Name a sport and Daemon Cline has probably played it.
Track, football, basketball, soccer, cross-country running – he’s done them all.
But the 18-year-old Salmon Arm Secondary student has found his passion and it is rugby.
Last year, Cline received an invitation to play with the BC Rugby Development Academy, whose goal is to produce players for Team Canada.
Cline was scouted and, although he has had far less exposure to rugby than players from the Lower Mainland, who start at a younger age and play year-round, he was offered a spot in the elite training program.
“B.C.’s probably the strongest province in Canada for rugby, and coming from here where I am at a bit of a disadvantage from the guys out there who play all the time, I was pretty happy to be invited,” says Cline. “I think it is because I give it everything I’ve got at every session. I know my technical skills might not be as strong, I can get by, but I push myself. I make sure I improve every session.”
Why has rugby been the sport to grab Cline’s focus?
“Out of all the sports I’ve played is it the most dynamic sport. There’s a lot of skill involved and precision. In another sport a sloppy pass is usually no big deal, but in rugby, that can easily lead to a seven-point score against you.”
He also likes the contact nature of the sport, but says it is a lot more finesse than football, where he found a mentality of search and destroy.
“In football, guys just want to injure. In rugby, the action is continuous, so you don’t want to just smash someone and fall down. The game keeps going, so it is less reckless, more controlled. I find that more rewarding.”
Cline’s goal is to play rugby at the university level, as well as study his way to a pharmacy degree.
“I know it will be hard to fit rugby and such a demanding academic program in together, but I think it is something I can do. I’m used to juggling work, school and more than one sport.”