The Red Deer Titans are now halfway through the Calgary Rugby Union season and happy with the progress they’ve made.
After a dominant win Saturday following the Titans Rugby Festival, the senior women are 3-2 on the season and hoping they can repeat the success of two seasons ago when they were city champions.
“Good group of girls with a really strong work ethic. They are coming out and showing us what they’re made of,” said Haley Khatib, a six-year veteran and team representative along with Katie Wozney.
“Great to have those key players who make a huge difference, that’s what sets us apart. I think it’s huge that we have those key individuals who are willing to step up and inspire the other girls to be good and dominate on the field.”
Their leadership and depth showed in the 78-5 win over the Calgary Saints Saturday, as 10 different players scored tries.
Those players were Courtney Holtkamp, Laura Lee, Khatib, Emma Newton, Wozney, Dacey Livingstone, Keely Deeding, Paige Olmstead, Sarah Thomas and Raven Craig. Emma Newton also added nine conversions and Molly Rumolhr made one.
The Titans play a 10-game season in the CRU first division, with provincials in mid-August. Along with veteran leadership, Khatib added that new players join the fold every year which helps the team stay fresh and motivated each season.
“We also get girls who just want to be active and come out and enjoy rugby,” she said.
“It’s awesome, we’ve got some girls we are 24 and 25 and never touched a rugby ball before and they were like ‘let’s come out and play’. It’s great. It’s really cool to meet people and see where we all started from and why we chose to do this sport.”
The next home game for the Titans is July 15 against Lethbridge with kickoff set for 3:30 p.m.
The Titans also played host to the Alberta Junior Rugby Association Mini’s Provincial Wrap-Up Tournament on June 24, with 59 teams in the U7, U9 and U11 youth divisions.
Out of 20 teams in each age group, the U9 Titans team took gold at the event while the U11’s finished fourth and the U7’s ended up fifth.