September 21st & 22nd marked the third year in a row that 1697s Rugby Club participated in the largest youth rugby tournament in Western Canada. This year the number of teams jumped up to 122 competing over the two day tournament. PG athletes teamed up with other players from Northern BC, the Lower Mainland and Alberta to enter teams in the U18 boys, U18 girls, U16 boys and U16 girls development divisions. In total, there were almost 60 athletes that registered through 1697s Rugby to compete including Autumn Lepetich, a U14 girl from Quesnel. While, that area of the club is developing, tournament coordinator and U18 girls coach, Katie Gordon found Lepetich a spot with the Comox Valley Rapids. Autumn and her team finished fourth! All four 1697s teams found success with winning records by the end of Sunday, including a gold medal from the U16 girls and a bronze from the U18 girls. The U18 boys finished fourth and U16 boys finished fifth. The results mark the highest finishes of any teams from 1697s Rugby Club since they made their debut in 2022. Club president Adam Gordon was full of emotion when 3 members of the team from 2022, collected medals two years later. Other highlights, included the debuts of coach Brian McNamara of the U18 boys and coach Heather Ouellette.
