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.

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 Fund

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→