Youth rugby numbers continue to grow at impressive rate
MEDICINE HAT, AB — No, it’s not the most popular sport in Medicine Hat. Nor is it in Canada, or any part of North America.
But a whole swack load of young athletes are taking a deep liking to rugby.
Darryl Smith, the mastermind behind the Dragon’s Youth Rugby program, has witnessed first hand the numbers jump in the last six years.
“My son was six, him and I were watching a rugby game together and he said ‘I want to play rugby’,” said Smith, who’s also one of several coaches for the Eagle Butte – Crescent Heights – McCoy rugby squad. “That was six years ago, we had six kids that year. Now we’re up to 42.”