Leduc high school rugby teams capture city titles

Leduc's high school rugby teams delivered dominant performances this season, with both the boys team from Leduc Composite and the girls team from Ohpaho Secondary capturing city championships.

The boys' squad went undefeated, winning the city final 31-12 after three consecutive years of heartbreaking semifinal losses. It was the culmination of three years of work for a core group of Grade 10 players who came together at the start. "We weren't sure what we had at the start of the season, but we started winning and didn't stop," said Coach Darragh Corbett.

Corbett credited the team's four community coaches (three of whom founded the program), relentless defence, and ability to execute tackles. Three captains led the way both on and off the field. Kieran Giesbrecht made a game-saving tackle in the final against a player twice his size. Nixon Ganske (60 points) and Matt Berrigan (50 points) led the team in scoring, while Baron Bateman made 19 conversions. Overall, the boys' team scored 328 points and allowed only 29.

The girls' team went 6-1 on the season, winning the city final 26-10. It's a return to form after winning titles in 2018 and 2019 before the pandemic stalled momentum. The team featured a strong core of Grade 11s and lost the semifinals in each of the past two years before breaking through this year. "It felt really good to make it to city finals this year. It was what we needed, to get past semis," said Coach Larissa Schiewe. "Once we did, I had full confidence we would take the city finals."

Two girls, Emily Ross and Sienna Jordan, made tryouts for the U18 national team. Schiewe highlighted their growth and cohesion. "The cohesion between all of them, and seeing them progress through the season, was amazing. Even the newer girls who hadn't played rugby before improved over the season," she said. Schiewe and co-coaches Marnie Butler and Maya Underschultz aim to keep momentum going and recruit more girls into the sport.