Durham Chronicle 17-18 Issue 12

30 The Chronicle April 24 - 30, 2018 chronicle.durhamcollege.ca Sports
DC rugby to compete in OCAA
Cameron Andrews
The Chronicle
Durham College’s rugby team
will compete next year at a provincial
level against other Ontario
colleges.
The teams have been playing
exhibition games since the rugby
program started last fall and will
now play against other college
teams in the OCAA.
The women’s rugby team will
play Sevens, meaning seven players
are on the field at a time. It’s
a shorter faster game. The men’s
rugby team will play a 15-player
game, which is the traditional way
of playing rugby.
The head coach of the women’s
team is Chris McKee and the
men’s head coach is John Watkins.
McKee has coached the Ontario
Blue U-20 team as well as
the U-18, U-16, and the senior
women and seven other programs
offered at the Oshawa Vikings
Rugby Club.
Watkins has coached for the
Vikings Rugby Club and is its
president.
He has also coached at Maxwell
Heights Secondary School
for the past four years and other
high school programs, as well as
various rep teams and teams of all
ages.
The Durham rugby team was
introduced last year, after a survey
of students. It showed rugby was
popular.
When the coaches were looking
for players they didn’t have a
lot of time.
Tryouts were in August and the
season started in September and
ended in October. They accepted
all 25 players at the men’s rugby
team tryouts.
Watkins says most of the players
who tried out knew how to play
rugby and some came from other
sports such as soccer or lacrosse.
However, he says they worked well
together and when playing their
exhibition games, they won their
last three.
Liam King, was a second row
forward on the men’s rugby team.
“He was pleasantly surprised
about how we played this season,”
he said, “that he was representing
something more.”
He said he was nervous at tryouts,
“but being on the Vikings
field and seeing Johnny felt like
home.”
He said it was easier to train
with them since only one or two of
the players were first time players
and the rest played for clubs or in
high school before.
Durham Lords compete against Trent.
King also said the team is prepared
for the OCAA next season
and they are excited for what’s to
come.
Watkins said playing in the
OCAA next season “gives the
players something to look forward
to.”
He also said knowing the
players trusted the coaching staff
helped.
“It feels good that they have
respect for the coaching staff,” he
said.
Watkins said the players are
ready for the next season.
“Athletes will come prepared.
The players will make sure that
Photograph by Durham Athletics
they are ready for next season,”
he said
He said the players will get
themselves prepared for the next
season, but he is unsure of who is
coming back to play.
Watkins says they will prepare
by playing club games outside of
school.
Hockey tournament for homeless raises $22,000
Cam Bickle
The Chronicle
The annual Hockey Helps The
Homeless tournament came to
Durham College for the second
time on Thursday April, 5.
The tournament, which took
place at the Campus Ice Centre in
Oshawa, has experienced plenty of
success through its first two years
in the area, though some players
and organizers say that there were
still some growing pains for the
relatively young organization.
"It feels like it's a little bit more
about hockey than it is the homeless,"
said Nic Moreau, a Durham
College student playing in the
tournament. "I don't know if the
homeless even know about this."
While it remains to be seen
how the fundraising will impact
homelessness and poverty in the
community, organizers say that
the financial goals were still met.
According to the event's website,
more than $22,000 had been
raised by Thursday, breaking
their original target by $2,000.
That number is down from
the $30,000 raised in last year's
tournament, but operations coordinator
Matt DiPasquale said
that donations to the organization
were limited by the college faculty
strike, which took away six weeks
of school last semester.
Participation is not limited to
just Durham College and UOIT
students. Brad Gagnon, a Police
Foundations student from Georgian
College in Owen Sound, says
he likely wouldn't have played if he
did not have friends at the school.
"If you have a few friends to
play with, I'd definitely recommend
it," Gagnon said. "But it
would be pretty hard if you were
by yourself."
Despite some honest reviews,
there was still plenty of enthusiasm
from players around the
arena. Many were seen watching
their opponent's games, talking to
If you have a few
friends to play
with, I'd definitely
recommend it.
teammates in the lobby, or enjoying
the complimentary meal at
Simcoe House Ales & Grill upstairs.
For those who don't participate
in intramural hockey through the
school year, the event acts as an
opportunity to experience competitive
college-level hockey for a
good cause.
This year's championship was
won by the team "DC State,"
which raised more than $2,800 -
the third most among the seven
participating teams. The event
also hosted more than one hundred
players for the second consecutive
season.
Matt Joseph, team captain for
"Jagr Bombs" and member of the
organizing committee, says that
he's pleased with how the tournament
went despite some of the
shortcomings.
"It's gone really well so far," Joseph
said. "It might sound biased
[because of my role in the committee]
but it really is a great tournament.
I would recommend it to
anyone."
Joseph was an advocate leading
up to the event, encouraging
many students to donate over the
last few weeks and months.
Joseph said even if someone
cannot afford to help out this
season, it's important to keep the
needs of the homeless in mind
when the tournament rolls around
again next year.
"I'm definitely going to [play
again next year], so hopefully
everything works out and we can
bring back all the same people and
even a few new ones," he said.