The 2024/25 Social Memberships are now available for sale with a new swag option that I know has been requested by many people: a zip up hoodie.
The hoodie is not cotton like the Rushton Hoodie, this one is made out of performance fabric and has a closer cut (i.e. not oversized). Early reports are this one looks sharp.
Head over to the Social Membership page to see more details about the membership and how you can join.
Key upcoming dates for the U14-18 teams are below. Pre-season 7s tourneys will run between 8 and 15 September throughout BC, in prep for Kamloops the weekend of 21 September. The start of the fall age-grade 15s season is expected to occur the weekend of 28 September. The fall season is expected to run until the weekend of 1 December (finals), with BC finals the weekend of 8 December.
Today will go down in history as an absolutely incredible day for Canadian Rugby - our women claimed victory over New Zealand 22-19 in Christchurch to win the Pacific Four Series!
Scorers: Fancy Bermudez (2T), McKinley Hunt (1T), Sophie de Goede (1PK, 2C)
Congratulations Sophie and all your teammates! Huddy Huddy!
We have some good news to share regarding summer camps at Macdonald Park for kids aged 5-14:
We are able to offer two Summer Camps this year:
July 22nd-26th, 9am-1pm @ Macdonald Park . Price is $90 per child.
Aug 6th-8th, 9am-1pm @ Macdonald Park. Price is $60 per child.
These camps will fill up quickly and we are offering our JBAA families first chance to secure a place!
Please email Kelly at youthrugby@jbaa.ca to reserve your spot and/or to find out more information.
James Bay Athletic Association President, John de Goede wishes to share the following Coach update:
"Brett Beukeboom will take over the role of Head Coach of Men’s Rugby at JBAA, effective immediately. Brett will replace current coach Tony Healy. Brett brings years of coaching experience, RFU Level 2 certification and will continue on with the JBAA Player-Centric Philosophy: to allow the players to thrive on and off the pitch.”
de Goede went on to say: “JBAA appreciates all the hard work and time put in by Healy, especially during the Covid shutdown. We accepted Tony’s decision to step down when the season ended. We wish him all the best in his future coaching endeavours.”
Interested in playing with JBAA? You can contact Brett at : coach-senior-men@jbaa.ca
Need more information about JBAA or this story? Contact John de Goede at : President@jbaa.ca
More on Brett: https://www.ultimaterugby.com/brett-beukeboom
A Team Canada legend and Cornish Pirates powerhouse, in his early days Brett played against the Bays and went on to play for UVic. His professional rugby career included 32 international caps and the Rugby Word Cup - he brings with him a wealth of experience, both as player and coach with a proven track record of success on the pitch.
Coaching Experience:
- Coached local club rugby in England for 3 seasons.
- Ontario Blues academy coach for 8 months.
- JBAA Assistant coach for 2 seasons.
- Guest coach with Pacific Pride when time permits.
From all of us, thank you, Brett - looking forward to hitting the pitch with you at the helm!
Where: JBAA, Macdonald Park - 205 Simcoe Victoria, BC
When: Friday, April 12th - 9:30am Kickoff - 3:40pm Finish
Cost: No cost - donations are welcome for bursary fund
Donation info:
A scholarship/bursary fund is being created for this event.
50% of the donations collected will be going directly to the BC Epilepsy Society charity.
50% of the donations will be going to a deserving rugby player in the form of a bursary or scholarship to help cover costs associated with:
Post-secondary tuition expenses for Fall 2024
Local Club Fees, travel, and accommodation
Travel Expenses from participation on BC Rugby Provincial
or Canada Rugby team events (national or international)
*Donations can be made in cash, or cheque made payable to Esquimalt High School with a note saying it is for “Epilepsy Awareness Bursary Fund” provided to tournament host Eliza Woods and the Esquimalt Rugby Executive.
