We may still be in the heart of the winter season, but that isn't preventing the Dauphin Clippers rugby teams from thinking ahead.
The Clippers recently discovered they will host this year's league all-star games on June 10th. Head coach Rod Carberry is looking forward to hosting.
"We're very excited about it," he said. "We always travel all over the place and we're excited everybody's going to be coming to us. Mums and dads and rugby fans will be able to come out that day and enjoy some awesome rugby. It's the elite from the province."
There will be both a boys and girls all-star game held in Dauphin at the DRCSS June 10th.
Carberry attended last year's all-star game in Winnipeg, and he's determined to make this year's festivities an improvement from last year's.
"It was very wishy-washy," he admitted. "There wasn't a lot of structure and organization to it."
Absent from last year's event were simple additions such as a canteen.
"That's certainly something that we want to have. Dauphin's known for it's first class events and we're going to make sure we host a first-class all-star game that everybody's going to remember."
Aside from providing fans with some hot food and cold drinks the Clippers stil have some work to do if they're going to host a memorable all-star game.
A small volunteer base will be required to run the canteen, to help paint lines, and other general duties.
Aside from that the Clippers need some minor equipment upgrades. Their field marking equipment has been adequate for league games over the years, but will need improving in time for June 10th. Fundraisers will be held between now and June 10th to help pay for the new field marking equipment.
The next thing the Clippers have to focus on is fielding a team for this season. The coaches are relying on players to help drive recruiting, particularly targeting grade 9 students who may be unfamiliar with the program.
Clippers begin practice February 6th in the upper gym at DRCSS. Practices run Monday and Wednesday from 5:30-7:00.
