Comets rugby team begin 2026 on a solid note with huge win over LCI

Posted on April 16, 2026 by admin

Garrett Simmons
Westwind Weekly News

For the last three seasons, gold has eluded the Raymond Comets rugby 15s team.

With a new season underway, the players wiped the slate clean in the opening week of 2026, as the Comets rolled to a 44-0 win over Lethbridge Collegiate Institute, the team that has taken gold two straight years.

“We just played solid defence when they had the ball and for this early in the season, we had really good ball movement,” said Comets coach Dan Bickman, who added this year’s version of the girls rugby squad is returning a solid core of players that delivered a great opening-week performance. “It was nice to get that win.”

On Monday, the Comets followed up the Week 1 victory with a 60-0 rout of Winston Churchill High School.

“With the seniors, we went right to the end of our bench, and everyone got at least a half of playing time,” said Bickman.

Friday, Raymond will face a much tougher test, as Calgary’s Notre Dame will travel south for junior and senior matches, set for 2:30 p.m. and 4 p.m.

“They have been in the medals in Tier 1 for the last 5-6 years,” said Bickman, who added Notre Dame also upended Raymond in the provincial final three years ago. “Any team that will travel down on a Friday afternoon to play us, they’re going to give us a good game.”

Saturday, Raymond will be in Lethbridge for a 7s event, as the Comets look to continue to build that side of the program, and start its quest to defend the 2025 provincial title.

Overall, Bickman added rugby is alive and well once again in Raymond, as everyone involved in the team has one clear goal in mind.

“Our numbers are strong, the culture is awesome and we have a lot of great kids ready to work. We’re the defending 7s champions and the 15s came up just short.”

The motivation is certainly there to get back on top of the 15s mountain, for a Raymond program that has been in every provincial final since 2009. Breaking the current gold-medal drought is top of mind.

“That’s obviously the goal,” said Bickman, who added ‘winning’ silver is often a pretty tough pill to swallow. “The kids feel that and they’ve come in with an awesome work ethic.”

For Bickman and coach Noel Smith, who has also been there from the very beginning, the legacy of success in Raymond, and the fact the program has come full circle this year for coaches, is not lost on the duo.

“This year, we had two girls arrive in Grade 9 where we had coached their mothers,” said Bickman, who added, in fact, those two former players were on hand to speak to the team at the first practice of the year. “We always tell the kids that sports is a fun experience that you should make the most of, because it comes and goes. We try to instill that they have to make the most of the opportunity in front of them.”

That was part of the message Bickman’s two former players delivered, along with the legacy of the program, and the joy the sport brought them back in their playing days.

“It was a really cool experience to have as a coach,” said Bickman.