Grizz are provincial champions, but not the way they wanted

It's been a banner season for the Bow Valley Grizzlies, who have just earned their third cup of the season.

On Sept. 23 they were named Division 3 provincial champions. Unfortunately, it didn't happen the way they wanted.

The northern Alberta champions from S. Albert had to forfeit the game due to a shortage of players.

Grizz head coach says St. Albert had teams advancing to two provincial finals and the club was forced to make a choice.

Despite the lack of a game, Hawes says they made a good day of collecting the provincial championship trophy at the Calgary Rugby Union.

The Grizz were successful in meeting their goal of sweeping three cups this season. They were undefeated and topped their league, accumulating an astounding 568 points in the regular season. That's an average of 47 points per game. Their defense was equally impressive, allowing a total of just 87 points in 13 games.

They did have to sweat it out against the Red Deer Titans, their nearest rival, for the south championship. They came from behind in the second half to win 15-5. 

"We had a really good commitment right from the start and that set the tone for the season," says Hawes. "The second game of the season was against Red Deer, who we ended up playing three times, and they're a really strong squad."

"There were some really good performances from a lot of the boys who bought in. It makes our life as coaches a lot easier when you get that kind of commitment from the boys."

Whether they'll consider making the move to a higher division next season will be up to the players, says Hawes.

"I personally feel we could take a step up, but it will be up to the boys to see what type of commitment we have from the boys moving forward."

The Grizz had a stronger bench this season as we get further away from the sport-killing pandemic. Hawes says there were only a couple of games this season where they had just enough players to field a team.

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