Shawnigan Lake School - Yearbook (Shawnigan Lake, British Columbia Canada)

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RuaLu Ylotes 1950-1951 ' 9°y 9 Wl 9 v V fT- w l rr ' t ik 1st RUGBY XV Back Row: J. A. Clark, P. W. Maclnnes, E. W. Obermarck, A. V. Grauer, P. F. Harrison, G. R. Wilson, P. M. Young, T. M. Osvold. Centre Row: A. S. Patrick, D. C. Maclnnes, C. B. Tuttle, D. Bellm, W. S. Edgett. Front Row: F. L. A. Elmaleh, T. C. Thee. The statistician may appreciate the information that the 1st XV played seven matches, won three of them and had an adverse balance in points of 28. If he were to conclude from this that the calibre of the team was of a doubtful nature, he would be wrong. There can bei no denying that, on the evidence of the matches played, there was a lack of scoring power and, on occasion, the defence was guilty of some glaring lapses. But there is a certain consolation in the excuse that in both cases the blame could be put down to an inexperienced backfield. Indeed it became evident in the later matches that these two faults had been eradicated to a great extent. Unfortunately we went to University School with much practise under our belts but with no experience of having played as a team against stiff opposition. We also arrived at University School with the knowledge that they had a powerful side and this gave our opponents a try advantage before we even left the changing room. In the first fifteen minutes the School played as if they knew something about the game but were ashamed to admit it. During this rather depressing period, University School helped themselves to four very nice tries, and we found ourselves looking at the wrong end of a 16-0 score. However, by this time, Tuttle had had enough of such goings-on and exhorted his team to greater efforts. The response was immediate and for the last ten minutes of the first half, University School were hard put to it to keep us from scoring. When the whistle blew for half time, we were right on their line and a quick heel would surely have resulted in a try. The second half was no sooner under way than we stormed their line again and were finally awarded for our persistence when, after a good three-quarter movement, Obermarck dived over for a try in the corner. The kick was missed and we trailed by 13 points. The rest of the game saw us dominate the play completely. Maclnnes was hooking well and University were not getting the ball at all to their stand-off half, a most dangerous player. Obermarck scored again when he broke through with the ball and, although chased all the way to the tryline by three opponents, managed to get there first to score again in the corner. Again and again it seemed that we must score but University ' s defence held and although Edgett twice and Elmaleh, Tuttle and Patrick all came within an ace of scoring, the score remained 6-16 until the end of the game. Perhaps if the team had started sooner to play well, they might have avoided defeat. That is merely matter for con- jecture. However, what was important was that they had now got over their first-match jitters and had proved to themselves that they were capable of playing well. We met the Old Boys on November 12th and managed to give them a sound beating. This was a good win in that the Old Boys XV contained some illustrious members of past XV ' s and many of them were still in very good condition. However, it was lucky also that some of them were not in such good condition. It was in this game that the 1st XV gave its best display of attacking rugby as carried out by the three-quarters. There were some uncomfortable moments though, particularly when Rochester showed us a very clean pair of heels to score a good try right under the posts. However, both Edgett and Thee scored before half time to put us ahead. Changing ends, it was becoming evident that some of the more venerable of the Old Boys were beginning to feel the pace a bit and the School most unkindly took advantage Page 9

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£ of Tuttle, our Head Boy, and Maclnnes I. We wish them both the best of luck upon leaving, and also extend these wishes to all our other friends who are following them and we hope to see them all back in the very near future as Old Boys. Thee and Clark, our two House Prefects, have both done good jobs and it will seem strange to have neither of them back with us next term. Just in passing, we hope to slip it in so that no one will really notice it, the Head Boy was in Lake ' s House, the Captain of Football was in Lake ' s House and the Captain of Cricket was in Lake ' s House. We hope that you will draw the right conclusions from these three facts. wove A rrouAe f oted This year Groves ' House again presents a repertory of interesting characters, distin- guished and not-so. Among the former, Patrick and Edgett are School Prefects, and Pinkerton and Webster House Prefects. All four leave this term, the two last-named having been accepted for Stanford. In sport, Groves ' produced individuals rather than teams. Bellm, Patrick and Edgett have played Rugger and Cricket for the School ' s first teams, Webster for the 1st XV, and Goodenough and Pinkerton for the 1st XI. We also produced a good selection of the Colts ' Cricket team, one of whom lost two teeth in the process. Dryvynsyde carried off the Chess Cup by its one handle. Groves ' made a presentable start in the Inter-House Sports but the lack of older inter- mediates resulted in our position at second place. In the House Cricket we were able to sit out of the first game, having obtained a bye. We played Lake ' s for the Cup, which resulted in a 51-51 tie. To those familiar faces leaving us, we can only say that we hope to see them soon as Old Boys. -st Ratlin a i lote The cheery clank of belaying pins and the froufrou of ropes ' ends towing in the water abaft once more disturbed the fishy meditations of ancient anglers as they threaded their worms on quiet Sunday afternoons. A boatload of underclad adventurers could be seen skim- ming over the breeze-shot surface en route for St. Trinians across the bay. Spinnaker spanking, tops ' l toppling, the fair foam flew, and no painted ship idled upon a painted ocean; to unleash the metaphor, they jollied along. The youngest member of the crew had never sailed before, but the old hand in com- mand was born with a silver scupper in his mouth and is none of your freshwater sailors. His quiet authority after a termtime of slapping paint and caulking boat bottoms will inspire confidence and awe in the tyro — and what if his classroom reflections on the best way to dislodge the next barnacle do tax the patience of unboatlike teachers? Not for him a life of idle pleasure among Latin Participles: his genius soared before the discovery of steam, when fine ships, their white sails crowding, leaned over the bosom of the urgent west. (If not in his so many words.) It is indeed chiefly due to Young and his team of willing, if inexperienced, assistants that two sailboats were made floatworthy — a small fleet but what fun for both veteran sailors and beginners alike. We hope that next summer a larger fleet may be put in commission. 2 L C. anted rs ? ? The School has certainly enjoyed far more fruitful years in the Athletic field as far as success is concerned in the won-lost column but there can hardly have been any better years at Shawnigan during which the general spirit and good sportsmanship were higher. A great deal of this was due to the unselfish captaincy both in Rugby and Cricket by Tuttle and Maclnnes respectively. These two along with the other School Colours have shown a very fine spirit during all games and matches and have instilled this spirit into their teammates by their very enthusiasm. Shawnigan has long had a fine reputation for its attitude on the games field regardless of the conditions of the game and it has been most gratifying during the past year to see this grand spirit so evident in the School. It is hoped that it will be just as much to the fore next year when we will have very young and inexperienced teams taking the field. If so, there is little fear but that we shall give a good account of ourselves. We have been very fortunate in the weather all during the year. It has treated us with kindness in that not once had we to postpone or cancel a match. In fact, the only time we had the elements to contend with was during the St. George ' s game in Vancouver and we feel that we are hardly responsible for the weather offered by the Mainland. The thanks of the teams goes out to Miss Forbes who so nobly gave up her time to see that we were always cleanly and smartly clad for our matches. Page o

