The Bow Valley U17 Grizzlies are off to the provincials after winning the Calgary Rugby Union City Championship, July 31.

Bow Valley combined with players of the Calgary Saints to down the Irish, 46-19, and will now be challenging the winner of the Edmonton Rugby Union for the provincial title on Aug. 24. It's tentatively scheduled to be played in Red Deer.

"Our boys did a fantastic job of winning the city championship and showcasing the development of the skills they've been working on since the very onset of the club," says head coach Adrian Turner.

Teaming up with the Saints, who are starting to develop their junior program, was a natural fit.

"We find that we work very well together and their boys combined with ours have proven to be a fantastic group of players. The success, really, is for both clubs."

The victory is also a testimony to the years of nurturing rugby in Cochrane. While the U17 is a new division, it's one that has emerged as more and more players have come up though the ranks of the Bow Valley organization. The division was created to fill a gap between the U18 and U15 to help encourage more youth to continue playing the sport.

"For a junior club which has been established properly for 5-6 year we've done incredible, really. It's so exciting, it's so very exciting."

Rugby has been played longer than that in the community but truly started to take off after it was reborn as the Bow Valley Rugby Club.

"We've basically got stronger and stronger as we've gone on. But this year is the first year that we have been able to field 18 for every single age group that we have in Alberta."

That includes a newly formed U18 team, which also includes some players from the Calgary Saints.