Tough matchup in first action for UBC Okanagan women's rugby. Fall (61-0) to Abbotsford and then they are fundraising for Food Bank on Sunday.
Women’s Rugby (BC Rugby Union Division One match)
Saturday September 17, 2016
Parkinson Recreation Centre (P10), Kelowna, BC
SCORING FINAL Abbotsford 61 UBC Okanagan 0
KELOWNA, BC - The UBC Okanagan Heat women’s rugby team had their first match of the season against traditional BR Rugby Union women’s powerhouse, Abbotsford RFC this last Saturday in Kelowna.
With close to 15 new faces on the roster and just two weeks of practice the seasoned squad from the Fraser Valley came away with a 61-0 victory over the Heat in a Division One matchup at Parkinson Recreation Centre.
New head coach of the Heat Danny Weidner was very positive with the result in spite of the lopsided score.
"Starting the game strong and maintaining possession through multiple phases of play," said the coach. "After working hard to build phase play and work down field," the team did not see the results reflected with points. "Unfortunately multiple turnovers allowed led to the majority of Abbotsford’s scores as the visiting team was quick to steal the ball and quickly handle out wide and turn into points."
"The score was not reflective of the match," thought Weidner "Considering we had 60-70% of the ball possession on the day although the territory play was just slightly in Abbotsford’s favour."
Always positive coach Weidner is already looking forward to next week and their home match against Simon Fraser "The girls will need to still work on the basics and iron out some areas of their game to capitalize on offensive and defensive opportunities."
Players of the match for UBC Okanagan were Kara Ware (Blindside flanker) and Jacqueline Dubreuil (Inside centre).
The women's rugby match versus SFU is on Saturday September 24th with an 11:30 a.m. kickoff at the Parkinson Rec Centre.
After resting up and recovering after a hard fought match on Saturday, the UBCO women's rugby squad took some time away from studying or training on Sunday morning to help raise donations for the local food bank at RibFest at Kelowna City Park.
The Heat were volunteers to be “Dunked” in the frigid waters of a dunk tank. The rugby team was a massive attraction with dozens of people coming to throw a rugby ball at the target to try to “Cool off the Heat”.
Not just dunkees the members of the team at the community event spent their time informing numerous children and adults about rugby, UBCO, and the rugby program on campus. The members of the team also spent time demonstrating how to throw a rugby ball.
"We look forward to working with the Food Bank again in the future to help raise donations and awareness," said the new coach. " The student athletes out there on Sunday were without a doubt one of the star attractions on the day."
