After a two-month break, Seattle resumed its BC Women’s Premier League (WPL) season with a 47-19 win over Castaway. By season’s end, the Saracens will have played 16 games, 18 if the team features in the WPL 15s championship.
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Heading into the 2017-18 season, Seattle’s player pool was smaller than usual, and the club was unable to field concurrent DII and WPL teams akin to years past. Seattle coach Tim Zern explained that the fluctuation in numbers was both cyclical and also reflective of an intense summer. Eagles Naima Reddick and Kristine Sommer, who had knee surgery, took time to recharge after the Women’s Rugby World Cup, and several players who helped Atavus Seattle to a Club 7s National Championship in August also took a break. Seattle essentially plays year round between 7s and 15s, Canada and USA.
Thus the fall allowed different players onto the pitch and exposed them to high-level rugby. Zern indicated that Jennine Duncan, a powerful ballcarrier who is familiar on the 7s scene, stood out in the fall.
“She has emerged as an excellent attacking 13,” Zern said. “Her defensive technique and commitment have improved incredible – a lot of which has to do with her time down in Chula Vista. She spent a few long camps down there working on 7s. She has one year of 15s but she’s really starting to get it now.”
Seattle lost its first four games in the fall portion of the BC WPL, and then ended 2017 with back-to-back wins.
“So we finished the fall on a very positive note, but the league that we play in – the standard is the standard, and those teams were more than happy to take advantage of our down time,” Zern said. “We’ve gotten a few players back, which has been extremely helpful. We’ve also had some transplants, who are very skilled, and that’s been wonderful.”
The 2018 campaign began with a 28-point win over the Wanderers, and Duncan scored four of Seattle’s seven tries. Sadie Houston added two tries and former Norwich standout Emily Colesworthy also dotted down. Valerie Bank (5) and Carly MacKinnon kicked the extras. This Saturday’s game against Burnaby (2-5) will mark the halfway point in the regular season and the second of four-straight home games for Seattle.
The Sarries have a busy spring, but it doesn’t include the USA Rugby Division I Club National Championship. After a frustrating turn of events during the 2016-17 season (read more), Seattle attempted to join the DII Pacific Northwest as a DI team – similar to how NorCal adopted a DI/DII hybrid league to essentially accommodate Life West. It did not work out and so Seattle will remain in Canada for 15s.
“Naima [Reddick] put it well this time last year. It’s very frustrating to have the opportunity to three-peat – that doesn’t happen very often in someone’s athletic career – and not to even be given the chance to compete was very deflating. But we’ve moved on,” Zern reflected on last year’s heart break.
“Personally, it’s affected our recruiting and our brand,” the coach said of being excluded from USA Rugby playoffs. “We were definitely on the map with back-to-back national championships, and we really don’t have any sort of viewing platforms for our games to be broadcast.”
So Seattle will funnel all of its 15s into BC’s WPL, which culminates with a May 5 final. The USA Rugby national championship is a month later, so at least the Saracens will have a little more down time before the 7s season.