Balmy Beach girls junior rugby team celebrates transitional season as they reach Ontario league championship finals
By MATTHEW STEPHENS
In true “Cinderella story” fashion, the Balmy Beach girls under-18 rugby team transitioned from two years of consecutive losses, to a full season of victories, bringing them to the Rugby Ontario league finals at the Tubs & Gee Gage Rugby Field recently, where they went toe to toe with the Niagara Wasps.
“We lost every game for the last two years. But none of the girls quit, and this year we won all but one,” said Tanis Burton, organizer of the team and mother of team member Abby.
“These girls are the most determined and grittiest women I have met in my life.”
Burton’s daughter Abby Hewitt underscored the challenging reputation the team had garnered after a year of consecutive losses.
“We had a really bad reputation with the other teams. Not as people, but just bad as a team. We couldn’t play rugby, and this year it was just so different,” said Hewitt.
During the Wednesday, July 30, league championship game, the Balmy Beach girls put up a strong fight against the Wasps, but lost by a score of 36-10.
“It was a tough one – it was a really tough one. We had a hard time with defence, but it was really fun playing with these girls. We have some new ones and we absolutely love them, because last year we were right down at the bottom, but now we’ve made our way up top and it’s been amazing,” said Balmy Beach team member Lauren Sulev in an interview with Beach Metro Community News after the game.
Despite the loss, Burton championed her team for their confidence-building journey to the finals.
“I couldn’t be more proud of these girls. We come from junior rugby players who have never played a single game in their life, and we had to reframe what success looks like. Because everyone is looking at winning, but success isn’t always about winning. It’s about the small moments. And so we really worked hard with the girls on framing what success looks like,” said Burton after the game.
“With girls, it’s just about building the confidence to make them believe that they can actually show up and do it, and that’s what these last two years have shown us leading up to this championship game.”
What started as a small group of aspiring players transformed into a dedicated team of athletes from a number of East Toronto high schools.
“We mostly just had a boys’ program for the past couple of years. And then, there was a big interest with some u14 and u16 girls – so we got a team started and we recruited from a bunch of different high schools and gathered a full team of like 20 girls. We had like no subs and a really rough first season,” said Hewitt in an interview with Beach Metro Community News.
According to Burton, players on the Balmy Beach team came from East York Collegiate, Danforth Collegiate, Monarch Park Collegiate, and Malvern Collegiate. Coaches from the respective high schools also contribute their efforts to help train the Balmy Beach team.
“I’m actually from Mississauga,” said original team member Dannayia Francis. “I played for another team in Mississauga, and then we merged last year and I was like ‘yeah, this is it. I love everybody here. I’ll make the journey from Mississauga in a heartbeat.’”
When asked about their secret to success, head coach Chris Hewitt highlighted the team’s perseverance throughout the years.
“Honestly, it was the same girls sticking with us. It’s a complicated game that takes a while to learn,” said Chris.
“We’ve now got girls who have been playing for over three years and things are starting to click, and they’re all clicking together. All of a sudden we can implement rugby plays and do cool stuff, where last year we were just praying they were catching the ball.”
Above all lessons learned along their journey, Tanis believes togetherness has been the most important one imparted on the girls.
“Even though we lost and we’re disappointed, it’s not about a win. It’s about coming together and believing in ourselves and not giving up – and for that, I couldn’t be more proud,” said Tanis after the championship game.
Over the last weekend (Aug. 9-11), the Balmy Beach u18 girls rugby team competed in the Regional Cup Finals, where they won the silver medal after playing three games and lost in in the finals to the Niagara Wasps 22-14 for silver.
