Sweet Silver For Southwest Girls Rugby 7s

The Southwest region girls rugby 7’s team brought home the Silver medal from the Ontario Summer Games that were held at York University on August 17th and 18th. Chatham-Kent was the most represented municipality on the team, a testament to the strength of the local high school and Kent Havoc rugby programs. Eight of the 22 players on the southwest team were from Chatham-Kent: Paige Ayres, Hannah Cartier, Gabby Desbiens, Summer Eastcott, Michaela Hanley, Sydnee Nolan, Bailey Walker and Tegan Williams.

The southwest girls 7’s rugby team came together during the spring after athletic identification clinics were conducted throughout the region. The team was based out of the University of Western and went on to hold practices and exhibition games at various locations in the region leading up to the Ontario Summer Games. One session included spending a weekend at Western in London where coach Natascha Wesch, who is also coach of the Mustang women’s rugby program, put the players through various rugby skills development training routines, mental toughness & preparedness exercises and team building events.

Coach Wesch comments on the performance of the team “The Ontario Summer Games was the culmination of several months of preparation by coaches, managers, and athletes. The coaching staff identified 22 talented athletes and taught them the skills and strategies required to play 7-a-side rugby. The athletes dedicated many hours on skill and fitness development, and the result put forward was a fantastic display of 7s rugby at the OSG. With two teams entered, Southwest Rugby A’s captured the silver medal, while Southwest Rugby B’s finished 3rd in the Bowl round. It was an amazing experience for coaches and athletes alike, and we only hope that this program continues to be funded and offered by Rugby Ontario and the Branch Unions in the future.”

Rugby 7’s made its inaugural debut at this year’s summer games for both boys and girls under an Own the Podium sponsorship through Rugby Canada and Rugby Ontario. The thrust is to develop national level elite rugby 7’s players for when the sport returns to the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. Rugby was last played in the Olympics in 1924 in Paris.