Jessica Brackney (nee Hanley) rattles off names of teammates and the injuries they suffered during the inaugural rugby season in Olds High School's hi broken noses, knees and ankles. She also recalls snow and freezing temperatures in their first game. Pain was always part of the fun.
"If you got an injury, you were proud of it because it meant you worked for it," Brackney says.
Spartans rugby is into its 17th season. It exists because Brackney and classmate Yvonne Mischler recruited the girls needed to form the team more than a decade ago.
At the time, coach George Grant wanted to start a team as an off-season conditioning program for football players. Maybe it was because rugby was an obscure sport to them, or they were scared by the lack of protective equipment, or they were already knee-deep into hockey and lacrosse, but the boys balked.
That's when girls started asking for one of their own.
Grant was initially reluctant. He had a bit of experience with the game but says coaching girls requires more technical expertise; with boys, you can get away with letting them play with brute force.
Knowing there would be injuries and attrition, he told the girls to find 25 bodies.
They found 26.
"'We're going to do this'," Brackney says of her sales pitch. "The guys get to play football. We're not big enough to play with the guys but we can do this and we can be better than anybody else."
Grant says he tried scaring them off with 6 a.m. practices: Mondays and Fridays, even when there was no school on Fridays.
Brackney says those practices showed who truly wanted to be on the team.
Some girls needed extra encouragement to make the early mornings.
"Oh, hell yes. Every time we went, I had to drag my sister in her pajamas into the truck. We lived 15 miles out of town and she'd get dressed for practice on the way," she says.
"A few of the girls really didn't like the idea of morning practice but once they realized what rugby could offer, what we could do, they were more than interested in showing up."
The Spartans played an all-exhibition schedule that first year, going 2-6 and enjoying every part of it.
"It was almost like watching little kids go out and play soccer just for the love of the game. It wasn't about what's the score, who's winning, who's not winning, Grant says. "I'll never forget that pure enthusiasm that they brought."
Brackney currently lives in Medicine Hat, working as a heavy duty parts technician. She still has her original jersey from the team.
Since its inception, the team has produced multiple players for collegiate teams, some winning national titles.
"Lo and behold, we're still running 17 years later. I've really enjoyed coaching girls. I didn't know if I was going to be able to do that, but it went over well," Grant says.
"The guys get to play football. We're not big enough to play with the guys but we can do this and we can be better than anybody else." JESSICA BRACKNEY, OHS alumna
