The recent success of the South Delta Sun Devils rugby program is almost a step back in time to the way high school sports used to be.
A coaching staff of mainly teachers that rely on multi-sport athletes at all grade levels. Those are the key ingredients that have the Sun Devils well-positioned as the senior playoffs loom.
The rugby momentum started a few years ago when current Elgin Park principal Jeff Johnstone was part of the administration at SDSS and piqued the interest at the Grade 8 level.
It continued with the arrival of teachers Matt and Spencer Baines who were standout players themselves and know exactly how high school teams work as products of the one-time powerhouse program at McRoberts Secondary in Richmond. Matt now oversees the SDSS juniors and his brother is in charge of the seniors.
“Jeff did a great job getting everybody out and we have been here to keep that going and now having enough coaches to sustain three teams. There are 30 kids out for Grade 8 this year,” said Matt. “We think we are in excellent shape for the next four to five years.”
South Delta’s seniors shook the provincial “AAA” rankings two weeks ago with a 22-7 home field win over No. 2 Bateman of Abbotsford. The performance moved the Sun Devils up to the No. 3 spot and that status was easily confirmed with a hard-fought 35-34 loss to No. 1 Yale on Tuesday in Abbotsford. It means South Delta will be seeded No. 2 for the Fraser Valley Championships.
It was the first meeeting between the two sides since the Lions squeaked out a 13-12 win in the provincial quarter-finals a year ago. South Delta went on to place seventh. That team featured Jarvis Dashkewytch and Petro Chountalos who are part of Rugby Canada’s national team program.
Chountalos has graduated while Dashkewytch is spending his Grade 12 year in Victoria at the Canadian Sports School so he can work out full-time at the Rugby Canada training centre.
Still it takes more than two standouts to thrive in 15s version of the game. That’s where the program has succeeded in attracting a number of the school’s top football players as well. This year’s squad already featured Andrew Kraft, Jacob Kirk, Caleb Van Til and Morgan Wolsey. The latest to come onboard is provincial MVP quarterback and UBC bound Michael Calvert who made his debut in the win over Mountain.
Calvert and Kraft gives the Sun Devils a pair of electrifying players who are capable of scoring from anywhere on the field. Calvert was key player on the rugby field two years ago when South Delta finished second at the Fraser Valley Championships. He didn’t play a year ago but is looking to make one final athletic contribution before graduating.
“It’s big football guys like Calvert and Grant (McDonald) coming out that gets everyone’s attention and now most of them are out here,” said Spencer. “Andrew is an amazing player and we thought we were going to lose him a couple of years ago but here is.
“We think football is fantastic and we admire the job they do. The kids are hooked into football and they run an excellent program. We think the sports really compliment each other. Caleb is probably our best tackler and he has been developing that in both sports.”
The South Delta juniors currently have a 1-3 record but is playing in the Fraser Valley’s top tier which means coming up against heavyweight schools such as Earl Marriott that is a top contender at the 4A level in senior.
Key players such as Evan Paterson and Ethan Troniak have been regular call-ups with the senior team for added depth.
“Those are hard games but the boys are hanging in tough and getting all that experience,” added Matt. “We think that’s more important instead of whipping teams (in tier two).”
