South Carolina

K.C. Jordan, LJI Journalist

Last week, players from Pontiac High School’s (PHS) varsity rugby teams boarded a bus headed for the beach, but not for the typical spring break many opt for around this time of year.

The bus, containing the entire PHS girls’ team as well as a combined boys’ team from three Western Quebec schools, began the 17-hour journey to Charleston, South Carolina where, in the rugby program’s first international trip, the teams would be facing off against some of the state’s top talent.

Upon arrival, players got settled at their accommodations with billet families, organized by host school Oceanside Collegiate Academy, then prepared themselves for the task at hand — two games each, against local schools.

The Charleston teams proved tough competition. The boys’ second opponent, Lucy Beckham High School, had recently finished runners-up to the South Carolina champions in the state final. 

PHS student Bennett Rusenstrom, who was named captain of the combined boys team, said they lost both games but thought it was a good experience nonetheless.

“It was tough, but we managed. We played hard, and we played our game,” he said. “We should be proud of ourselves, we did pretty well playing the top teams.”

The girls’ team did not manage to win either of its games, but team captain Emma Feenstra said the highlight of her trip was making friends with her host family.

“Getting up at 6 a.m. to watch the sunrise on the beach was pretty amazing. I think I definitely hit the jackpot with my home. My billet mom was very nice,” she said.

Girls’ coach Phil Holmes said the games were tough because the local teams played 15’s, a different format of rugby which features 15 players on the pitch and a more strategy-based gameplay, instead of the seven-player, primarily speed-based game his team is used to playing back home.

“The girls had never even gotten a chance to work on the 15’s techniques and systems on the pitch,” he said.

“So when they come out and fight like they did, honestly, everyone was incredibly impressed how seriously they competed for never having played a game of 15s before.”

In their time off the pitch, teams got a chance to see the Charleston sights, including a ghost tour of the city, a naval ship used in the Second World War, and Middleton Place, a former rice plantation-turned-historic landmark. 

“We weren’t going down there playing on the beach for three days playing some rugby. I wanted to make sure they learned a little bit as well,” Holmes said.

Holmes performed both the Canadian and American national anthems before the games. He said the current tension between the two countries was an initial concern before leaving for the trip, but they saw no trace of it while they were there.

“There were some reservations at times leading up to this trip with the political status of being part of the conflict, but we didn’t see it for a second. All we saw was incredibly friendly and generous Americans opening up their arms,” he said.

Rusenstrom said he enjoyed the off-field activities, like going to see the old naval ship, and also enjoyed making friends with guys from other Western Quebec high schools, guys who are usually rivals but for this trip were teammates.

“For us Pontiac guys, now we look forward to playing against them in the summer,” he said. “Friends off the field, and enemies on the field.”

He said interest in continuing the boys’ rugby program at PHS dropped off after last year, and he hopes the Charleston trip can rekindle some energy to get a team back on the pitch.

“I’m sure I could get a couple lads who would play, especially after this experience, I think it could boost some energy towards other players to at least come give it a try,” he said.

Holmes said it can be hard to build rugby programs, but trips like these can help to forge connections between players both locally and internationally.

“Some people are terrified of the game. Some people think it’s dangerous, which is not true at all, having coached for 15 years,” he said, adding that international matches like these are baked into the fabric of the sport.

“There’s not many sports where you go and kick the crap out of somebody for an hour and then sit down and have a meal with them and smile and talk and have fun.”

Holmes said the idea for the trip came from a gentleman named Colin Vorster who had recently moved to Charteris a few years ago, and who had asked him if he could help out with coaching rugby at PHS.

“From the first minute we met, he said, ‘You’ve got to do a trip. International trips are the number one way to build rugby in a community,’” he said, adding that Vorster’s brother Guy is the Oceanside girls’ head coach.

Holmes said the team is already invited back to Charleston next year, and that he is also exploring opportunities to take the teams to Denmark or Argentina.