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2024 U19 Ireland Tour

It came together quickly; towards the end of a successful 2023 U18 season, the coaching staff asked the question “Can we do a tour in the spring?” By September we had 25 players committed and we were on our way to Ireland in March 2024.

Knowing our opposition would be tough, we put together a winter schedule for the players to get them fitter than ever. A 12 week strength and conditioning program was run by Ryan MacSween out of Primal Gym; each Sunday morning 20 players would run, sweat and push harder than they ever have. By February Head Coach Andrew Steele had the squad shaking out the rust and running their attack system at the Metro Sports Dome every Wednesday evening.

As we got closer to flying out, last minute itinerary changes were handled by Assistant Coach and travel pro Eric Barber directly with our tour operator InspireSport UK. By Saturday March 9, it had all come together with an incredible jersey ceremony at the Club and the (now) 30 players, 9 supporters and 3 coaches were off to the airport for a red eye flight to Dublin. We didn’t get there by ourselves; to honour the memory of John Foggarty, the Rugby Alumni donated funds to pay for our incredible custom kit designed by Kukri North America. To provide financial assistance to those players in need, Stuart Statton quickly stepped up to deliver through the Bill Webster Fund. This support and assistance from the Balmy Beach Rugby community was incredible and humbling before we even stepped foot on Irish grass.

And when we finally took to the pitch against Terenure College, the boys represented us well. After 3 days enjoying the sights and culture of modern and ancient Dublin, we took to a rainy pitch to face a senior Terenure side. We had visited the college a few days before to sneak in a pre-game workout, and were already aware of their winning history and schoolboy professionalism. A quick trip to a Leinster Schools semi-final the day prior proved the point as we watched their U16s dominate rivals Blackrock. From the first whistle, Terenure showed why they are a top Irish school: pace, power and poise was the rule of thumb. Our boys attacked well, gaining the red zone quickly and often, but a well-trained ‘Nure side pushed them back. We matched their physicality without issue; competing well at the scrums, lineouts and rucks – but it was in the “finer details” that we learned our lessons.

After some quick goodbyes and kit swaps, we jumped on our bus to drive across the island to remote Connemara where Irish Gaelic is still spoken. Two nights at the Connemara Hostel beside Killary Fjord gave the boys some downtime to enjoy the natural beauty of the area and bond as only a rugby team does. Cold immersion dips in the fjord, hiking the Diamond Hill Loop in Connemara National Park, and an afternoon in Clifden gave the team a taste of rural Ireland before we would head to Galway for our final match.

Did I mention the rain? It rained constantly, often, and to varying degrees; until we went to Galway. The bright sun and blue sky was a welcome change as we arrived in the seaside town and prepared for our match against Galwegians RFC.

Galwegians welcomed us to their 102 year old club, sending out their senior team coached by Beach player Tiarnan Neville. The lessons learned at Terenure were put to use as the Beach scored early and often, using their pace, work rate and skill to take a stunning victory against the local boys in blue. Galwegians were all class; clapping the boys off the pitch, and setting up a hot meal in their club hall. After some gifts were exchanged for man of the match, the coaches and supporters settled in at the club house to enjoy some quiet social time while the players mingled with their hosts.

Super Saturday dawned next and we were on our way back to Dublin to “soak up the Six Nations” as Ireland played Scotland at Landsdowne Road. The boys enjoyed re-connecting with the sights of Dublin as we walked with thousands of other rugby-mad fans through the streets to the park. The atmosphere was electric the day before St Patrick’s, with the spirit inside Aviva Stadium more than matching the occasion. The boys sat within metres of some of the best rugby you can watch; seeing first hand the power and skill of Test Rugby players. After Ireland won their Championship, we were treated to Scottish players coming into the stands near our seats to greet their wives, and stop for the occasional photo with some young Canadian fans.

The flight back to Toronto the next day was quiet, players and supporters exhausted from the quick 9 day tour. On behalf of the coaching staff, we would like to extend our thanks to the parents and supporters who helped make this tour a success, UP THE BEACH!!

