By Dan Plouffe
Visit SportsOttawa.com on Facebook for more photos from the girls’ rugby city finals.
Commitment, dedication, passion, camaraderie.
Those are the words coach Jen Boyd uses to explain the reason behind Ashbury College’s exceptional rugby tradition.
Her Colts girls’ team has won OFSAA gold four times in the past 10 years, and also collected four more provincial high school medals.
They enter the ‘AAA/AAAA’ ranks to face the strongest schools even though their smaller population classifies them as an ‘A’-level school. There are 220 girls at the Rockcliffe school and of them 40 play rugby.
There is a family feeling to the Colts, who are all wearing T-shirts with a quote on the back: “You are not what you did, but what you will do.”
Ashbury players are always intent on carrying on the tradition, and that’s a cause they’ll embrace when they compete in the 2012 OFSAA girls’ rugby championships June 4-6 at Twin Elm Rugby Park in Richmond.
“There’s a legacy,” highlights Colts senior Charlotte Dunlap, who’d already heard a lot about the program’s reputation before she joined up in Grade 9. “We live off the idea that Ashbury tries hard at rugby and comes out strong with its girls’ rugby program. It gives us a big push.”
The tradition includes a record of just one loss in national capital league play over the past decade. But that one defeat came in last year’s semi-final, which caused the girls to come back with even more fire – something their coach didn’t believe was even possible.
“I don’t think there’s a team that works harder than us, I really don’t,” says Boyd, noting her squad often outlasts opponents by the end of games, which is exactly what happened in their 28-3 city final victory over the St. Peter Knights on May 24.
Physical preparation has always been a major emphasis for the Colts coach of 12 years, who has her players run 4 km three days a week before the games start, while putting them through circuit training the other days.
Legacy includes Team Canada
“Oh my gosh, I remember running fitness non-stop pre-season,” laughs Ashbury grad Julianne Zussman, now a member of the Canadian senior women’s national rugby team. “We would just do lengths and lengths and lengths of the field. That was definitely part of Boyd’s philosophy. It was definitely necessary, and always useful at the end of the season.”
How Zussman started playing rugby is a familiar story for many Colts players. The 25-year-old told Boyd she was a soccer player through and through, but wound up getting hooked on a new sport in her very first practice. The OFSAA title she won in Grade 10 remains one of Zussman’s favourite career highlights.
“We were underdogs going into that tournament,” recalls the former McGill Martlet. “I remember us beating teams that outweighed us by like 100 pounds in the scrum.”
That’s another Ashbury trait – they’re never the biggest team, but they are always fit, fast, and skilled. Zussman got to see that was the case first-hand when she welcomed the current team to the Canadian team’s Langford, B.C. training facility during the Colts’ April pre-season tour.
“That was awesome,” says Zussman, who will more than likely be playing for Canada in a 2013 Rugby World Cup 7s Qualifier this August in Ottawa. “It was really inspiring to remember where I came from and what a great program I was a part of when I fell in love with rugby.
“That’s always with me – the fact that I love the sport so much.”
Colts primed for Ottawa OFSAA
Despite the history of success, there remains a piece of unfinished business for the current Colt seniors. They own OFSAA two silvers, but that’s not the colour they want this time around.
“We all want to finish with a gold medal in our last year,” emphasizes Dunlap, a key team leader along with Katrine Lightstone, Mary-Liz Power, and McMaster University-bound players Stephanie Black and Quincy Batson.
“We’re pretty pumped,” Dunlap adds. “It’s going to be really exciting. We’re going to try our best and represent Ashbury as best we can.”
Many Ottawa medal hopes
There’s no question the Colts are the better bet to try to follow Mississauga’s Applewood Heights Secondary School as OFSAA champions, but the St. Peter Knights are also ready to battle for a place on the podium against the province’s best.
“The girls are really hungry for success, especially knowing that Ashbury is one of the best in Ontario and that we can hang with them,” says Knights coach Pat Thompson, who believes the 40-minute mini-games format could favour his team. “Our program has been growing, and I think we’re at a point now where we can definitely compete with teams like Ashbury for sure.”
The Merivale Marauders also represent a solid medal threat in the ‘A/AA’ ranks. Led by Barb Bitchoka, who scored five tries in the city final, Merivale boasts nine athletes headed to CIS rugby schools next year.
“We knew from the start that we have a shot at a medal at OFSAA,” highlights Marauders coach Jon Leboutillier. “We’ve got the physical talent and size. And they’ve certainly put in the time and effort.”
Come OFSAA, the Marauders will have had 49 practices under their belt this season.
“I feel like they deserve it for the work they’ve put in, but we’ll see how it goes,” adds Leboutillier, who’s hoping for a good seed after coming closest to knocking off four-time defending-champion Trenton High School at last year’s OFSAA, falling by five in their second match of the tournament. “I feel we’re just a little bit stronger as a team than last year.”
Merivale will be up against 15 opponents in the ‘A/AA’ ranks, while another 16 ‘AAA/AAAA’ Ontario schools will occupy a total of 200 rooms at Algonquin College’s residence during the event.
Rounding out the Ottawa entries are the Elmwood Eagles, featuring a young lineup of Grade 9s and 10s alongside three seniors – Sam Fonberg, Alice Bifield, and Claire Racette.
“This is a big building year for us and we’re thrilled to go to OFSAA,” says Eagles coach Elmwood coach Erin Derbyshire. “It’s going to be amazing.”