His time at Cowichan Secondary School having come to an end with a disappointing, injury-laden Grade 12 season, Will Piche is preparing to continue his rugby career under the mentorship of another Cow High grad.
Piche will head to Saskatchewan this fall, where he will study at the University of Regina while learning the sport with MacDowell Rugby, the academy created by Robin MacDowell, a Cowichan Valley product who went on to play several years with the national rugby sevens team.
“I feel like being part of the academy will be my biggest step toward playing for the national team,” Piche said.
Piche has played just three seasons of rugby, but he is committed to the sport and MacDowell thinks he has what it takes to go far.
MacDowell first saw Piche play during a camp at Cowichan Secondary just after Christmas. A few weeks later, MacDowell was scouting talent from across the country for a team to compete at the Las Vegas Elite Youth Competition, and Thunderbirds coach Ron Glass suggested he take a long look at Piche. Piche made the cut for that team, but ended up breaking a foot while training a week before the tournament, the first of a couple of injury setbacks he would face this year.
“He is a big, strong athlete, with pace, power and a great attitude,” MacDowell said. “Will expressed his interest to come train and play for my programs in Saskatchewan. Being born and raised in the Cowichan Valley, it brings me great joy to have a homegrown player committing himself to his dreams while getting an education at the University of Regina.”
Not long after he returned from the broken foot, Piche broke his hand in a game against G.P. Vanier. It was disappointing, he admitted, in his final year of high school, “not being able to train as much, not playing throughout the season, not being game-ready,” but it was fortunate, he admitted, to have already caught MacDowell’s eye and not having to worry about impressing other scouts.
Piche played football until a couple of years ago when he was looking for change of scenery and picked up rugby. He injured his shoulder in his first season of rugby and decided to go back to football, but it wasn’t the same.
“It just wasn’t what was best for me anymore,” he recalled.
Rugby has a special camaraderie to it, Piche emphasized.
“There’s a giant sense of family,” he said. “We’re all one team, one family. You can lean on your teammates for support when you need it. There’s a lot of camaraderie.”
Piche plans to work on his Bachelor of Kinesiology at the U of R while working closely with MacDowell at the academy. MacDowell is also the coach of the Canadian team for the Youth Commonwealth Games next month and the Mexican national women’s sevens team, as well as being a scout for the national program, so Piche knows he’s in good company.
“I’m definitely looking forward to that, making a name for myself hopefully,” he said. “I look up to [MacDowell]. I want to play for the national team and eventually give back to the rugby program.”