What’s old is new again.
After starting out as a Division III squad in the Calgary Rugby Union before moving up a tier the Foothills Lions will once again be plying their trade in the senior men’s third tier for the 2017 season.
“It’s a little more relaxed than the Div. II that we had been playing,” said Lions president Jamie Mior. “Our guys with other commitments can’t always make every game. With the numbers we have, with the market and the demographics we’re playing with out here Div. III does give us some more flexibility.”
The same can be said for the makeup of the team.
Division II, where the Lions played for five seasons before forfeiting their 2016 season due to low numbers, can be an onerous place to play for both older and less experienced athletes.
“Div II is a really competitive league in Alberta,” Mior said. “You have a lot older guys who want to play, but don’t want to play in that Div. II league. A lot of times that league, at least in the South here, those players are Div I calibre and just don’t get around the park quite that much.
“It’s extremely competitive.”
The third division, more of a recreational outfit, also appeals to players who can’t commit to the grind of uber-competitive rugby with multiple practices and a game every week during the busy summer months.
“You really need the guys out at full practices during the week,” Mior said. “With Div. III it’s a little easier on the guys if they can only make one practice a week and there’s rolling subs so you don’t have to be quite as fit.”
The team has approximately 30 players committed to the club with a goal of getting closer to the 40 mark.
The CRU season starts in the first week of May though the Lions are planning a pre-season sojourn to Fernie for an exhibition tournament.
Mior and Rogan McPhie are sharing coaching duties though the club president noted he’s always looking to add more experienced coaches to the sidelines.
The Lions are poised to field a senior women’s side to play in the CRU second division for the first time this season as well as put together a squad to play in the league’s new U21 men’s division.
“It’s an excellent place for the kids who just graduated, but don’t want to step up and play men’s yet,” Mior said. “It’s a great place for them to get some rugby in as well.”
The senior women’s side has been years in the works.
Foothills has put together teams in the Stampede Sevens weekend tournament and enjoyed tremendous success with its junior women’s program, but a full fledged full season senior women’s side has never quite stuck.
That could soon change.
“We’re aggressively pursuing getting that senior women’s off the ground,” Mior said. “We’ve had some reasonable response. I don’t have all the boots on the ground yet because a lot of them are still at school, but things are looking very positive.”
For more information on the Foothills Lions go to foothillslionsrfc.org
