Tag: Alex Tessier

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Jocelyn Barrieau is teaching at all levels

jocelyn barrieau
Jocelyn Barrieau played one season for the Stingers, and is now back to coach them. Photo by Hannah Ewen.

Former Stinger takes what she learns from coaching to her teaching

In July 2018, the Concordia Stingers named Jocelyn Barrieau the head coach of the women’s rugby team. With that, Barrieau’s career has come full circle.

Barrieau played rugby at the university level for five seasons, with the first four at McGill. She came to Concordia to play for the Stingers in 2011, to pursue her dream of playing for the Canadian national team, which never panned out. She did help the Stingers reach the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) final. They lost in the final against the Université de Laval Rouge et Or. “It was definitely a good year and good experience for me,” Barrieau said.

While playing at the university level, she also coached the Dawson Blues women’s rugby team from 2007 to 2011, winning four championships. She’s also been a skills coach with the Stingers men’s rugby team since 2013. Having coached at the CÉGEP level, and now as a head coach at the university level, Barrieau said there’s a big difference between the two.

“CÉGEP is important, but [university] is a pretty important part of people’s lives because they’re really figuring out what path they’re taking,” Barrieau said. “It’s a pretty intense time, and to throw on the fact that you’re a varsity athlete on top of all the stuff that’s going on is a pretty big load.”

She also added that players are more mature at the university level, and are better organized with school. “All that stuff is a practice run in CÉGEP and it’s a bigger task here,” Barrieau said.

Barrieau addresses her players following the Kelly-Anne Drummond Cup on Sept. 16. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

Barrieau also said there’s added benefits to coaching at Concordia versus at Dawson. “The support from the university is unbelievable,” the first-year head coach said. “At Dawson we were supported, but even just having a locker room, field, and our own space [here at Concordia] is amazing.”

When the Stingers hired Barrieau, she said her goal as a coach was to make sure her players have a 100 per cent graduation rate. She said she’s working with Craig Beemer, the head coach of the men’s rugby team, and the Stingers’s academic coordinator, to make sure the players’ academic needs are fulfilled.

“One of the big things for me is to try to see and identify problems [players might be having] before they happen,” Barrieau said. The head coach also said she understands the overwhelming pressure of being a student-athlete. After all, Barrieau was one herself.

“People have been there and it’s important to talk about it,” Barrieau said. “If people are willing to talk, I am willing to listen […] Maybe they even just need a night off training to sleep.”  

Outside of Concordia, Barrieau is also a high school teacher at Laval Junior Academy, and is teaching eighth grade French this year. She’s been teaching in the Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board for a decade now.

“At that point in their lives, students are much younger and are still figuring themselves out in a different way than the athletes here,” Barrieau said. “There are some drive differences too. School is not for every kid and those kids kind of get pushed to the side, but in university, everyone tries to be more inclusive because they want to be here.”

“The way I am on the field is quite similar to how I am in the classroom,” Barrieau added. She said the majority of skills she uses as a teacher come from coaching, such as “time management, organizational skills, clarity and communication, love and compassion, drive, desire and competitiveness.”   

As a rookie head coach, Barrieau deals with a young Stingers team. A handful of veterans left the team, most notably Frédérique Rajotte and Alex Tessier. Rajotte was the Stingers’s female athlete of the year, and was named U Sports MVP for the 2017 season. On this year’s team, out of 28 players, there are 21 in their first or second season, with only two fifth-years.

“We had a pretty big turnover rate so [the challenges are] getting people up to speed on our basic concepts, vocabulary and systems,” Barrieau said. “We’re not starting from scratch, but close to it. We’re a very young team so we also don’t have tons of on-field and game experience.”

Barrieau is happy to have Alex Tessier (pictured) join her coaching staff. Tessier graduated from the team last year. Archive photo by Alex Hutchins.

