Mike Hart 4/5

MoM:
Chad Doran

Developmental Side:

http://sarniasaints.com/the-poll-page

VENUE
Norm Perry Park
TIME
1500
WEATHER
Hot and Sunny 31*C
FIELD
Dry and firm
RESULT
Kingston 3 vs Sarnia 33
TRIES
Rhodri Holloway
Chris Dundee
Chris Hart
Chad Doran
Quincy Weatherby
Convert(s):
Joel Clarke 4/5
MoM:
Chris Hart

Girl’s rugby is a growing sport in Ontario and the Sarnia Saints are growing too. This year the Sarnia Saints Ladies team are sending eight of their players to compete in university rugby teams all over Southern Ontario. ‘It’s a proud moment and after a challenging season it will give the girls a lot of experience and the knowledge of what to expect at university standard rugby’ said Sean Keane, Head Coach of the ladies team.

With university tryouts up and coming the Saints ladies have been undertaking intense and demanding fitness sessions in order to bolster their chances of making their respective university teams and being in the best shape possible. Saints player Lauren Wilks who will be attending her second year rugby try outs at St Francis University is mindful of the skills and conditioning she has gained from the Saints summer rugby programme this year. ‘I’ve definitely improved my playing skills and leadership this season’ said Wilks who is also looking forward to practicing with a range of mixed abilities and leadership personalities while as St. Francis.

Leadership skills (among other skills) is exactly what the Saints ladies coaching staff are trying to implement into the players this season as practice is often structured with players taking control and running their own sessions. ‘It’s a beautiful thing to see… when you’re giving instructions or a team talk and your players are finishing your sentences for you, that’s when you know their learning something and becoming empowering young athletes’ said Rhodri Holloway, The Saints Ladies Training Co-ordinator.

Of all eight players trying out for university rugby this fall, four players will be in their first year: Daria Keane – University of Guelph, Emily Powell – Brock University, Julia Greenshields and Shelane Stuart – Both University of Western Ontario. Three players will be in their second year: Jamie Holmes – York University, Christina McTavish – Guelph University and Lauren Wilks – St. Francis Xavier University and finally Kristin Fairbairn in her third year at Brock University.

When asked about her expectations of third year university rugby Fairbairn said ‘Its going to be tough with a lot of new young players challenging for your spot, but all I can do is work hard and be ready both physically and mentally’.

To say the least, nobody is as proud as the Saints President, Ryan Mortensen who quoted: ‘Of the girls who have worked hard enough to gain the ability and opportunity to play at a higher level, it means that they are representing our club and our program by sharing with others what we have taught them’. It seems as though the Saints have a strong philosophy of developing excellence both on and off the field and this is clearly shown by the players, volunteers and coaching staff to are successfully developing and promoting the participation of rugby in the community.

With only a few short weeks left until the ladies leave for university only time will tell if the player’s hard work and capabilities will be successfully transferred into their university rugby careers…. Good luck to them and watch this space.

Picture, from Left: Christina McTavish, Daria Keane, Kristin Fairbairn, Lauren Wilks, Shelane Stuart 

Marshall League – Provincial Division 2nd STANDINGS

1 Mike McGuire

2 Ian McEwen

3 Brendan Groombridge

4 Matt McAuslan

5 Dave Koebel

6 Ryan Carr

7 Vance Jardine (Happy Birthday)

8 Tyler Boyd – Captain

9 Ben Trinham

10 Mike Hart

11 Chris Dundee

12 Chris Hart

13 Joel Clarke

14 Nick Powell

15 Spencer Houllihan

Reserves

Greg Smith

Daniel Fenney

Sean Clark

Nick Holdings-Parsons

Matt Williams

Development Side

1 Daniel Feeney

2 Greg Smith

3 ???

4 Jason South

5 Dylan Cullis

6 Sean Clark

7 Dave Maczso

8 Nick Holdings-Parsons

9 Andrew Harpell

10 Matt Williams

11 Simon Kennefick

12 Craig Johnston

13 Mills Mills

14 Ben Jardine

15 Dean King

This is the second straight year the Canadians have made the final, but is the last chance for them to lift the trophy because the competition ends after this season. The Saxons beat Canada 38-18 in the 2010 final.

