• Our Season of Play starts on Monday, March 5, 2012.  Competition between a school team and a team outside that school may not take place before that date.
• Student-Athlete Registration Forms must be submitted to the BC SCHOOL SPORTS office by way of the on-line registration system no later than April 5, 2012.  Please carefully read Section C2.3 (Adding Names to Student-Athlete Registration Form) in the BCSS Directory – Competitive Rules and Regulations 2010-2011.
• Applications for BCSSRU Scholarships must be received no later than April 13, 2012.
• BCSSRU Sevens 2012 will be held on April 21 and 22, 2012, and will be hosted by St. George’s School (Vancouver BC).
• The final day on which teams may qualify for Provincials 2012 is May 17, 2011.  The final rankings and game schedules will be posted on the website the following day.
• Provincials 2012 will be held as follows:
  Round 1 Games (at various locations around the Province) on May 26, 2012.
  Rounds 2, 3 and 4 Games at the Rotary Stadium and Exhibition Park Complex in Abbotsford on May 30, 31 and June 2, 2012.

Now that we are into the New Year, zones as well as individual school programs are turning their attention to the upcoming season which gets under way on Monday, March 5.  The Northern Interior Zone held their meeting in conjunction with the Sevens tournament held at Williams Lake Secondary in late October, and the Fraser Valley meeting was held at the Abbotsford RFC this past November.

Upcoming meetings are scheduled as follows:

• Lower Mainland:  Tuesday, January 17 – 4:00 pm at St. George’s School (Vancouver). 
  Contact:  Pat Palmer   ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ).
• Okanagan:  Wednesday, January 18 – 6:00 pm at Kalamalka Secondary (Vernon)
  Contact:  Ian Busfield   ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ).
• North Vancouver Island:  Thursday, January 26 – 2:30 pm at the Longwood Brew Pub (Nanaimo). 
  Contact:  Ken Erikson   ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ).

Further information concerning Zone Contacts and League Schedules will be posted on this website’s Zone Information pages as it becomes available.

Best wishes for success to the following teams travelling overseas or to the United States this spring season:

G.P. Vanier to Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
The Las Vegas Invitational Sevens Tournament (Youth Division) from February 9 to 11, 2012.  This event is held in conjunction with the IRB Las Vegas Sevens.

Lord Byng to New Zealand
Kristin School, Albany, Auckland
Long Bay College, Torbay, Auckland
Whangarei Boys’ High School, North Auckland
Katikati College, Bay of Plenty

Mulgrave to Argentina and Uruguay
Woodside School, Punta del Este, Uruguay
Club Atletico Prov. U16/U18Teams, Rosario, Argentina
St. Matthew’s College, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Okanagan Mission to Ireland
Competition with High School teams in Dublin, Galway and Limerick.

Shawnigan Lake to Japan
The Sanix World Rugby Youth Invitational Tournament to be held in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan from March 28 to April 5, 2012.  Countries invited to nominate ‘select’ teams are Australia, Canada, France, New Zealand, South Africa, South Korea, Tonga and Uruguay.

St. George’s to New Zealand and Australia
Kristin School, Albany, Auckland, New Zealand
Epping Boys High School, Sydney NSW
Bishop Druitt College, Coffs Harbour, NSW
Matthew Flinders Anglican College, Sunshine Coast, QLD

Claremont Secondary (Victoria BC) is set to host its fourth annual Scrum Fest Tournament.  The event will run over three days (April 12 to 14), and feature roughly thirty teams in three divisions – Senior Boys, Junior Boys and Mixed Grade Girls.  Participants include teams from Vancouver Island, the Lower Mainland, the Okanagan, the Northern Interior, as well as touring teams from Alberta, Ontario and Australia.  Each team will play three pre-arranged games.  The event also features:

• A ‘Player Clinic’ hosted by members of the Canadian Men’s National Team
• Tournament T-shirts and program
• On-site concession, change rooms and bleachers for spectators 
• Jeff Lombard from International Athletic and his trailer of rugby merchandise (clothing and equipment), and more..
  

You can find more about the tournament by accessing the following link:  http://claremont.sd63.bc.ca/course/view.php?id=204

If you wish to participate, please contact Phil Ohl ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) as soon as possible.  Tournament registration forms can also be found at the website listed above.

From time to time the BC Rugby Referees’ Society will publish a newsletter featuring discussion on the Laws of the Game, and the impact they have on the way the game is played in British Columbia.  As the IRB clarifies the Laws with its policies and rulings, it is hoped that this newsletter will do the same for officials, coaches, players and fans.  For a copy of the current laws, go to http://www.irblaws.com/EN/downloads

• Click here for the full text of Whistle Talk – Volume 1 Edition 1

The annual Northern Interior Zone ‘Sevens’Championships were hosted by Williams Lake Secondary on October 28 and 29, and featured local schools as well as teams from Terrace, Vanderhoof and Prince George.  The air was chilly, but the players quickly warmed to the task at hand and played some excellent rugby.

The Junior ‘A’ Division final was between the two local schools with Columneetza scoring a try with no time left on the clock to take away a 7-5 win.  The Junior ‘AA’ final represented a convincing 52-0 win by the host school over Prince George Senior Secondary.  In the Senior Division the Bronze Medal game was a close encounter, but the Caledonia Northmen from Terrace prevailed over D.P. Todd (Prince George) by a score of 12 to 5.  The Gold and Silver Medals match was once again a ‘local derby’, and proved to be a hard-hitting battle.  The title went to Columneetza with a 7-5 score-line, and they will represent the zone in the BCSSRU Sevens to be held in Vancouver in mid-April of the coming year.

Congratulations to the Organizing Committee, coaches and athletes for their ongoing and enthusiastic commitment to the sport of high school rugby in the ‘North’ despite climate challenges and long distances incurred in travelling to competition.  As they point out, “We Represent High School Rugby from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean and North to the Territories.  We’re Bigger than France!”

Click the Read More button for action photos and a full roster of scores

Congratulations to our sixteen successful candidates for the 2011 BCSSRU Scholarships. For profiles and photos of the winners, please click on the 2011 Recipients page.