"Power to the Pipers"Monday November 27 2006 Argyle ruggers take V&D titles For the first time since the 1980s, a pair of Pipers teams from Argyle secondary have claimed the Vancouver and District bantam (Grade 8) and juvenile (Grade 9) boys rugby championship titles.
The bantam Pipers fell to the Sentinel Spartans 20-17 in the North Shore championship final Nov. 9, but rebounded to beat the Spartans by the same score in the Vancouver and District championship tilt on Thursday at Carson Graham's artificial turf field.
The juvenile Pipers claimed the North Shore championship title - beating the Mulgrave Titans 29-10 - on Nov. 9, en route to the V&D complement crown, which they won by beating the Burnaby South Rebels 41-12 at Klahanie Park on Wednesday.
It's only the second time that the Lynn Valley school has won the juvenile trophy since the award was first contested in 1926. Likewise, it's the second occasion that the Pipers have pushed through for the bantam title since teams began to battle for that title in 1946.
It was back in 1987 and '88 - when current Nashville Predator Paul Kariya was a fixture on the school's rugby teams, and his father Tetsuhiko (T.K.) was a coach - that the Pipers won back-to-back bantam and juvenile V&D titles.
This is the first year, however, that both of the Pipers teams have won V&D titles in the same season.
For Jim Martin - who is the bantam Pipers team coach, as well as the co-ordinator of athletics for the North Shore Secondary Schools Athletics Association - the North Vancouver school's return to glory is an indication of the parity that now exists in the local league.
In recent years, rugby-centric schools such as Rockridge, Carson Graham and Collingwood ruled the roost, but now schools like Sentinel, Argyle, West Vancouver and Mulgrave are turning up the heat.
Martin, whose sons Luke and Connor were members of the Argyle bantam and juvenile teams, respectively, said that much of the credit for the development of the high school program should go to Paul Timperley and the mini-rugby program he oversees at the Capilano Rugby Club.
Last year, the first group of players who cut their teeth in the mini-rugby program vied for the Grade 8 title, while this year another class of mini-rugby grads entered the fray.
"It all feeds back to the club," said Martin. "You could see the growth throughout the year. The combination of the Capilano-trained players with the new guys - with the Caps leading the way - it brings the starting point up quite a bit higher than it normally would be if we had all new players. It raises the bar that much more. It's more exciting going to the park now for games. Every one is going to be exciting and competitive."
Martin and Owen Schutz coached the bantams - with help from Grant Stewart and Argyle Grade 12 link Dave Ferriday - while the juveniles were led by Mike Clucas and Ryan Edgar. For some of the coaches at Carson Graham, Martin's help in turning around the Argyle program might be seen as a defection: for 17 years, Martin was a teacher-coach at Carson. He's now been at Argyle for four seasons.
"In the 1980s when (Peter) Therrien and T.K. were at Argyle, they had a strong (rugby) program," said Martin. "When I was at Carson we'd often say the pool of athletes at Argyle was outstanding. It's just a matter of getting them focused on the sport and hunting them down in the halls and saying 'Look, you should be out here playing.' It's hands-on recruiting, and by hands-on I mean pulling (students) outside and saying 'You're coming to practice,' " said Martin, laughing.
By Jan-Christian Sorensen - sorensen@nsnews.com - of the North Shore News - First published on 11/22/2006
|
 |
|
|
Email Us Your Thoughts
Discuss on the Message Board
Mail this to a Friend
Prepare article for printer
