It may have been a loss, but it was a milestone nonetheless.
On September 9, new women's program joined forces with the Vancouver Rowers to play their first BC Rugby Division 2 match against Simon Fraser University (SFU). Together, the recently-formed Axes and Oars lost the game 36-0, with Kat Doyle becoming the first woman ever to earn an Axemen game vest.
Despite the goose egg on the scoreboard, Axemen head coach Lauren Arthur had lots of good things to say about the experience. Arthur, a veteran of the Abbotsford Rugby Football Club, got to take the field alongside the athletes under her tutelage.
"From the beginning, it was a very balanced game, I thought, and then there was just a few times where SFU was able to make a break and score," she said. "The score, it's going to sound like it's a bit lopsided, like: oh my gosh, they just ran us over. But from being on the field, it really did not feel that way at all.
"Being such a new team, we just need a little bit more time to really fine tune our game plan and our defence. I mean, we had some players that this was their very first regular game ever. It's going to take time for them to to get into the groove of things."
In other news, the Axemen have recently criticized the District of 麻豆社国产for what they believe is
