Gemini rugby girls looking for extended run through TVRA cup

Tillsonburg Gemini ball carrier Asha David eludes a Huron Park tackler. (Jeff Tribe Photo)

Jeff Tribe, Post Correspondent

The Tillsonburg Gemini girls’ rugby team had already had a good outing.

But they weren’t settling for that.

And so, after a game-tying Woodstock Huron Park Huskies try late on a rainy, Tuesday, May 13th afternoon on their home Glendale field, they pushed back.

It was a team effort, regaining possession after kicking to the Huskies and moving upfield. However, a powerful one-woman drive by Avah Sanderson was at the heart of the game-winning try in a 22-17 Thames Valley Regional Athletics Jill McCallum Division victory.

There is strategy in rugby, speed and skill in avoiding tacklers and finding open space. But this was simply Sanderson putting her head down and grinding forward against multiple would-be tacklers.

“That was just pushing it across the line,” credited Gemini scrum-half Sophie Hicks, of a play began by Asha David and ultimately carried across the goal-line and grounded in the try zone by co-captain Keona Cornish. “Avah was not going to be denied.”

“I’d rather win with a close game,” added fly-half Bree VanRybroeck. “A close competitive game where we have to do what we can instead of slacking off.”

Tillsonburg’s Carly Kennedy, Hicks, Olivia Silliker and Cornish each contributed a try, with Sanderson kicking one two-point conversion. Ema-Leigh Hamilton had all three Huron Park tries.

The Gemini finished their regular TVRA season with a 3-1 record, good for second place in the McCallum division behind the undefeated St. Thomas Parkside Stampeders.

Well beyond their record, Hicks pointed to the fact Tillsonburg had maintained the 32-member roster it began the season with throughout, compared to last year’s 17 at its conclusion. In her third season as a Grade 12 student, Hicks is encouraged at its expansion not only in terms of numbers, but skill.

“Interest for rugby has just…” she began.

“Skyrocketed, I feel that’s a good word,” interjected prop Megan Rearden.

Under the TVRA playoff system, the top two teams from the A/AA McCallum division and the AAA Veronican Harrigan Division would meet, with the winners advancing to their respective Western Ontario Secondary Schools Athletic Association (WOSSAA) tournaments. The two losers will meet as part of TVRA Cup final playdowns.

Looking ahead to their contest against Parkside immediately following the Huron Park game, the Gemini knew they would be in for a battle.

VanRybroeck considered the opportunity to be the first girls’ rugby team to reach WOSSAA as a ‘big thing’ for the team and school.

“I feel it would be a real accomplishment,” she said at the time.

“Parkside’s really good,” added Rearden, mentally approaching the game as any other outing. “Have a good game, work and play hard, do what we can.”

Regardless of the outcome, whatever subsequent game the Gemini would be playing, she said it was important to ‘keep pushing.’

“Play to win every game, no matter the stakes,” agreed Hicks.

The Stampeders both continued their undefeated regular season and locked up the TVRA AA WOSSAA berth with a 55-10 win Tuesday, May 20 in St. Thomas. While naturally disappointed at the outcome, Gemini coach Shelby Colldock congratulated Parkside for securing the WOSSAA AA berth.

“Our girls can hold their heads high knowing they continue to perform their best yet.”

With that result, Tillsonburg is still looking for more from their 2025 season through a TVRA Cup quarter-final date with AAA London Catholic Central High School Wednesday, May 28 at the St. George’s Rugby Fields near London. The coaching staff is however, also very appreciative of what the Gemini have already accomplished.

“The girls have grown stronger through excellent teamwork and communication,” Colldock concluded. “Our goal has been empowering them playing and being the toughest and most resilient team out there.

“Regardless of the outcome of Wednesday’s game, that goal has been achieved.”