance last season.

“Our coaching staff, since the end of last season, has been looking forward to our first day of training which came in February,” said Connor Kopp, Coyotes head coach.

“What we have to keep in mind as a coaching staff is our personnel, like our players mentioned, we have a lot of people who are very knowledgeable of the sport. So we are able to  grow and we’re able to develop a rugby knowledge and continue to build moving into the rest of the season.”

The players learned what it looks like to get to a provincial and now know the expectations that are in place on a daily basis if they want to get to the year-end competition again.

“So while we’re very appreciative of the hard work and the opportunity that we had last year, this year is a new year,” said Kopp.

“And it starts like from the first step. And that’s the way we’ve been coaching these guys is step-by-step and each week, each practice (and) each game is a brand new step heading towards that goal of making provincials once again.”

There are 60 to 70 per cent of last year’s roster returning.

“That veteran leadership and reminding players of their expectations and their responsibilities,” said Kopp, on what it means to have a big number of players back.

“I mean ourselves as a coaching staff, we look to set the tone. But that really is  controlled by our leaders and our senior players. So they have gotten the ball rolling and they’ve been  doing an incredible job at  making sure that everyone is playing their role and playing their part.”

The team’s goal is to grow as a program.

“Last year, we were the Tier 1 Zone champions,” said Kopp.

“Our goal is to remain competitive in that stream and continue to look towards another provincial berth.”

Second-year player Gage Parker wants to see the team work as hard as they can a year removed provincials.

“Like the returning boys, they know what it’s like to lose in provincials and we want to come back with a vengeance,” said Parker.

“You know we don’t want to lose again like that. So we’re just  putting 100 per cent in every time, with a goal of being better than last year.”

Parker said everyone’s ready.

“Everyone wants to play and everyone’s dialed to get better,” said Parker.

“We don’t want to lose our first game. So everyone’s working hard and just pedal to the metal in practice.”

The Coyotes clash with the Winston Churchill Bulldogs to open the season today at 5:30 p.m. at Lethbridge Rugby Club.