A youth movement has taken hold at South Surrey Athletic Park this fall, courtesy of the Bayside Sharks’ top men’s side – which head coach Pete Clifford boasts is the youngest and likely the most athletic group of players currently suiting up on the Lower Mainland Division 1 circuit.
The youth movement – which began a few years ago as the club aimed for a return to the sport’s highest level after being relegated from the premier league in 2013 – Clifford explained, includes a handful of teenage players who might normally suit up instead for Bayside’s under-23 team except “they’re just too good for that.”
The young newcomers include, among others, Reid Davis, Petro Chountalos and Max Radcliffe, Clifford said. They’ve fit in well with veterans such as returning captain Tyler Train, Jeremy Bergmann and club president Kaj Briscoe, as well as a slew of players in their early 20s.
“There’s not too many older guys on the team. I think the average age of the back line is probably 21,” Clifford said.
He also insists that the jump from younger age groups to the senior men’s league isn’t as difficult as it may seem at first glance – at least not for his group of young talent.
“I just think the young guys deserve a chance. You don’t know what they’re like until they come up against men, and they’ve been good. The league itself is not much different than what they’re probably used to… it’s a bit more physical, there’s a bit more ‘off-the-ball contact,’ but it’s really not that big of (an adjustment), I don’t think.”
The youthful roster has paid big dividends early – the team was undefeated through the first month of the schedule, and on Saturday travelled to Cowichan, where they extended the streak with a 19-6 victory.
“We started the year fit – we’re young and fit. A lot of the teams we play against are older, and they start the year (trying to play their way into shape),” Clifford continued.
“It helps having youth on our side. I think we’re the quickest team in the league, man for man.”
Though he favours a fast, athletic style of rugby, Clifford – who at just 28 is among the league’s youngest coaches, having had his playing career cut short by injury – said the Sharks’ roster construction was not by design. Simply put, he’s doing what any good coach would do, and tailoring the game plan to the roster.
“As a coach, you work with what you’ve got. And what I have is a bunch of young, quick, talented guys,” he said. “If I had a team that was just full of huge guys who weren’t as skillful, then we’d have a different game plan. But I also think it’s much more exciting to play this way.
“We’re throwing the ball around nicely, and everyone is playing well together. A lot of the guys who finished strong last year are still playing that way now.”
The Sharks’ early-season success has come largely in hostile territory, too, as the team has played just one game – a Sept. 30 affair against United Rugby Club – on its home field in South Surrey. And due to the scheduling oddity, the team will still have to get used to life on the road for a little while longer, as their next home game isn’t until a Nov. 18 tilt with the Surrey Beavers.
Like Bayside, Surrey is also among the first division’s top squads, and Clifford expects the game to be a good one.
“It’s between us, Surrey and Rowers for the top team in the league, so that’s probably going to be the biggest game of the season, so far,” he said.
For his part, the young coach doesn’t mind the constant road games, saying simply that “we go where we need to go.”
And while a good showing this season would go a long way to one day catapulting the Bayside program back into the men’s premier ranks, Clifford said that goal isn’t always top-of-mind, especially now, as the BC Rugby Union has largely done away with its relegation/promotion system. In the past, the top Div. 1 teams would move up to premier, and the lower premier squad would move down. Now, to be included in the premier loop, a club simply has to apply.
“You tell them you want to play, and show BC Rugby that you can field three teams. We could probably do with another 20 guys registered,” Clifford said.
But on the subject of the premier league, Clifford – who was a member of the Sharks the last time they were in the top league – insists his current group isn’t lacking in talent for that level.
“The other day, I was looking back through old footage that we had from 2010, 2011 – back when I was playing – and… when it comes to actual performance, I think we play better rugby now,” he said.
“We were relying on individuals back then, and now we play more as a team, which is way better.”
Now, the team’s key to success will be to simply gain more experience as a group.
“We just need to find these young guys jobs, so they don’t run away to university,” Clifford laughed.