Abbotsford Rugby Club Hold Successful Tournament on Saturday in Memory of John Cannon
from Mark Adams
Thank you to everyone who made it out to the John Cannon Memorial Touch Tournament this past Saturday. It was a very successful event made possible by all of you attending, throwing the egg around, having fun and raising funds for an excellent cause!Continue reading
The board of the Canadian Rugby Foundation are proud to announce their support of the Canadian University Men’s Rugby Championship with an annual grant of $20,000 as a key part of its platform for developing Canadian grassroots rugby.
This idea had its genesis in discussions between Doug Tate (UVic) and Mike Holmes (CRF) and subsequently with like-minded individuals Jeff Chan and Keith Labbett in Ontario. Though the concept had been tried before it did not have staying power – likely due to the lack of financial support.
The championship takes place from November 16th to 19th at the University of Guelph.
from Rugby Canada
The University of Guelph, Rugby Canada and the Canadian Rugby Foundation are pleased to jointly announce that the inaugural Canadian University Men’s Rugby Championship will be held November 16th to 19th at the University of Guelph.
The Championship will feature teams from all four U SPORTS conferences (Canada West, OUA, RSEQ and AUS) and will have a six-team format with two pools of three teams playing on Thursday through Saturday, November 16-18 at Guelph’s Varsity Field, home of the Guelph Gryphons Men’s and Women’s Rugby teams. Guelph will be one of the six teams in the tournament, either as the OUA Champions or as the host team. The Bronze medal match will be held in the University of Guelph’s Alumni Stadium on Sunday, November 19 followed by the Gold medal match to crown the first 21st century Champion of Canadian University Men’s Rugby.
“We are pleased to pick up an initiative dating back to the University of Victoria in the 1980’s and 1990’s to create a sustained and truly national Canadian University Men’s Rugby Championship. We would like to thank all of the staff at the University of Guelph’s Department of Athletics for agreeing to host this exciting event and we hope that this will be the beginning of a great tradition,” stated Keith Labbett and Jeff Chan co-chairs of the organizing committee. “It’s not often there is an opportunity to be on the ground floor of an exciting championship event, and I anticipate the same kinds of success we enjoyed with the Canadian College Bowl Board – the Vanier Cup predecessor – from its early days” added Chan.
“Rugby Canada recognizes Canadian university rugby as an important historical and continuing pathway to playing for the National Men’s Fifteens Team and are pleased to support this championship. We believe the tournament will be a success and are very confident we will see numerous players achieve national team representation via this exciting competition. With the selection of many players from the tournament to the Canadian University XV, there is added incentive for players and universities to participate. Our national team staff are looking forward to the competition,” stated Jim Dixon on behalf of Rugby Canada.
Though the tournament is not officially recognized or sanctioned by U SPORTS, eligibility and format will adhere to existing U SPORTS rules (including academic and 5-year maximum eligibility) and the organizing committee is hopeful that in time both the tournament and the sport of Men’s Rugby will be sanctioned by U SPORTS in the same way as Women’s Rugby and its national championship.
“Rugby Canada is one of the top sport organizations in our country. Growing the number of sports that have that opportunity to compete for a U SPORTS National Championship is an important part of my vision for elevating university sport in Canada. Although U SPORTS is not officially involved with this project, Rugby Canada has the support of U SPORTS and I anticipate the success of this event will be similar to the very successful National University Championships hosted by Tennis Canada and Golf Canada” stated Graham Brown, President and CEO of U SPORTS.
“We are thrilled to be selected as the host site for the Canadian University Men’s Rugby Championship,” says Scott McRoberts, Director of Athletics at the University of Guelph. “Our men’s rugby program has developed some great rivalries within our conference, but we cannot wait to see the talent from across the country. We really believe this tournament will be the start of something bigger.”
Further details will follow on the Rugby Canada and University of Guelph Athletics websites.
The Castaways Wanderers Fund was established on March 29, 2007.
The Castaways Wanderers Rugby Football Club was formed in 1989 the result of the amalgamation of the Oak Bay Wanderers (founded 1912) and the Castaway (founded 1965) Rugby organizations.
The Club proudly displays BC Championship banners from 1999 to 2002, three consecutive seasons of interlock play involving Vancouver Island and Mainland clubs – a feat accomplished by only one other BC Club – and another BC Championship in 2011.
Whether it is via Club tours of visiting teams of all ages, the National Senior Men’s Team members, players from coast to coast and internationally, or CW players currently on professional contracts, the Castaway Wanderers name and brand is known across Canada and around the world.
Pride of Program has CW looking towards the future, building on our history, continuing to improve and maintaining our status as one of the top rugby clubs in British Columbia and in Canada. To us it is about more than just eighty minutes on the pitch. The CW Rugby Program accentuates the whole rugby experience. We are a club with a foundation based on respect and honour for the game of rugby and for the manner in which the game is to be played. We are committed to the healthy development of our young players and for the people who contribute their time freely because of their love of the game and for the CW club.