Although Tessier graduated from the team at the end of last season, she joined Barrieau’s staff to work as an assistant coach this season. Barrieau said Tessier offered to give back to the women’s rugby program as soon as she finished playing for the team, and is excited to have her.

“I don’t have enough nice things to say about Alex Tessier,” Barrieau said. “Having her here is amazing because she has such a high level of rugby knowledge […] She’s just a real, quality person to have around.”

The Stingers women’s rugby team started the season with a win and a loss, and won the Kelly-Anne Drummond Cup on Sept. 16 against McGill.   

Main photo by Hannah Ewen. 

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Representing Canada with pride

From Concordia to the national rugby team, Frédérique Rajotte and Alex Tessier share their experience

When Frédérique Rajotte saw Canadian fans cheering for her following a Women’s Rugby World Cup match in Dublin, Ireland, she started crying.

“I thought, ‘Wow this is so special,’” Rajotte said. “My parents were there with my sister and her husband. So [my family and the fans being there] was really special, and you just felt the pride.”

Rajotte, a fifth-year centre with the Concordia Stingers, played for Canada in the Women’s Rugby World Cup this summer. Alex Tessier, another fifth-year centre with the Stingers, joined Rajotte on the journey to represent their country.

“It’s always such an honour [to represent Canada],” said Tessier, who has played for Team Canada before at various levels. “It’s always so special to play at the highest level. It’s hard to describe.”

Tessier and Rajotte traded in their standard Stingers maroon and gold for the Canadian red and white for almost the entire month of August. The two Concordia students are roommates in Montreal and were roommates in Ireland. They agreed it was a special experience to have each other there.

“Our connection is strong on the field and off the field,” Tessier said. “It’s always good having confidence in someone.”

“Having Alex [there], there’s kind of a sense of home,” Rajotte said.

Frédérique Rajotte carries the ball against the Carleton Ravens at Concordia Stadium on Sept. 17. Photo by Alex Hutchins

Twelve teams participated in the Women’s Rugby World Cup, which is played once every three years. Even though the two Stingers were surrounded by players from all around the world, they said they kept to themselves.

“You always think [the World Cup] is going to be a lot of socializing,” Rajotte said. “But we didn’t interact with other teams. Not saying we were anti-social or rude about it, but we were very focused on ourselves, and we had a team-first mentality.”

“I’m not the most outgoing person,” Tessier added, “so I didn’t meet players from other teams. But it was cool to be all together and see other cultures—like the New Zealand culture is something different.”

Before each game, New Zealand rugby teams—known as the All Blacks for their all-black uniforms—perform the traditional Haka dance, which is unique in the world of rugby. According to Tourism New Zealand, the Haka originates from the Maori people, who are indigenous to New Zealand. The Maori performed the Haka in preparation of war, to symbolize the tribe’s pride, strength and unity.

The Haka tradition was passed down from armies to New Zealand’s rugby teams, who try to intimidate their opponents with the dance before each match. The Canadian team had to face the Haka before their match against New Zealand on Aug. 17.

“It’s impressive at first, but you just have to focus on your game,” Tessier said. “It doesn’t affect you, it can’t affect you.”

Rajotte added that while Team Canada respected the dance because of its history, they just wanted to get to the game. “Seeing that, I think that it’s a challenge or an invitation to go to war, but you get used to it,” she said.

Canada lost that game against New Zealand 48-5, which was their final pool game. Before that, Canada beat Hong Kong 98-0 in their first match, where Tessier scored a try. They also beat Wales, 15-0, in the second match.

The two wins weren’t enough for Canada, as their loss against New Zealand disqualified them from the semi-final. The All Blacks eventually won the tournament, while Rajotte, Tessier and the rest of Team Canada were relegated into the fifth-place playoffs.

Alex Tessier kicks the ball during a match versus the Carleton Ravens on Sept. 17. Photo by Alex Hutchins.

