This past week the Prince Rupert Seamen Rugby club teamed up with BC Rugby to bring the rookie rugby program up north.
The program is designed to teach elementary school kids the fundamentals of rugby, without introducing them to contact.
Darcy Patterson, a member of BC Rugby visited school across Prince Rupert in an attempt to grow the game she loves.
“We are growing rugby, teaching it to elementary school students,” Patterson said, “Giving them their first experience with it so that they might try out for their high school team or club team.”
Rugby is a popular sport in the city and the Prince Rupert Seamen Rugby Club is at the rugby scene’s epicentre.
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Andy Enns is on the Seamen and said he hopes to get future generations to carry the torch.
“We’ve been trying to develop a feeder system, to develop rugby in the younger kids,” Enns said.
The Seamen help coach Charles Hays Secondary School’s Rainmakers male and female teams and know of the type of community that rugby builds.
Mike McDowall, a teacher at Roosevelt Park Elementary School, recognizes how much the Seamen do for the growth and development of the sport locally.
“We are very fortunate here in Prince Rupert because the local rugby club took the initiative to bring this rookie rugby program here,” McDowall said.
More than just a way to get kids moving, Patterson stresses the deep bond that those a part of the rugby community share.
“It gives you an extended family, that’s why I think it is special,” Patterson said. “It gives you that community and you have that community as you progress through the sport.”
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