Athietic Preview

As coaches Mike Collins and “Diver “Dave Dando will both tell you, or show you if your man or women enough to step on to the pitch with either one of them, rugby players are the meanest , hardest, toughest lot of athletes that Douglas college has to offer.

The sport continues to rise in terms of its popularity in both the men’s and women’s divisions and with 20 scholarships for both the men’s and women’s teams the talent continues to poor in from high schools across the lower mainland. Factor in these variables and this year should be no exception to the long history of success that the men’s and women’s sides have previously enjoyed.

With the addition of a developmental squad to the women’s program the upcoming season should prove to be exciting not only because of the high hopes of improving on last season, but also in terms of fun as women who are newcomers to the sport learn and improve under

the watchful eye of coach Dando.

The loss of stand out prop Pam Hadikan will be immeasurable not only in terms of her skill, but her leadership skills. The team will be relying heavily on up and coming stars as well as returning players such as Jen Ginther, Anne Carnachan, Stephanie Bigger, and leading try scorer Jen “Cliff” Fletcher. The Men’s side , led by inspirational coach and long time player Mike Collins, will be looking to avenge a disappointing loss to SFU in last years playoffs. The strong regular season record of 7-3 was good enough for second overall in the North West Collegiate Rugby Union, but the regular season doesn’t win championships and expectations will be high in 96/97.

Much of the weight lies on the shoulders of last years standouts, Mike Lewthwaite and Brendan Leong. Some new talent will also have to have imerge if power houses such as SFU and UBC are to be dethroned.

Open training and tryouts will be held through out September for players of all skill levels. For more information please contact Dave Dando at 231-1895 or Mike Collins at 936-4955.

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14 September 3 1996 The Other Press