By Mike Barber
Along with hockey sticks, baseball gloves, basketball nets and soccer balls, Centretown parents might soon be asked to buy scrum caps and rugby shorts for their children.
Minor-level rugby will make it debut for downtown youngsters this May, when the Ottawa Irish and Bytown Blues clubs will start programs for boys and girls 12 and under.
But the sport, known to many as a rough, fast-paced game dominated by New Zealanders and Australians, is getting a bit of a makeover. Taking a cue from youth football, organizers have introduced detachable flags to replace tackles. The result, says league co-creator Linda Cunningham, is a co-ed, non-contact game which has leagues sprouting up all over the country.
“Rugby is a way of life,” says Cunningham, who has worked with the Ottawa Irish to bring a flag version to the city. “We’ve had kids ask us to play for a while, and now, they’ll finally get that opportunity.”
The Barrhaven Scottish started a similar program two years ago, but Cunningham says the distance to the suburb prevented a lot of kids from trying out. Her twin 12-year-old children, Allison and Thomas, made the trek last summer, but this year they can play the sport they love closer to home.
“Rugby is extremely fun,” says Thomas. “It keeps you in shape and you make a lot of friends.”
Nick Taylor, a spokesman for Rugby Canada, says those two reasons will make the sport more appealing to kids. “There’s a lot of competition in other sports at an early age,” he says. But in flag rugby, he says, “size and gender don’t matter. It’s very much a team game.”
The sport, similar to soccer and football but played without pads, has long had a small but committed following in Canadian high schools, universities and amateur clubs. Taylor says rugby’s image as a violent sport, while far from accurate, has stunted its growth at the youth level.
The Cunninghams hope flag rugby will help change that perception. Without the contact, the game opens up, says Linda, and allows the players to focus on strategy and skills, such as passing and kicking.
The season is expected to coincide with the start of the Rugby World Cup, which is held every four years and features the top international squads. While teams from England, South Africa and New Zealand are perennial favourites, Cunningham says youth programs will help get Canada to the top.
“In 10 years, we want to see kids playing rugby in middle school,” she says. Before this year, high school was the first opportunity children had to play organized rugby. Many students on the high school teams end up playing for local club teams, such as the Irish and the Blues.
But if aspiring ruggers, as rugby players are known, are introduced at an early age, Cunnignham says the quality of each team can only improve.
Cunningham says there is already plenty of support from those within Ottawa’s rugby community. She expects most of those who come out this year will be the sons and daughters of current and former club players. After that, the sport’s rise will depend on word of mouth.
Thomas is already helping out on that end. “When I first played, I thought it was a lot of fun,” he says. “So I brought out friends, and they liked it, too.”
Every Saturday morning starting May 26, the teams will meet at Colonel By High School. Residents from across the city can log on to ottawairishrugby.ca for registration details.