The Cochrane Wild may have fallen to the Strathmore Spartans in the zone bronze medal rugby match, but their season can't be considered anything less than a success.

The senior girls high school team grew in leaps and bounds this year and experience racked up by the number of young charges on the field gives them a solid footing for the future.

The Spartan tamed the Wild, 32-21, to end the high school season, June 1. The Wild's bench was shorten by five elite players for the bronze medal match because several of their multi-sport athletes were destined for the provincial track and field championships. That did have an impact in the game, says head coach Roberta Stinn, but the choice for the girls was obvious.

"It would have been a different game if we had all of our girls, but honestly there's no regret. That team was beatable," says Stinn. "But that's high school sports. You can't ask them to choose; they deserve to go to provincials."

Stinn believes the goals they set out at the beginning of the season were met and in many ways it was a championship season.

"When we came into the season, we said we wanted the girls to have fun, we wanted them to feel like they made friends and family and we wanted them to get better and I think each and every one of those goals was accomplished. So fourth place is first place to me."

"It was a good season and I'm proud of them and I'm looking forward to seeing how these girls progress with their rugby or non-rugby careers. They're a great group of girls."

Assistant coach Curtis Piche agrees.

"I think we finished the season on a win, even though the score didn't reflect that," says Piche. "Even right now, if you look around, there's still lots of smiles."

Looking to the future, he sees a lot of emerging players.

"We have a lot of of really good talented players to go forward into next year," he says. "It's going to be excited."

The sport is becoming more popular as word spreads of how much fun it offers for a range of skill sets.

"You get multi-athletes which is the coolest part because some are really good at catching, other girls are really good at picking and we have other girls that play volleyball and have never been able to touch anyone and they have biggest tackles," says Stinn.

Many of the players graduating from the high school program continue with rugby after high school and it's something the coaches encourage.