Rugby
An excited contingent of more than 50 departed Friday for the SMUS Rugby tour of France and Italy that will continue until March 30.
Twenty-nine boys, 18 girls and five chaperones are on the tour, which will include two games in each of those countries over the spring break. Both Junior and Senior athletes are part of the tour.
In addition to matches in Toulouse, Saint-Marcellin, Turin and Rome, student-athletes will get the chance to experience cultural highlights including the Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel.
You can follow the tour on Instagram – @smusrugbytour2024 – as well as the SMUS Athletics Instagram account – @smus.athletics. You can also check out the tour blog at smusitalyfrance2024.weebly.com.
The SMUS Junior Boys and Senior Boys Rugby squads were both victorious in a Lower Island league doubleheader this past Tuesday at Claremont. The Junior Jags downed Claremont 26-10 followed by a 26-5 win for the Senior SMUS squad over the host school.
In the Senior game, SMUS tries came from Sebastien Bixby, Ewan Webber-Smith and Samuel Bruninx. Jack Driscoll slotted three successful penalties and a conversion to round out the Blue Jags’ scoring.
Sailing
The SMUS Sailing program will begin its season after the break. The two SMUS teams, each including 12 students, will practise twice a week. The teams’ first regatta will be the Discovery Cup on May 11.
SMUS sailors will compete against other local schools in the Lower Vancouver Island Championships on June 8. “We are the reigning champion from the championships last year and have consistently done well throughout the past few seasons,” says Head Coach David Kerr.
All sailing takes place through the Royal Victoria Yacht Club at Cadboro Bay.
Senior Girls Soccer
The SMUS Senior Girls Soccer team opened its Lower Island season this past week at Oak Bay, falling 4-0 to the host school on Tuesday.
SMUS enjoyed a strong wind advantage in the first half and outshot Oak Bay by an 8-2 margin. Unfortunately, the Blue Jags could not capitalize on several glorious chances.
Oak Bay took advantage of two miscues at the back in the first 10 minutes of the second half and made good use of the strong wind enroute to the win.
The Blue Jags, defending BC AA Champions, will play their next league game on April 4 at Claremont.
Junior Girls Soccer
The Junior Girls Soccer team also saw its first action of the season last week, beating Oak Bay 3-0 in a road game on Monday. The Blue Jags will resume their schedule on April 4 when they host Stelly’s.
Athlete of the Month
Senior Girls Basketball point guard Avery Geddes has been honoured as the SMUS Athlete of the Month for February.
Geddes returned from a thumb injury in late January to help the Senior Girls to their second straight Island title and a silver medal at the BC AAA Championship tournament. The Island MVP and BC tournament first-team all-star provided the Blue Jags with elite ballhandling, shooting, passing and on-court leadership.
