Senior provincial championship hosted by Durham Region
May 08, 2008 - 05:00 PM
DURHAM -- Another spring is upon us and so is high school rugby in Durham.
Traditionally known as the strongest high school rugby league in Ontario, LOSSA is poised again to dominate the stage as the Senior Boy's AAA/AAAA Rugby Championship comes to Durham. The Senior Boys Provincial Championship (OFSAA) will take place in Oshawa and Ajax June 4-6 at the Oshawa Vikings Club and the Ajax Wanderers Club with the medal games going on Friday, June 6 at the Vikings field.
As hosts, Durham will be sending two teams to the championships. As every year, the competition to select those two teams will be fierce.
LOSSA's best chances may lay with Oshawa's Eastdale Collegiate and Whitby's Sinclair Secondary School. Both teams are undefeated so far in league play and are led by led by Canadian junior players Peter McDougall (Eastdale) and Courtney Mendez (Sinclair). The Eagles are traditionally ranked in the GTA top-10 and will be gunning for gold again this year. Sinclair is off to Japan representing Canada at the World High School Rugby Championships and boasts a very strong squad made up of members of their 2006 Junior Provincial Championship team.
Last year's provincial silver medalist and LOSSA champions four of the last five years Uxbridge Tigers should also be considered in the mix. The Tigers have lost some key players to graduation and have been hit hard early by the injury bug, the coaching staff are hopeful the boys can bounce back and be competitive come playoff time.
Big surprises could come out of Port Perry High School where a young team bolstered by grade elevens from last year's strong Junior LOSSA championship team will undoubtedly improve as the season progresses and be looking to upset some teams.
This very strong division is rounded out by Brock High School (2007 OFSAA AA silver medalists) Dunbarton High School, O'Neill CVI, and recently promoted (from the "B" division) Pine Ridge Secondary School team that upset Uxbridge early on.
The next few weeks will be filled with some outstanding rugby in the area that will hopefully culminate with a local team taking home the OFSAA gold.
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