When the Bow Valley Grizzlies hit the Mitford field this Saturday for their season home opener, it will be for the first time as a team vying for a championship in Alberta's premier rugby league.

Both the Alberta Cup (AC) and Div. 2 Griz are matching up against their respective Irish opponents with games at 3 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. with the AC teams playing first.

Griz Head Coach Tyler Hawes says the club is pumped about playing in front of their hometown crowd.

"It should be pretty exciting," says Hawes. "I think the whole club is pretty stoked about it. There will be quite a bit of excitement in the air and I look forward to seeing how the boys perform."

He says they anticipate a good crowd all day, with the U13 and U15 boys teams taking to the field earlier in the day.

"It's a good community social gathering point to catch up with friends and watch some rugby."

Mackenzie Tivendale has been with the club since day one.Joe Clarke has been with the Griz for four years and is the men's team's vice-president. He came from a solid high school club in Barrie, ON, where he went on to play Div. 1 and says the Griz were ready to climb the ranks.

"It was a good time to make the jump to AC," says Clarke. "We have a good 15-men squad and after our performance last time in Div. 2 it was a great time to do it."

"For the club, it's a really big day. I think all the boys who have been here since the start of this club will find the AC side quite a game. I'm sure they'll find it quite exciting."

Mackenzie Tivendale has been with the Griz since day one and he played for their predecessor, the Coyotes, and for Cochrane's first high school team with another veteran Griz Karl Bauer. He has seen the rise in the stature of rugby here and climbing to AC is special.

"It means a lot. It's means everything," says Tivendale.

"We knew there would be tougher competition and I'm loving it. It's really good for everybody."

That includes the community and friends and families of the players and even those who happen to walk by when a game is afoot and stop to catch the excitement.

The comradery of the Bow Valley players on and off the field is second to none, says Tivendale. In speaking with players from other teams he found that's not always the case and believes its an added value of being a Griz and reflects in the teamwork on the field.

The AC Griz enter the game with a 2-1 record and the Div. 2 Griz are 3-2. Both beat the Irish on the road in their season openers on May 5.

Laying a solid foundation for rugby

In less than six years, the foundation laid by Bow Valley Rugby Club (BVRC) has given rise to over 65 registered men's players on the rosters of three men's teams. Besides Griz teams, Bow Valley players are combining with Okotoks club players to form the tier 3 Foothills Lions.

The Griz have reaped the benefit of players developed through the younger ranks of the BVRC. Its extensive youth program prides itself on being inclusive and affordable, while focusing on providing personal development. Some players introduced to the sport through high school programs also catch the wave and continue  on to the adult teams.

Last weekend, the Cochrane Bears formed of players from both Bow Valley and Cochrane High won the bronze in the tier two provincial championship. It's a team that is coached by members of the BVRC.  

"It was awesome for the boys," says Hawes, who caught some of the earlier action before having to head to St. Albert for the Griz games.  "A lot of kids from the club were on that squad and hopefully we'll get quite a few boys out to play for men's clubs from there."

Brennan Bourchier enjoys the challenge of playing in the premier Alberta league."It's been huge the last few years. Over half the squads are kids that have graduated from Cochrane and Springbank schools. It's really exciting and that's really how you have to build the program; by getting all the locals out and playing."

Brennan Bourchier, 21, joined the men's team at 18 after he started playing for the high school team in grade 11. He had wanted to play football but explains his dad insisted he first play rugby to learn how to tackle and get use to the field. As it turns out, he never did play football.

"As soon as I started playing rugby I loved it too much to want to go play football, so I stuck with it," says Bourchier.

He's played at all men's tiers and this year is exclusively on the AC team and he enjoys its challenges.

"They're bigger, a lot quicker, a lot tougher. That's where I wanted to go. I felt I needed to go up to this tier to progress with my rugby career. It was definitely a challenge my first game but I soon got comfortable with it."

Being Div 1 is not only great for the players to further develop their skills, it's being noticed by the community.

"It's a really big deal. I feel I'm having a lot more conversations with random strangers, people that know about the Griz and it's expanding the culture of rugby because we are in a higher tier and kind of making headlines."

He says he is looking forward to playing on the home field, he finds better maintained than most they play on.

"I'm really pumped. I'm a little more nervous than I should be, especially since it will be our first AC game here in town. I know a lot of people who will be coming up to support the team. I don't want to let anyone down and will play the best I can."

St. Albert Provides First Real Competition of Season

Last weekend, the Griz teams travelled to face St. Albert, and it proved to be the biggest challenge of the young season and their first loss.

St. Albert controlled the first 20 minutes of the game, but the Griz bounced back to make it a close 32-24.

"It was the first real big competition we've had in a couple of years," says Hawes, "so it was good to see how the boys would play in a game like that against some real competition. It's a good place to build from."

"There was some pretty decent rugby. There are definitely things to work on, but those away games are always really tough."

Still, their toughest match ups in Southern Alberta are ahead of them and that includes their old rivals in tier 2, the Canucks, who currently lead the AC standings with a 4-1 record. Eleven teams form the premier league.

That same day the Div. 2 Griz won a close match against St. Albert, 34-29, on the very last play of the game. They are now 3-2 on the season.