BC Grassroots Rugby Summer Blog - Week 3
BC Grassroots Rugby has finished their third week of Summer 2021!
As many of our supporters and readers know, BC Grassroots Rugby hosts annual summer camps. However, for those of you who are new to the BC Grassroots Rugby family, BC GRF is a community development non-profit organization working to provide opportunities for youth of all backgrounds to participate in safe, organized sport during the summer. The summer camp program transpires from July 5th to August 29th, with a range of days for each camp. The camps are set up in different areas all over Vancouver island. Therefore, the children of each region are met in an area that is both accessible and familiar to them.
WEEK 3 EVENTS
During week 3 of BC Grassroots Rugby Summer Program, each constituency team worked hard with kids and to beautify the island. This week consisted of pop-up and plays, beach rugby, ball drives, beach cleanups….. and so much more!
SUPERVISOR HIGHLIGHTS OF WEEK 3
Brock Staller - Nanaimo/Ladysmtih
In week 3, we didn’t have a big change in our schedule. Our week consisted of pop-up and plays at Transfer beach on Tuesday from 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm and at Kinsman park from 2 pm to 4pm on Wednesday. These were a great success! For Give-Back-Friday, our Nanaimo team had a camp and helped the local community on Gabriola island with some work!
Christian Hill - Kelowna
Week 3 consisted of the Kelowna Grassroots team keeping super busy within the community. Our team held a beach rugby game in Gyro park on Monday. There were regular pop up events on Tuesday and Thursday with the U10/U13s and U16/U19s on Wednesday. We also attended the Aberdeen Hall summer camp on Wednesday. On Friday we assisted with the Pacific Sports Camp. For Give-Back-Friday we had our ball drive. Over 90 (and counting) gently used and new rugby balls have been brought in. Our plan is to donate them to families and organizations who might not have access to rugby equipment. I was really touched by all the donations in our community for our ball drive! There has also been a lot of nice comments towards the work of our youth coaches.
Chanelle Challenger - Victoria
We had another successful week getting kids out to our pop ups! We changed our schedule around to accommodate more kids and we are super excited to see how many kids we can impact next week. Our biggest event in week 3 was that we had a few coaches venture up to Prince Rupert and run a few sessions with kids ages 5 to 18. It was a success and there were older kids who were inspiring and helping out the younger kids! We also had a great turnout at Tulista park in Sydney. The kids and staff had a lot of fun! For Give-Back-Fridays our team had another beach cleanup. We tidied up the entire stretch of Dallas road, filling up multiple garbage bags. A session that stood out to me was going up to Westshore and helping coach the minis, junior boys, and junior girls teams. They had lots of energy and so much talent! It is so nice to be able to build relationships with the clubs that promote rugby at all levels.
Gavin Purewal - Port Alberni
Our team had another successful week of 6 to 8 year olds in the morning and 9 to 13 year olds in the afternoon. We have reached 45 campers overall which is almost halfway to our goal of 100 kids. It was really a positive week where the kids were working on some skills and then applying them to some games. They are truly starting to become rugby players. Our senior athletes had a great time and played a variety of mini games after some fitness.
WHATS COMING UP?
Nanaimo/Ladysmith - We are starting a Monday night academy for girls in Parksville at Ballenas high school. This will be from 5 pm to 7 pm.
Kelowna - In week 4 , we have our rugby golf tournament on Thursday from 12 pm to 2 pm at Knox Mountain Park. The team will also be volunteering at the Kelowna Gospel Mission
Port Alberni - We are going to be helping out at one of the city of Port Alberni camps on Thursday of week 4.
Esquimalt/ Sooke - There will be a Vancouver Island Girls Rugby Academy. It will be a combination of on-field rugby skills and functional movement skills (speed and agility) to help local female athletes get back to rugby safely and achieve their goals! Registration is $100, please contact Brittany Waters at wrugby@uvic.ca. The academy will run on Tuesday's from 6:30pm to 8:30pm at Wallace Field, University of Victoria.
- For others interested in our plans for week 4, we will be running beach rugby on Friday. This will be held from 11 am to 2 pm, at both Cardboro Bay and Willows Beach
Cowichan - We have a similar program, as before, for week 4. We have our summer camp, ages 13 to 15 at Queen Margaret School on Thursday from 9 am to 5pm. Our Rugby Sports Equipment Charity Drive on Friday will be held at Queen Margaret School, from 9 am to 1 pm. Hope to see you there!
Victoria - We have a few super exciting upcoming events. There is a four day ( from august 6th to 9th) overnight camp on Hornby island. The kids will have a chance to hike, camp, BBQ, sing, swim, garden, partake in arts and crafts, and most importantly play rugby! This is an amazing opportunity to get your teenager out and enjoying one of the most beautiful islands in B.C.! Details can be found at https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/bc-grf-hornby-island-camp-u14-u16-tickets-161023588889. More details will be sent in an email to everyone who signs up!