HAMILTON — Dylan Barker did not believe it at first.

Near the end of Wednesday’s practice, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats defensive back was introduced to a new drill. It was something he had never done before.

“There’s this lady and she’s like, ‘OK guys we’re going to juggle,’ and we were all like, ‘Are you kidding me?’ Everybody was looking around at each other. But it was a good little drill. Everybody started out kind of rough, but we picked it up.”

The juggling drill is being championed by Ticats defensive co-ordinator Corey Chamblin.

“If the defensive backs can learn how to juggle two, three balls, whatever it is, then not only can they focus more, it will open up their peripheral vision so they can focus on balls coming quicker from the outside, tipped balls and anything else,” Chamblin said.

In the past, Chamblin spent part of practice tossing tennis balls at his players so they would focus on a smaller object. That way when the time came to catch an actual football it would seem bigger.

“Everywhere I’ve been I’ve usually thrown tennis balls at the guys,” Chamblin said. “A fellow coach here in Hamilton said, ‘Why don’t you throw juggle balls, because tennis balls roll and juggle balls don’t.’

“I didn’t know where to buy them so we looked online to see where to buy them from and we got in touch with Corrie Cunningham. She said, ‘You can buy them from here and I’d love to come in to teach your guys juggling.’ ”

The offer from Cunningham, who runs Juggle Magic Ontario, caught Chamblin off guard. The rookie co-ordinator, who spent the last three seasons as Calgary’s defensive backs coach, told Cunningham he would think about it.

And the more Chamblin thought about it, the more he liked the idea. Head coach Marcel Bellefeuille and team president Scott Mitchell gave their stamp of approval.

Cunningham, who will receive tickets to Ticats games in exchange for her services, attended Wednesday’s practice. The team plans on bringing her in once a week throughout the season. The juggling drill lasts about 15 minutes.

“Eventually they can start passing the balls to each other,” said Cunningham, who is also a certified gymnastics coach. “We’ll get two guys going with six balls and three guys going with nine balls. It will be a good team bonding exercise.

“I think it’s a good drill to do at the start or end of the practice. It allows them to clear their heads. It’s almost like meditating.”

And while Chamblin had defensive backs in mind when he pitched the idea, other players quickly became interested.

“It doesn’t just help the defensive backs, it helps the wide receivers and linebackers as well,” Chamblin said. “It is all about focus and this helps them all focus.”

While some players were initially skeptical, many have now embraced the idea.

“You’ll be focusing on one thing in the game, but you got to be able to see everything,” defensive back Jerome Dennis said. “You can’t just key in on one thing. I need to be able to see everything around me. Juggling makes you concentrate and have good peripheral vision on the other balls.”

“When we started I really didn’t understand the benefits of juggling,” added defensive back Jason Shivers, “but it definitely makes your hand-eye co-ordination and timing better.”

While the players had a chuckle about the drill — “Let’s just say I won’t quit this job to go do that. I’m not going to join the circus,” Dennis said — the tone changed when the topic turned to Hamilton’s lack of interceptions last season. The Ticats were sixth in the CFL and last in interception-return yards. Meanwhile, the Montreal Alouettes, Hamilton’s rival in the East Division and winners of the last two Grey Cups, led the league in interceptions.

“The biggest thing about the game is who has the ball,” Chamblin said. “We always want to get that ball back. We have to make the opposition offence pay for their mistakes. We have to have that mindset that the ball is ours.”

Chamblin is instituting a more aggressive defensive strategy this season marking a dramatic shift from the bend-but-don’t-break philosophy employed by former Ticats defensive co-ordinator Greg Marshall. Forcing more turnovers is a key part of Chamblin’s plan.

“We can’t stop focusing on the ball until it’s secure in our hands and we’re heading the other way,” Barker said. “We can’t be dropping easy picks, which happened too much last year.”

“One of our goals is to be the leading defensive-backs groups in terms of interceptions,” Shivers said, “and anything we can do to make that happen we’re all for it.”