Kim Crocker wanted to give the girls at Kelly Road Secondary a place to take out their high school frustrations when she signed up as rugby coach.
"It's a really good source to vent all your anger," said Crocker. "It's a full-contact sport, but you're also not really hurting anybody. Afterwards, your team and the team you just played goes out and has fun. It's all about friendly competition."
Crocker played two seasons for the Roadrunners before graduating in 2004. She was surprised in September 2010 to learn there was no longer a girls' rugby team and agreed to coach the sevens in the fall and 15s in the spring.
"It was one of the most fun experiences I had through high school and it made me really love the sport - that's why I'm back," said Crocker. "It made me love it for life."
The Roadrunners - girls and boys - are in Williams Lake this weekend for the rugby zone championship.
"We'll have some really tough competition down there, due to the fact that they never stop practicing, and are the most amazing players we've seen," said Crocker.
The Roadrunner sevens only have had just one other school they can play against to prepare for zones - the PGSS Polars. Kelly Road has compiled a 2-3 record against the Polars.
"PGSS is a really nice team to work against and because we're both relatively new - they may have had a team longer, but they've had no one to play against - so we're playing against girls of the same ability. It's really good practice," said Crocker. " We're both learning a lot and it's helping us grow."
The zone tournament will allow the Roadrunners a chance to play against two Williams Lake teams, a squad from 100 Mile House and the Polars.
Crocker said the Roadrunners are focusing on technique and not hesitating when going into
a tackle.
"We teach them how to do it slowly," said Crocker about tackling. "It seems like adrenaline really does take over when they're playing a game. The most fearful girls in practice that are almost scared to touch anybody are the most vicious players out there - they're always in a tackle or always in a ruck."
There are 15 to 20 girls who take part in the rugby program at KRSS, including a pair of exchange students from Denmark and Scotland.
Crocker - a hooker in her playing days - receives help coaching from Trish Scichilone, a graduate of Kelly Road in 2003.
"We made it to provincials [in 2002 in Victoria]," said Scichilone, a four-year member of the Roadrunners girls rugby team. "We didn't do great, but we made it there and that was a big thing."
Sevens rugby consists of two seven-minute halves with a one-minute break, while 15s is 30 minutes with two 15-minute halves.
In the spring, the Roadrunners' coaches are looking into playing a few 15s games with Houston and Smithers to give the girls a few different opponents.
Scichilone said she'd like to play for the Prince George Vixens, the women's rugby team, one day. Several of the girls practice with the Vixens, including Evon Maxam, a second-year player with the Roadrunners.
Crocker, who is in the process of completing her training to as a rugby referee, said they'd like to see more girls, between 14 and 17, involved in the sport at a
city level.