Coaching Staff:
Andrew Steele, Head Coach
Eric Barber, Assistant Coach and Manager
Chris Kalbfleisch, Forwards Coach

Special Thanks to our Sponsors, Partners and Supporters:
Balmy Beach Rugby Alumni – for their commitment from planning to takeoff and the tireless work of Myles Martin and Gerry Allen to make it happen.
The Bill Webster Fund – and the continued, unwavering support of Stuart Statton for junior sports at Balmy Beach
Ryan MacSween – for his powerful and innovative Strength & Conditioning program
InspireSport UK and Joseph Gilbert and Ben Mills for their incredible pre-tour planning, and on the ground support.
Kukri North America and Dan Gordon for his constant attention to detail and custom designs to help our squad look and play better than ever.

Chris Kalbfleisch
Director Junior Rugby https://www.facebook.com/balmybeachjuniorrugby/
Instagram @beachjrrugby

UP THE BEACH!

2024 U19 Ireland Tour2024-04-13T09:10:11-04:00

Rugby Squash 2024

Here is the information from 240 regarding Rugby Squash

I am ecstatic to advise that Rugby Squash will be running March 20th, 21st and March 23rd of 2024 and this is your formal invitation to sign up! It is time to dust off your balls, your racquets, your goggles and such and squeeze onto the courts for some epic Squash action!

We need 64 players of varying skill sets, from beginner to pros (it’s a state of mind); to pay $65, get a deluxe souvenir T-Shirt to prove you were really there, a bite to eat during the week, a few pints, a chance to win fabulous prizes and most importantly the opportunity to rub shoulders with new people, old friends, exes, foes and some cool rugby players pretending to play Squash.

Format is rally-point to 25, no need to win by 2 and you will be matched up, as best as humanly possible, with someone of like ability or inability, keeping in mind we make the odd mistake in ranking players! Having said this, any mismatches will be addressed as best as possible and all matches should be reasonably even.

Please confirm via e-mail, as soon as possible, to gyoung240@yahoo.ca and e-transfer the cash and I will solidify your spot. We do our best to accommodate timing on the schedule but it is relatively flexible. Games will run from 4pm to about 10pm and if you are not pissed by then, it’s your fault. Eight teams of 8 players for the Wednesday and Thursday evening, we then take the aggregate for each team and the top 4 teams play off on Saturday with a clean slate and 4 teams are eliminated after play on Thursday, pretty simple!

Thanks for all of your wonderful support over the years and incidentally, all proceeds go to the rugby section.

Sign up, do it now as it will fill up quickly.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Cheers,
240 (Gord Young)

Rugby Squash 20242024-03-01T14:43:13-05:00

McCormick Cup 2022

The great news of the weekend is that both Beach Sr Men’s Teams won the McCormick Cup. The 2XV beat Lindsay to win the Gee Gage Cup and the 1XV won a nail-biter to beat the Scottish. That makes 16 McCormick Cups for the Blue and Gold. If you didn’t make a chance to see the game here is the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1jNaZJdmXY

Beach II’s V Lindsey – Just as a little history on this match; Beach TRU I’s and Lindsay played in the same league this summer. In our one match up, Beach won a close fought game. Beach finished 2nd after the TRU season qualifying for the TRU cup game. However, the league passed a rule that Beach was, by this new league rule, not allowed to win the TRU cup. As a result 3rd place Lindsay was promoted to the cup game, and Beach was moved to the “Plate” bracket. Lindsay then went on to beat Brampton to win the TRU Cup. Beach then went on to beat Brampton winning the “plate”. So this game represented a massive opportunity for Beach ORU II’s (many of whom played on Beach TRU I’s this summer) to take it to the current holders of the TRU I Cup. A cup at the Beach was denied a chance to win, due to a league rule banning us from competing for it. And “bring it” we did.

