Size does not matter in rugby
Sports
Posted 1 month ago
Richard Saad
Standard Reporter
He may consider himself short, but what Curtis Reid lacks in height he more than makes up for in heart and determination.
The 17-year-old recent graduate of Strathmore High School made Team Alberta's rugby team, and for the first time, he is heading to Peace River this week to take part in the 2010 Alberta Summer Games.
Reid is already an accomplished athlete. He had been playing rugby for the SHS Spartans for the past three seasons and this year was voted the team's Most Valuable Player.
Prior to making the team, Reid assumed the tryouts would be as far as he got because of his size, especially when considering the large talent pool the Alberta Summer Games attracts to their tryouts.
"I'm a little bit of a misfit on this team when it comes to size because most of these guys are tall and skinny and I'm kind of short and stocky," said Reid.
"I figured I'd try out and that would be then end of it. I was a little nervous because of the players that I would be up against. All of the players on the field were kind of sizing each other up and remembering the times they played against each other during the season."
Reid's journey to making Team Alberta had its origins late in the season with the Spartans, as they played their final two games against the Highwood Mustangs from High River.
As luck would have it, the head coach of the Mustangs, Bruno Payette, was also Team Alberta's head coach.
He was impressed with Reid's performance in both games and invited him to try out for Team Alberta at the end of June in High River.
"The coach had seen me before and he knew what to expect from me," said Reid.
Although Reid only had to attend one, and not two, of the tryouts he admitted they were very intense and competitive.
This was especially more stressful since he was on the same practice field with players he had played against during the season with the Spartans.
The experience was much
different than he was normally used to in high school, where the tryouts were a little more forgiving.
"In high school, the tryouts were a little slower to make room for the new guys and the inexperienced guys," said Reid.
"For Team Alberta, all of the guys that showed up were some of the top guys in the province. We all knew what we were doing and it was really fast and hard."
Reid's expectations are tempered, as he has never been to the Alberta Summer Games before.
He is confident about the team that coach Payette has assembled, though.
Reid said the 12 players assembled are some of the best
players in Zone 2.
Despite not knowing what their competition will be this weekend, he feels they are ready for any challengers.
"I'm expecting a lot of good rugby and I hope that we can win as many games as we can," said Reid.
The kind of rugby Reid will be playing is dependent on the format of the games.
Because there will only be seven players on the field from each team, the game is much faster and much more intense than the traditional 15-a-side format.
As a scrumhalf, Reid is hoping to provide a physical edge that will create time and space for the team's bigger forwards.
"I like to hit hard and I'm hoping to use that to my advantage," he said.
