Unsung Hero - On The Field

The second of our "Unsung Heros" is Riley Ilnicki.  Riley is a 23 year old Accountant Articling student and he has been playing rugby for ten years.  He started playing in Grade 8 and continued at Williams Lake High School under the watchful eye of Paul ("Father/Pablo") Carnes.  Williams Lake is a small hotbed of rugby. Riley plays summer rugby with the Williams Lake Rustlers and has done so for eight years.  Riles has also played with UVic 2008,2009 and has been with CW since 2009.  Riley has always played flanker, his "favorite position".

He claims his brother Jake has had the biggest influence on his career to date......"we have pushed each other since High School to become better players, both as team mates and opposition.  Jake has worked hard to earn his rugby achievements to date and that has inspired me.  I find it motivating to try to establish who is the real "BIG" brother Ilnicki!"  Riley's career highlight to date was winning the buckle at the Rustlers Annual Summer Tourney, the first time (in over thirty years) the Home club has been the victors, along with being part of CW's BCRU Premiership Champs in 2010.

Riley has a few goals he would like to achieve, those being; "To be part of another BC Premiership Title; to crack the 2014 Bears Squad and to teach the boys some quality rugby songs."  Noble goals all.  Why is Riley our unsung hero?  We asked Hydes for one word to describe Riley?  "Consistency," he responded.  Consistency implies characteristics that we see Riley unassumingly display. It implies reliability and dedication.  A good role model for all.