“Last year he was an athlete. This year, he’s a rugby player.”
In a dozen words, Bow Valley Grizzlies head coach Ty Hawes summed up player James Patterson.
Fresh out of high school last season, the winger’s raw skill was enough to earn him a spot on the Cochrane-based men’s rugby club.
This season, the 18-year-old has made the Prairie Wolf Pack’s Under-19-year-old (U19) 26-man roster. Patterson is one of four Cochranites to make the elite regional (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba) team. Cochranites Oliver Mayo, Ben Mayo and Conor Turner have also made the team announced June 25.
“A lot of players from university and ex-Canada U18 players,” Patterson said of the U19 Wolf Pack, which was chosen following spring player tryouts in Edmonton and Brandon. “Coming from last year, I barely knew how to play. I was basically just running. Rugby is the ultimate team sport.”
Hawes, a former national team and Wolf Pack player, has seen rapid growth in Patterson.
“Obviously, he works his (butt) off,” Hawes said of the player he worked with all through the offseason. “He wants it. He’s going and getting it.
“He does the time. He wants to improve, which makes it easy for a coach.”
Hawes watched his prodigious performer score the game’s first try against Knights in Calgary Rugby Union Division 3 men’s play June 27. The Grizzlies won 34-3 in northeast Calgary, going 7-0 on the season to sit atop the Div. 3 table with the maximum 35 points.
“That’s why you coach, to see that evolution,” Hawes said of Patterson’s development. “You coach to help players get better and to take their game to the next level.”
Hawes is no stranger to the next level. The 35-year-old player/coach has played for the Canadian national rugby team and for pro and semi-pro club teams in New Zealand, Australia, Scotland, Spain and Hong Kong.
“The game has taken me all over the world, I want it to take them all over the world. I want them to have the same experiences I’ve had.”
You can chalk up another level of experience for Patterson in a U19 Wolf Pack kit.