The Discovery Street Sports Club is located at 714 Discovery Street in Victoria. Home games are played at Windsor Park, 1200 Newport Avenue, Victoria or at Carnarvon Park, 2800 Henderson Road, Oak Bay.
USE THE FORM BELOW TO DONATE TO THE CASTAWAYS WANDERERS FUND:
The Gerald McGavin Coaching Award fund has reached $200K which is good news as about 4% is available to spend annually on the award. This means it can now fund on a permanent basis 2 coaches to go down to NZ every year.
In 2013 Rameses Langston was selected for the trip to New Zealand, he was the BC U18 coach at the time. He is now the head coach at UBC where he led the Thunderbirds to a BC Premier title last season
In 2014 both Shane Thompson and Ken Goodland went to New Zealand to spend time with the Hurricanes Super Rugby franchise.
The BC Rugby Union administers the selection process and accepts nominations normally up to the third week of March. More information on the nomination process and deadlines can be found on the bcrugby.com website.
About the Gerald McGavin Coaching Award:
The award recognizes rugby coaches from British Columbia who play a significant role in shaping young athletes both on and off the field. Gerald McGavin is a former BC athlete who represented his province against world-renowned sides including the Barbarians, Australia, British Lions and New Zealand Universities. Now a Member of both the Order of Canada and Order of BC, McGavin created the Award because of his love for the sport and to acknowledge the role rugby played in shaping his life. Past recipients include Rameses Langston, Jeff Williams, Martin Jones, Jason Young, Adam Roberts and Tom Larisch.
As the 2015 Scholarship announcements are on the horizon we look back on the 2014 scholarship awards. One of the recipients was Luke Bradley of Port Alberni.
Luke went onto represent Canada at the Junior World Trophy Tournament (JWRT) and was one of Canada’s outstanding players at #8. Canada finished 2nd which matched their highest finish in recent history, they lost to Georgia who were promoted to the top tier Junior World Championship. The good news for Luke and Canada is that he has another year of eligibility at the U20 level, also look for him to get a few starts with the Vikes Premier team this season.
Here is what he wrote on his profile in 2014, he not only achieved his goal of making the Canada U20 team but he did it in style.
Well done Luke!
Luke Bradley profile from 2014
Birthplace: Port Alberni, BC
Favourite memory growing up: Hanging out with my friend Dallas
Position played: 6 or 8
First year playing rugby: Grade seven
Favourite coach: Jas Purewal
Most influential person in life: Jas Purewal
Favourite rugby memory: First time putting on the Canada jersey
Worst rugby memory: Losing to Ontario in the national championship finals
Favourite movie: 300
Favourite musician: Nickleback
Favourite book: Harry Potter
Career plans: Mechanic
Rugby goals in next 2 years: Make Canada U20
Favourite other hobby: Lifting weights
Antonio Corbin is a promising young player with the Cowichan Rugby club who came through the Ladysmith High School program. We congratulate him as the first recipient of the Howard and Marina Gerwing Scholarship.
[photo below show Antonio with Marina and Howard Gerwing]
Howard and Marina Gerwing and a matching donor have pledged $10,000 over the next two years to create a fund for scholarships for Cowichan Valley rugby players. Cowichan Valley, outside of Victoria and Vancouver has probably produced as many National Team players at various age levels as anywhere in Canada
Howard Gerwing was the first coach of the University of Victoria Vikings and led them on three historic tours playing the national team of Yugoslavia in 1978 amongst other historic encounters.
Howard is also a bibliophile and built up the Special Collections section of the UVIC library to be a well known national scholastic resource. Long suffering Marina was in charge of domestic matters and the family residence on Palmer Road served for many years as the UVIC clubhouse and home for itinerant and wayward rugby players.
Howard with scant resources was the joint founder of the first UVIC scholarship fund “the Brian Williams” scholarship fund in memory of one of those wayward and talented players who sadly took his own life in 1987.
The Dick Ellis Memorial Fund (DEMF) originated in 1978 as an ongoing memorial to Mr. Dick Ellis, a Rugby Canada President, who had passed away in office. Donations were provided at the time of Mr. Ellis’s death, and since its inception the trustees of this fund have been distributing financial awards ranging in degree for worthwhile educational Rugby projects across Canada.Continue reading
Congratulations to Port Alberni’s Luke Bradley selected for the 2014 Thomas Family Scholarship.
He is a multi-sport athlete who has represented Canada in rugby at the U18 level. He is currently attending UVic (University of Victoria).Continue reading
The February 2014 newsletter is available in .pdf format for download: Click Here to download
We’ve also posted it below as image files for your convenience.
George Jones Q.C. is well known in both athletic and legal circles. His resume is lengthy and legendary and includes appearances and successes at virtually every court level, fundraising, coaching, refereeing in many sports and at many levels. Blessed with fine oratorical skills, legal judgment, an innate sense of wrong and right together with a complete lack of financial sense and generosity to all regardless of circumstances dictates that George is still working hard after 50 years at the bar.Continue reading