In a battle for pride in the playoffs, Canada beat Wales 52-0, then Australia 43-12, to finish in fifth place at the Rugby World Cup. Before the tournament, Canada was ranked as the fourth-best team in the world. For the two Stingers, their failure to earn a spot on the podium was disappointing.

“We didn’t have the result we wanted. We were supposed to get the medals,” Tessier said. “It pissed us off that we lost that game [against New Zealand]. So the two last games we played for fifth place were amazing games that I will never forget, because they were really well fought.”

Rajotte added that Canada could compete with the stronger teams like New Zealand and England, the other team that made it to the final. She said the Canadian women’s national team has a lot of potential.

“There’s a lot of hope, and there were a lot of veterans on the team who are retiring, so now it’s up to the younger girls to take over,” she said. “[The veterans] did a great job of sharing their knowledge and their past experiences.”

Tessier and Rajotte both said they learned a lot about discipline and professionalism with the Canadian team. “Discipline, we call it being pro, like being on time and being efficient,” Tessier said. “We try to focus on quality over quantity. That’s one thing I took away, is discipline and staying focused.”

The Stingers veterans aim to bring that professionalism back to the Stingers in their final year with the team. The soft-spoken Tessier said the team needs to have a one-game-at-a-time mentality in order win the championship, while the outgoing Rajotte was more direct about what she thought the team could accomplish.

“We are going to win the RSEQ championship, and we are going to go to Nationals in Alberta.”

Main photo by Alex Hutchin

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Different season, same high expectations

The Stingers finished second in their division last year with a record of 6-1. Photos by Brianna Thicke

Women’s rugby coach Graeme McGravie talks about the upcoming year

Last year, the women’s rugby team had a successful season that brought them all the way to Nationals. They won six out of their seven games and posted a point differential of plus 260. The team was able to finish second in the Réseau de sport étudiant de Quebec (RSEQ) division, but according to coach Graeme McGravie, the team is always looking to improve.

“The goal is always the same—it is to win week in and week out,” McGravie said. “We want to—and expect to—win every single game, every single week and eventually get a medal at the Nationals.”

The team has started to practice and is already refining their skills for the upcoming season. Many of the Stingers players from last year are returning, and with a few new recruits, McGravie feels the team is ready to take the next step.

“This year, we have a lot of fifth year players and returning players,” McGravie said. “We have a lot of veterans and experience, so the focus is to win—now and fast. If we would have had a mantra going into training camp, it would definitely be win now.’”

Last season, the Stingers made it to Nationals, but lost in the third place game to the Queen’s University Golden Gaels with a score of 27-13. Two of the players that led the team to Nationals last season were the dynamic duo Frédérique Rajotte and Alex Tessier. Rajotte and Tessier are both All-Canadians, and Rajotte was named league MVP. For McGravie, the team’s physical strategy helps both of these players put up points.

“We like to bang on other teams and get physical to wear them out. It allows us to let Fred and Tess use their speed and work their magic on the boundaries,” said McGravie.

When asked about how the coaching staff is looking at tactical changes going into training camp, McGravie said the physical style of play the team has adopted over the years will remain a staple of the program. McGravie even compared his team to the New York Giants of the NFL.

In terms of recruitment for the upcoming season, McGravie said a winning program and players like Rajotte on his team help in the recruiting process

“It’s kind of like when Kevin Durant went to the Warriors. Players want to go where they’re winning,” McGravie said.

One of the big additions to this year’s team is Francois Ratier, Team Canada’s senior women’s rugby head coach and former technical director of Rugby Quebec. Ratier will be joining the team as an assistant coach.

“He’s the man,” McGravie said. “He’s going to help the coaching staff and kind of look over things. He doesn’t guarantee us wins but he’s going to push everybody on the coaching staff and will be a great asset to the team.”

The Stingers will be given a chance to make an impression on the league during their season opener at home against the Laval Rouge Et Or. The game is on Sept. 5 and will be the first step on the road to Nationals.

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