The Chuckanut Bay Rugby Club hosted the annual PNW Loggers U18 Boys vs. BC Selects U18 rugby game on Saturday, Aug. 10 at DeWilde Fields in Ferndale.
“It is a lot better feeling since it’s your home turf,” Chuckanut Bay player and Ferndale High senior Jacob Gandy said. “We had a good team and it is always good to beat Canada.”
The Loggers and BC Selects have played against each other for about a decade. The Loggers never defeated the BC Selects until this year, winning 33-25.
“It felt really good because at the start we were down since we were penalized a lot,” Loggers player and Eastlake High senior Lewis Chambers said. ”We came together, bonded with the guys we met, and the win was a bonus from the weekend.”
The Loggers, one of six USA Rugby National Development programs in the country, have been around for more than 20 years and have played and drawn players from Washington, Oregon, Idaho and sometimes Utah.
Chuckanut Bay’s treasurer and Western Washington University’s coach Paul Horne said the DeWilde Fields are the best in the Northwest and the atmosphere was tremendous.
Horne added, “The best part was when it was over. Both teams had their arms wrapped around and enjoyed a barbecue afterward.”
Before the festivities started on Thursday, Aug. 8, the Loggers staff took several steps to prepare for the matchup against Canada. First, each player competed for their local select team and qualified for the Great Northwest Challenge in Montana.
Gandy competed for Chuckanut while Chambers playe`d for the Eastside Lions. As the select teams played against each other, coaches scouted on the sidelines and watched hours of film.
Horne and coach Allan Law began to form a roster and finalized it on Wednesday night. The players flew out to Ferndale and began training two days before the match.
“We had two Seattle Seawolves from the Major League Rugby team come and [they] did a session on Thursday,” Horne said. “We had former US Eagle and local Nick Wallace do a session on Friday. All those things contributed to the success on the field.”
The training sessions helped the Loggers earn their first victory. In addition, the sessions helped build bonds between players from other states and the opportunity to play a high-level rugby match before heading back to high school or college.
“It was an eye-opener,” Gandy said. “You can do as much training as you want, but stepping on that field helps you develop and gives you a good opportunity to get to the next level.”
Although the rugby season ended, the PNW Loggers are already looking forward to expanding next season into a two-game series with the BC Selects.
“For these guys to play in a game like that, hopefully, it lights a fire under them and that they want more,” Horne said. “I am hoping to get a home and away with BC next year.”
Nick Zeller-Singh is CDN's sports reporter; reach him at nickzellersingh@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 104.
