Raymond heading to St. Albert to compete for rugby 15s provincial title

Posted on June 4, 2026 by admin

By Garrett Simmons
Southern Alberta Newspapers

The Raymond Comets will likely head into this weekend’s School Sports Alberta Rugby 15s Provincials as the tournament’s top seed.

How the team earned that honour might be a little out of the ordinary, as Raymond is this year’s southern league and zone champion, after wild weather meant the southern zone championship game against Lethbridge Collegiate Institute did not get played.

The Comets took the W in the zine final by forfeit, as Sturgeon Composite High School will now host Raymond for provincials, with games set for the St. Albert Rugby Club.

“It’s too bad,” said Raymond coach Dan Bickman of the fact that the two southern rivals could not compete earlier this week.

The Comets will see LCI this weekend, along with other Alberta powerhouses such as Red Deer’s Notre Dame and Calgary’s Western Canada, the school that took home that city’s championship.

The wildcard will be the Edmonton-based teams. Since Raymond’s Edmonton tournament was cancelled this year due to weather, Bickman added those opponents will be a bit of a mystery.

The schedule, which was not posted as of press time, will see Raymond play twice on Friday and twice on Saturday against yet-to-be-determined opponents.

Whoever is on the docket, the Comets will have one advantage, according to Bickman – work ethic.

“All this team wants to do is work,” he said. “They were happy to practice this week outside when the other team forfeited a game.”

And even though the team rolls into provincials as a presumptive favourite, that didn’t stop the team leaders from approaching the coach with what some have seen as an odd request.

“They wanted more fitness in practice,” said Bickman. “That’s the fun thing about working with this group – they all just want to do their best.”

That’s part of the thrill of coaching in the program, Bickman added, as even the team’s best players recognize the benefit of putting in extra effort.

“There are a lot of super talented athletes out there, but not all of those kids want to work hard,” said Bickman, who added players in the Comets program certainly break that mold.

 Whoever is on the schedule this weekend, the coach added the expectation, as always, centres around another gold medal.

“We’re excited to play for a provincial tile.”