Creativity Credit to Liam W
The 2023/24 season has been a big one for JBAA youth, everyone from Mini Bear Cubs through to U18s have absolutely crushed it on and off the field. JBAA youth is building a strong reputation for having an extraordinarily positive culture for players, coaches and parents alike (tell your friends, bring them out!). The following post highlights some of the key events, and achievements of some of the various youth age grade teams, as well as island and provincial rep teams. While we may not have hit all the highlights of the season, it is clear that there is so much to be proud of as a club member, supporter, or sponsor - one thing is certainly clear: You Can’t Stop the Bear!!
New youth leaders - Stellar mentors developing strong athletes
The start of the 2023/24 season brought not only plenty of eager youth players but also several new additions to the youth leadership group. Most notably, Kelly Hanvey joined the coaching team as JBAA’s Youth Coordinator for the season, taking on the responsibility for coach and referee development within the club, laying the foundation for a leadership team that coaches and volunteers could build upon. This season, the JBAA youth teams were also privileged to receive the coaching expertise of several former and present Canada Sevens players; some of the common faces included Cooper Coates, Brock Webster, and Jake Thiel who provided U16 and U18 players with exceptional knowledge and skills of the game. Along with this, all of the coaches, new and returning, made this season a positive and successful one for the James Bay Youth program.
Tide 15s 2023 - JBAA tearing up the pitch with their island colleagues
Prior to the start of the 2023/24 season, several of our JBAA youth players represented Vancouver Island Tide in the Provincial Regional Championships (PRCs) at UBC in July. Tide had a dominant showing, bringing back 4 golds and 1 silver in the U14, U16, and U18 competitions. It was no surprise that James Bay players tore up the pitch and displayed excellent integrity, spirit and fair play throughout PRCs!
Beacon Hill Touch - Keeping the kicks alive all summer!
While our youth athletes weren’t playing games over the summer, our youth program ensured that they were staying active and keeping engaged in the rugby community with weekly all-age touch rugby sessions at Beacon Hill Park. This initiative, led by Lisa Cooper, was an awesome way to bring new players into the game, keep connected with teammates, and have a ton of fun! We even saw some old timers strap on the cleats and dust off their scrum caps to have a kick with the kids. Many thanks to Lisa and all coaches and volunteers who came together to make this happen. We hope for this tradition to continue again in summer 2024!
Pre-Season Jamborees - Building teams and friendships in friendly competition
With Kamloops in sight, the Bays hit the pitch in early September, first in Cowichan, followed by Westshore. September 24th was highlighted by a 7s Jamboree in Westshore for the older kids concurrent to opening day at MacDonald Park for the re-start of the Mini’s Sunday training sessions - future Team Canada superstars in the making by JBAA’s exceptional coaching volunteers! The positive rugby culture that would become the theme of the 2023/24 season was evident at the outset, as all clubs gathered to build skills over a bit of competition with the goal being to set players up for success and gradually prepare for the mainland 7s tournament.
Kamloops 7s - A beautiful weekend of rugby in the heat of the valley
From September 30th to October 1st, JBAA was proud to send four teams (U14 girls, U16 boys, U16 girls, U18 girls) to the 2023 Kamloops Sevens Tournament. This was the first time since the start of the COVID-19 Pandemic that JBAA youth teams have competed in this tournament. All four of our teams had an enjoyable and successful tournament. With tremendous support from the club, Youth Coordinator, and parent volunteers, this weekend was one of the most memorable experiences of the season and we look forward to future such experiences for the youth athletes in the future.
Time for 15s - Early days, big wins
Following the Kamloops Sevens Tournament, our youth players were ready to jump into the 15’s season! Whether it’s the Premier’s or the Mini Cubs, the first matches of a season set the tone for the year, and this year did not disappoint. With opening day at the Mac on 15 October, our teams effortlessly made the switch from playing 7s to dominating in 15s and broughtJBAA big wins in the early days. Throughout the season, our minis also practiced weekly and enjoyed playing in several multi-club jamborees, kicking balls, taking names and learning the game with their mates.
Island and BC Finals - A sea of blue and white on the playoffs pitch
Although the 2023/24 season was successful for our entire program, a few teams had instrumental success, earning the chance to play in both the Island and BC club finals. Our U14 girls became well known for their try scoring prowess, dominating the pitch at every turn. Our U16 boys team played their rivals, Castaway Wanderers, in the Island Final, narrowly losing but putting up an impressive performance to round their season off by finishing second on Vancouver Island. The U16 girls team finished first in the Vancouver Island league, giving them the opportunity to play Fraser Valley in the BC final. Although this ended up in a narrow loss for the JBAA side, the team was very proud of their accomplishment in making it so far. All teams should be proud of their tremendous efforts and accomplishments this season.
End Calendar Year - Awards Dinner and Christmas Hampers
Thanks to our incredible 2023/24 season Youth Coordinator and tremendous team of volunteers, this year saw the return of the annual Youth Awards Dinner. The upper floor of the Club House was packed with parents, players (u14-u18), and some of the winningest James Bay Alumni of all time, gathering for a night of music, laughs, stories, awards, and of course a gourmet dinner prepared by the one and only JBAA Volunteer Chef of the Year, Darren Greaves! While many of our youth athletes were recognized at this event, the most notable success was the realization that we, as a club, had brought back the most special aspect of the game to this group of enthusiastic JBAA members and supporters - the Culture of Rugby - was alive and well.
Starting the New Year - Tide 7s
Following an incredible JBAA season, several of our U15 through U18 female and male athletes were selected to represent Vancouver Island Tide at the Vancouver Sevens Invitational. Tide displayed impressive performances in all age groups, seeing the U15 Girls and U16 Boys win their tournaments, U18 Girls finish second, and U18 Boys third. Shout out to all athletes who were incredible ambassadors for JBAA, Island Rugby, and for the sport that we all love throughout the Tide 7’s season!
BC Bears - U16 girls representing the province in Florida
Over March Break 2024, four of our awesome u16 girls athletes represented BC at the Tropical 7s in Tampa Florida. A huge congratulations to JBAA’s Chloe Whittaker, Hailey Carroll, Asia Olynyk and Leah Parsons and all of your teammates for making the squad after a rigorous selection process, and for your phenomenal play in the u16 Girls Elite Division in Tampa, finishing in an impressive fourth place with three big wins during the tournament!
Final words so we can get back to the pitch:
A shout out to our Club Executive, Youth Coordinator, coaches, managers, refs, sponsors, and of course the loved ones who come out rain or shine to support us! As our Youth Volunteer Committee builds in the 2024 season to support our exec, we know that at the heart of it all, our youth program is what will keep this club rolling for generations to come as all youth aspire to one day tear up the pitch with the Prems.
See you on the pitch - don’t forget to tell friends about the awesomeness of this club and the sport of rugby - the more players we get out, the stronger we will be this seasons and into the future.
Huddy Huddy - You Can’t Stop the Bear!
