Even though the Maple Ridge girls rugby team had no players, there was still plenty to be proud of on the field as the Fraser Valley squad put together a strong showing at the BC Summer Games.

Unfortunately, there were no girls from Maple Ridge or Pitt Meadows trying out for the team, but there were plenty of talented players from nearby areas like Langley and Abbotsford, District 3 coach Stuart Crowley said.

He said given the current state of the province’s rugby programs, most of the top talent is located south of the Fraser River, so the Region 3 team is a force to be reckoned with.

Although this group of girls had never played on a team before the Summer Games, Crowley said it didn’t affect their performance because most of the girls were pretty familiar with each other in some way.

“A lot of these girls have played together in club leagues and things like that, but they’re not all together like this,” Crowley said.

The Fraser River team had a particularly strong performance against Vancouver-Coastal on Friday, July 19; the Region 3 team started the game fast, scoring a point on their first attack.

They didn’t slow down there either, they played very well in their other matches as well.