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Mighty Mayfield Mavericks capture third consecutive OFSAA Girls AAA Rugby OFSAA Girls AAA Rugby Championship

June 14, 2023   ·   0 Comments

By Jim Stewart

The Mayfield Mavericks went into the 2023 OFSAA Girls AAA Rugby championships as the Number 1 seed and they validated that ranking by defeating the Uxbridge Tigers 22-17 at Humberview SS to capture their third consecutive provincial championship.

The Region of Peel champions steamrolled their way to the Finals by beating #16-seed Northern 50-10 in their opening match on Monday. The mighty Mavericks’ defense put on an impressive show on Tuesday in a pair of emphatic shutouts: a 28-0 romp over Ursuline College and a 19-0 victory versus Owen Sound DSS.  

Head Coach Dave Wiwchar attributed his team’s comparatively hard-fought victory in the championship game over Uxbridge to “Hard work and a great work ethic.”

“It was all about their work throughout the tournament. We are a skilled team—a very talented team.  We’ve had to face a talented Uxbridge team in two consecutive OFSAA Finals.”

Mavericks’ Assistant Coach Rhys Manning echoed his colleague’s assessment of the Tigers:

“It is a difficult thing to beat a team as good as Uxbridge SS, and even more difficult to beat them twice. [We] played with unity, with grit, bravery, and a tremendous amount of heart, to overcome [our] own nerves to defeat Uxbridge SS to win OFSAA gold for the third tournament in a row – which, needless to say, is an incredible feat and never done before at the AAA level before.”

Manning also praised his Senior team’s 19-0 win versus Owen Sound to create the pathway to the Finals rematch.

“They had to dig deep and play with resolve to overcome a very difficult and strong team from Owen Sound District SS in the semi-finals to make their way to the final against last year’s opponent, Uxbridge.”

Coach Manning thanked the team’s Grade 12 student-athletes for their role in the Mavericks’ 2023 triumph: “We would like to make special acknowledgement to the graduating athletes: Maeve Barnard, Brittany Ennema, Evelyn Pacheco, Chloe Creighton, Orly Ferris Maelle Smith, Olivia Dibua Ella Judge Anna Jeffrey, and Mia VandenHoek.”

Head Coach Wiwchar noted that the championship was “an amazing team effort”, but he singled out “Captain Mia VandenHoek as a significant voice of leadership.”

In a reflective moment, Wiwchar commented on two consecutive provincial titles as a Head Coach.

“It’s amazing. The coaching staff is ecstatic. This staff has been together for the last two championships.”

Wiwchar’s staff at Mayfield is comprised of Manning– who also coaches at the provincial level– John Tutty, Pamela Ireland, and Jon Forbes.

The dedicated five-person coaching staff at Mayfield Secondary School is evidently building a rugby dynasty after capturing the last three OFSAA championships held in 2019, 2022, and 2023.

Although the Pandemic wiped out provincial championships and most high school sports in 2020 and 2021, Wiwchar disclosed how the Mavericks were able to press re-set and build the program after COVID.

“The commitment of the girls to the program has been the key to our recent success.  We’ve had 60 girls in the program each year where they have learned the sport.  We have an amazing rugby tradition at Mayfield and our girls have the means to fall in love with the sport.”  

It’s clear that Wiwchar’s players love the sport of rugby, based on the number of Mavericks who are competing at elite levels.  Wiwchar noted that “5-6 players from the senior squad play for the Provincial team and four of those players have been selected to play for the Canadian 15’s and 1 for the Canadian 7’s. Many of our players are playing rep rugby, as well, for Northern Halton and Fergus.”

Given the upper levels of competition to which Coach Wiwchar’s core players are exposed and given that “six of the starters from this year’s Senior championship team were in Grade 10,” the future of the mighty Mavericks Senior Girls Rugby team is bright, indeed.

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