Submitted by Bad Boy
Our women’s team outscored UBC 59-34 in a run-and-gun effort played in Vancouver yesterday. Bus driver Tom Woods reports that our team ‘scored lots of great tallies'. Katrina Sweeney led the JBAA onslaught with 3 tries, Kylie Good and Caelyn Huebner added a pair each while single score contributions came from Daryana Mielecka, Raelee Mulholland, Aislen MacKay and Sarina Brooks. Saffron Brooks and Allie Phillips each converted to round out the scoring for the convincing victory.
Our Premier Reserve squad kept their playoff hopes alive with an exciting win over the visiting Capilano squad from the North Shore of Vancouver. The visitors trailed JBAA from our first try till the end of the game with the Bays’ win never in doubt. Our first try resulted from a bollocking run by Mostyn Findlay, followed by an Isaac Gonevou kick which was scooped up by the sprinting Malik James allowing him to race in to score unopposed. A 5 metre belly flop by Chef bumped the score to 10-0 by the 10 minute mark. The Caps had the edge in forward play for much of the game and used a rolling maul to tighten the score at 10-5, five minutes later. A zig zagging run by Craig Doublename, along with his convert took the score to 17- 5 by the half.
The JBAA backs continued to run rampant during the second half with long runs by multiple players resulting in tries from Isaac, his brother Joeli Gonevou, veteran Nanyak Dala and Mark Yuen. A couple more Craig Mitchell-Hermann converts gave theBays a 43-19 lead with but 15 minutes left and time for some substitutions. The Caps gamely fought back with 2 late tries but their losing fate had already been sealed. Final score 43-24 for JBAA. Our boys need a win next week over UVic to proceed to the playoffs.
The Premier game was a very interesting and exciting match. The beginning of the encounter looked to be a horror show for JBAA fans as Capilano scored one minute into the game and then went on to run up a 28-0 lead using the wind and slope well, aided by some sketchy defence from the home team.
A nifty backline movement from Mostyn Findlay to Anton N’Gongo with an off load to Keegan Neary allowed the speedy winger to get the Bays on the board, finally, with 9 minutes to go in the half. Mike Nieuwenhuysen then orchestrated two quick JBAA tries, springing Keegan to score twice more, allowing the Bays to come back to trailing by a more respectable 17-28 deficit at the half.
With the wind and the slope favouring the crowd favourites, the JBAA flag flapped briskly in the breeze as the second half began. A successful penalty by Thomas Burton, followed quickly by a penalty try awarded after foul play by the visitors and the Bays crept to within one…27-28…and the game was on!
Eight minutes later sustained forwards pressure by JBAA allow Jack Macintosh to storm over for a try and the first lead of the game for the home team at 32-28. A counter-attack off a miss kick allowed the visitors to regain the lead at 32-35 with a converted tally. The never-say-die Bays responded with 10 minutes to go when Craig-Mitchell-Hermann, playing in his second match of the day, tallied for JBAA; the Burton convert gave the home team a 39-35 lead as the score see-sawed in JBAA’s direction. Alas, an apparent try by Anton disallowed, some squandered chances by the Navy Blue and a couple of late Caps tries saw our brave warriors on the losing end of a 39-49 scoreline.
All in all a disappointing score, but a very exciting spectacle.
Last regular home games next week against UVIC.
1 win, 2 losses on home turf
Submitted by Bad Boy
Despite the unseemly rainfall, all three rugby games were able to be completed at MacDonald Park this weekend.
The first game saw our women’s team steamroll the visiting Cowichan group [retaining the Yanos Cup] in a game that was played with just 10-aside as the up-island squad continues to struggle with numbers. The home team struck early and often, using the restricted numbers to their advantage while dominating the game by a score of 54-5. Sarina Brooks and Clara Meyer led the Lady Bays with two tries apiece while solo tallies were contributed by Eliza Woods, Daryana Mielecka, Caelyn Huebner, Dani Ewen, Avery Laing and Katrina Sweeney. Eliza’s try was particularly entertaining as she attempted a TV-type dive into the end zone while landing ignominiously on her knees. The women ’s final regular season game is in two weeks against UBC.