As this game kicked off it became clear pretty quickly that Lindsey was in trouble. Led by Captain Malency Wainwright at inside center and directed from the front by 16 year old Stephen Webb, Beach marched down the field again and again seemingly unopposed. By the time the whistle blew for half time the score was 28-7. The deep Beach bench brought fresh legs into the fight with solid shifts put in by long time Beach stalwarts Brandon Connerty and Curtis Brown. By the time the final whistle blew the score was 52 – 26 for Beach and the boys in Blue and Gold once again hoisted the Gee Gage Cup.

Beach I’s V Toronto Scottish – Balmy Beach VS Toronto Scottish in a McCormick Cup Final. A tale as old as time. This was a game that promised to be a hard hitting battle and boy did it deliver. An early penalty led to the Scottish being able to kick their way into our 22. What followed was a 10-minute battle encompassing 3 different line out maul defenses and over 30 cumulative defensive phases. After realising that Beach would not break, the Scottish settled for three points. A line out shortly after left the Beach in prime scoring position and quickly led to a Beach try in the corner by team try leader Denzel Borrice. Score 5-3. This set the dynamic for the rest of the match with the theme of; every time the Beach maintains 5 phases we score, every time the Scottish have the ball they grind through a million forward balls off nine, and we have to gut up and defend over and over again for 10+ minutes at a time. This made it absolutely integral that the Beach defense hammered into the Scottish forwards in order to stop their momentum. Another Scottish line out 5 minutes later would see Beach steal the ball and put Beach into the Scottish 22 and then shortly after on the goal line. Beach tight head prop Julian Alexander would not be denied as he took a crashing ball off 9 to thunder over the try line. 12-3 for Beach. Another two tries, both following line outs led to a half time score of 17-15. The Scottish struck first in the second half as they rumbled into our 22 to score a try in the corner. Score 17-20 Scottish. By minute 60 the Toronto Scottish had worked their way into our 22, but Beach defense held firm after multiple phases. The Scottish eventually generated a “not rolling away” penalty and looked to kick for points. Score 17-23. Shortly after a Beach line out puts Beach into position to score. After going wide, the Forwards bring the ball back under the posts with loose head prop Pete Vandersteen picking and going to get over the line and dot down the ball. Team Captain Stephen Drwyer lined up the kick, which banged off the uprights. Thankfully the rugby Gods were smiling on Beach and the ball crossed over the posts after the bounce. Score 24-23 for Beach. The score remained the same leading into the dying minutes of the game. Well into injury time and with the Scottish banging on our door, Beach defense held up for over 25 consecutive phases when Aidan Abbott and Beach newcomer Kyle Lagasca double teamed the Scottish 13, holding him up to force a maul. The Scottish were unable to retrieve the ball from the resulting mass of bodies piling in, leading to a penalty against them. Game over. Beach wins its 16th McCormick cup tieing us with the Markham Irish for the most ever cups at 16.

McCormick Cup 20222022-10-03T13:25:39-04:00

Myles Martin – Rugby Alumni Chairman

Hi all!

Just wanted to drop a quick line and introduce myself. For those who don’t know me, my name is Myles Martin a recently retired player from the blue and gold. As Gerry mentioned, I will be your Balmy Beach Alumni Chairman. I recognize I have some very large shoes to fill and I know I can’t do it alone. There are some very special people who make up this group and they should be recognized as well.
Kyle Nichols, Gord Young, , Andrew Steele, Adam Marshall, Paul Mathieson, Rick Chambers, Glenn Miller & Lisa De Sario

I think that all of us combined can probably do half the job Gerry has done for the last 15 years but we’re going to do our best. Thank you Gerry for all of your hard work and dedication.

Our goal is simple. We want to continue to support rugby at the Balmy Beach Rugby Football Club and help grow the best game on the planet.

Hope to see you all at the fall dinner on October 17.

Thank you for your continued support

Up the Beach!!

Myles Martin – Rugby Alumni Chairman2019-09-06T11:30:00-04:00
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