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of these physical laps es to score two more good tries, Obermarck first, then Edgett getting his second try of the match. The tries sandwiched a good penalty goal by Bellm. After these two promising exhibitions, it was with high hopes that we journeyed over to St. George ' s in Vancouver. However, our hopes were to fade quickly in the slime and slush of a snowy field which severely handicapped the play of our backfield. After playing reason- ably well in the first half, the team faded badly in the second half and were beaten 16-0. It must be admitted, however, that the team was put off stride by the fact that the first two of St. George ' s tries were rather questionable, the referee being unsighted both times and unable to see the infringements which occurred. However, St. George ' s followed these up with two more good tries and deservedly won the game. They proved to be the better side at adapting themselves to the conditions and reaped their reward. For the School, Bellm at stand-off handled the ball in faultless fashion and clearly showed that even the most slippery of balls can be caught if one really watches the ball. Maclnnes I was the hardest working player on the field, securing the ball for us in the majority of the set scrums and performing prodigies of effort both in the lineouts and in the loose. For our return match with University School, we all realized that the only way to win was to play well right from the start for our opponents were fresh from a victory over St. George ' s and were after our scalps for the second time in the season. The fact that we were so narrowly defeated (3-6) would indicate that we were badly off form against St. George ' s, but it would not indicate that we should have beaten University School and neither did we. The best that can be said is that we came close. The game was played on a field wet from a morning ' s rain and cut up from the 2nd XV ' s match which had just ended. This did not suit the three-quarters at all and it proved to be a forwards ' battle to a large extent although there were a number of good three-quarter runs by both sides. Both University School ' s tries came in the first half. Unintelligent positioning by Edgett allowed Calton, the University School stand-off and captain, to slip over on the blind side. Shortly after this, Squires, a burly forward, broke through from a lineout and intercepted a pass back intended for Thee. Elmaleh ' s desperate last-minute tackle just failed to halt him. So, as in the first match, we found our- selves well in arrears and, once again after half time, we stormed back to keep the University School virtually penned inside their own half for the rest of the gam e. But it must be admitted that our opponents ' defence never once faltered although it came very close on several occa- sions to collapsing. In this game, it was our forwards who deserved the praise. Well led by our big three , Tuttle, Maclnnes I and Patrick, they played very well together as a pack and allowed Calton, a very clever player, little room in which to move. We scored our points in the very last minute of the game when Bellm calmly kicked a very slippery ball through the uprights. The winter, being a mild one, enabled us to play rugger right through the Lent Term almost without a break. Thus we were able to arrange some matches for the term. Our first opponents were the Canadian Scottish XV and they paid us the compliment of trotting out virtually their strongest side. The conditions were ideal for a fast, open game and such it proved to be. For the first ten or fifteen minutes, play was very even, swinging up and down the field until, on one of the down swings, Osvold neglected to fall on the ball and consequently had a very fine view of the subsequent try. This aroused the School to greater efforts and, for the rest of the half, we kept our opponents busy on the defensive. Time and again a good scoring opportunity would be lost when a pass was thrown to the four winds or some careless infringement would end a threat abruptly. Bellm evened up the score finally with a good penalty goal. Play continued even until well into the second half when the superior weight and speed of our opponents began to have effect. Upon reshuffling their scrum, they began to dominate the play and scored four tries in the last ten minutes. Two of the tries could have been averted but we were just too tired a team to stop them. The team played very well and stuck to a difficult task nobly, the score 3-17 hardly indicating the run of the play. It was in the match against Victoria High School that the School really rose to the occasion. Trailing 3-12 with but fifteen minutes of the game remaining, things looked black. However, quite suddenly something happened which set the team on its way. We bottled the High School team up in their own twenty-five for the remainder of the game, scoring two tries in the process and kicking a penalty goal to scrape through by a solitary point. As usual, our failure to score tries earlier in the game had been due entirely to our old habit of throwing away anything that faintly resembled a scoring chance. However, in those final fifteen minutes, we more than made up for any miscues. Oak Bay High School were met and disposed of in much the same manner although, here again, the game should have been won by a far larger margin, we getting more of the play than our opponents. Oak Bay, fielding the same team that had just beaten both Victoria Page 10