Despite starting the season 3-0, the Chuckanut Bay rugby club in northern Washington state still has some work to do.

The U19 program that produced three Eagle props (Shawn Pittman, Nick Wallace, and Titi Lamositele) is working hard to develop some talented young players, but the operative word is “young.”

“We’ve started well but we’ve got three guys on our starting team who qualify for the U17 team,” said Coach Steve Sullivan. “We have some talented kids and we’re still seeing them learn the game.”

Helping keep the younger players on track is flyhalf Jonny Reid, a select side pivot who is a smart kicker and playmaker. But Reid didn’t even play March 14 when Chuckanut beat Eastside 24-7 to improve to 3-0.

Along with Reid, Patrick Condon, Jack Wendling, and Ben Broselle played for the Washington Loggers team at the LVI in Las Vegas, while Jake Bunrs has also been a strong contributor.

But is that enough to overhaul a high-flying Liberty team, also 3-0? Maybe not. Those two teams meet March 28, and several of the younger Chuckanut players will be on a U17 tour to Hawaii and Australia. 

That might undercut Chuckanut’s chances against Liberty, but Sullivan isn’t worried, because they’ve got leadership from players such as Reid, and their approach isn’t always about winning next week.

“We’re just trying to give these guys the opportunity to love to game as much as we [coaches] do,” said Sullivan “The wins will come.”