Speaking of ‘steamrolling', the JBAA men's Premier Reserve fifteen were mauled 56-7 by the fast-attack UBC team. JBAA continues to fight for a playoff spot but will need a win against Capilano in two weeks to make that happen. Despite the lopsided score, the Bays had a considerable share of possession but were unable to convert their opportunities despite multiple forays into UBC red zone; meanwhile, the speedy visitors pounced on every and all JBAA errors to fatten their lead at a steady pace throughout the match. The only Navy Blue score came at the end of the first half when Toby Ng hit a hole before dishing to Jeremiah Gonevou who bashed over the line. Craig Mitchell-Hermann and Joeli Gonevou also had notable performances on the day.
The Premiere game saw the Thunderbirds shock the home team by scoring off the kick-off at the one minute mark. Another opportunistic try gave them a 14-0 lead before a Thomas Burton penalty got the Bays on the scoreboard. As in the previous game, poor execution of line-outs maimed the JBAA boys attack and allowed a further try by UBC at 25 minutes and despite the next 5 minutes with the home team pressing, the halftime whistle blew on a 21-3 score at the half. Tom Richardson and Jake Thiel were warriors for our boys during this half.
Unfortunately, the beginning of the second half mimicked the first half when UBC scored 8 minutes in, to establish a 28-3 advantage. But a scant 4 minutes later, Jake made a break, passed to Mostyn Findlay who freed up the relentless Richardson to dive into Coffin Corner…28-8. The T-Birds were able to take advantage of rubbish line-outs by the Bays to score twice, taking a commanding lead of 38-8. Much of the second half left the JBAA Faithful longing for clearing kicks to take advantage of the wind and slope; exploiting that edge was apparently not in the players' plan. With time winding down, the proud JBAA squad pressed relentlessly and were rewarded in the dying moment with a Mostyn score to close the game out at 38-13. Along with Mostyn and Tom Richardson, Crosby Stewart played well despite the loss.
The men will host Capilano two Saturdays from now.photo by Jen Ross
BC Rugby has announced the 12 athletes heading to Florida to compete for the BC Bears U16 Girls 7s team. This list includes two second generation JBAA athletes: Chloe Whittaker - father is Chris Whittaker (former national team player), and Hailey Carroll - father is Eoin Carroll (played internationally in Ireland and France).
Also making the squad are JBAA’s Asia Olynyk and Leah Parsons (Leah’s grandfather played MLB)! Congratulations to all and good luck in sunny Tampa!
The team will be coached by Darcy Patterson, while the squad will also be joined by athletic therapist Sheena Kelly.
“The selection process for the BC Bears U16 Girls 7s team was very competitive and took into account performances during the Winter's ID Camps and key events throughout the BC Rugby season, including the 2023 Kamloops 7s and 2024 Vancouver Sevens Invitational.”
UBC Women won the National Sevens Title, with JBAA’s own Delaney Woods as a key part of the team! Congratulations Delany!
And, a huge congratulations to Saylor Pickrell from the JBAA U18 team on being committed to UBC!
One of the most common questions we are asked is whether there are any summer youth rugby programs offered by the club.
While we don’t currently have any programs that run for full or half days during the work week, and we don’t have anything suitable for the Minis ages, a couple of our wonderful coaches have made a two options available:
Tuesday Touch at 6 p.m. at Heywood Park with Coach Lisa:
U12 and older age grades - including senior players and curious parents
No previous rugby experience required
Heywood Park is at the corner of Southgate St. & Heywood Ave: https://maps.app.goo.gl/PzMomCPL7QqhqYcz7
Friday Skills at MacDonald Park at 6 p.m. with Coach Brian:
U18 and older
Some rugby knowledge expected (try Tuesdays first if you are first starting out)
MacDonald Park is across the lane from our clubhouse (205 Simcoe)
Please note that while we introduced these as summer youth options, these sessions are open to adults and curious parents as well!
We are looking for someone to fill a part-time role as our Youth Coordinator. You can download the description of the role below.
Please apply by sending your resume and cover letter to us (click the button below to submit).
