Escobar’s two tries lead WCI Red Devils’ effort against Tillsonburg Glendale

Red Devil Savannah Adair (left) moves the ball to a teammate while coming under pressure from a pair of Tillsonburg defenders. (Jeff Tribe Photo)

Jeff Tribe, Echo Correspondent

It’s understandable that if unlike baseball, there is a little crying in rugby.

But Woodstock CI’s Valentina Escobar also showed there’s regrouping, getting up and competing again.

“You get used to it,” shrugged the speedy Red Devils’ winger who took two hefty shots to the stomach during a 29-10 Thames Valley Regional Athletics (TVRA) South East Jill McCallum Division girls’ varsity rugby loss to Tillsonburg Glendale Thursday, April 24th at London’s City Wide Field. “Someone stepped on me (too), but I wanted to play again after I cried.

“I mean,” she added, “it is a contact sport.”

Escobar also made contact with the Glendale try zone, scoring both her team’s five-point tries on the day with a combination of quickness and grit.

“I had to dodge everyone and shoved them with my arm and ran zigzag,” she explained.

Avah Sanderson had two tries and conversions for Tillsonburg with Sophie Hicks, Carly Kennedy and Keona Cornish adding one try each.

The Red Devils have had the fortune of opening their 2025 season against two undefeated sides, improving says Brooke Halward after dropping a 25-5 decision to the 3-0 St. Thomas Parkside Stampeders the previous week.

“It was a lot better than our last game,” said Halward. “Starting to get to the hang of it.”

“We’re learning a lot and having a lot of fun,” agreed scrum half teammate Mia Hawkins, citing better ball movement and improved play in scrums.

“A good game,” agreed Red Devils lock Julia McMillan. “We improved a lot.”

Three Oxford teams are competing in the Jill McCallum division, WCI, Glendale and Woodstock Huron Park Huskies, who won the regular season ‘battle of Woodstock’ by a 25-10 margin Friday, May 2nd at St. Thomas’s 1Password Park.

Ema-Leigh Hamilton, Emma Sager and Ella Chesney scored tries for Huron Park.

The 1-1 Huskies are scheduled to take on St. Thomas St. Joe’s Thursday, May 8th, closing out their season Tuesday, May 13th in Tillsonburg. The Red Devils will be looking to break into the win column that same day in St. Thomas against the homefield St. Thomas St. Joe’s Rams.

It can be tough to run a rugby program with limited facility options, said Red Devils co-coach Candice Folkema; however, the staff is proud of the grit and determination this year’s roster has shown.

“Not only are they a phenomenal group of girls who have quickly become a family, they simply don’t give up,” she credited. “Everything this team has is brought to the pitch and we couldn’t ask for anything more.”

TVRA Varsity Girls’ Rugby Jill McCallum Division

Friday, May 2

Huron Park 25, Woodstock CI 10

Friday, April 25

St. Thomas Parkside 20, Huron Park 0

Thursday, April 24

Tillsonburg Glendale 29, Woodstock CI 10

Wednesday, April 16

Glendale 20, St. Joe’s 15