I’m happy to pass along this news about the presentation of the inaugural McGill Men’s Rugby’s Dr. Joseph Hanaway McGill Rugby Gentleman’s Award, of which Mike Holmes and I assisted in the creation. This only partially offsets the recent bad news about the cancellation of McGill’s Women’s Rugby program, but we hope it will spur McGill Rugby alumni support to help rescue the Women’s program. We have offered our services to help create a university fund with the Canadian Rugby Foundation to both help resurrect the Women’s team and also sustain the Men’s team. This follows the achievement of the rival Bishop’s University RFC Alumni Endowment Fund started a year ago, and several other CRF university endowment funds established over the last 5 years.
McGill Redbirds Rugby Team Gives Out First
Athletic Financial Award in its 153-year History
Montreal, QC: November 30, 2025
Winston Churchill once famously observed that “rugby is a hooligan’s game played by gentlemen”.
At a ceremony in Montreal on Friday night, the McGill Redbirds Rugby Team handed out a fully
endowed Athletic Financial Award for the first time in its long history, with the inaugural winner
receiving the Dr. Joseph Hanaway McGill Rugby Gentleman’s Award.
The award “recognises and honours gentlemanly conduct and exemplary behaviour which has
been consistently exhibited by a McGill rugby player on and off the field over the course of a
minimum of two seasons.”
McGill Master of Science in Physical Therapy student Elliot Descarreaux, a Quebec City native
and the current team captain, was named the winner of the endowed 2025 Hanaway Award. He
was given the prestigious honour, along with its associated $3,500 monetary award, due to his
outstanding performance as a role model and leader on and off the field throughout his 5-year
McGill Rugby career. Widely respected by his teammates, coaches, opponents and referees, he
was also known as a friendly, approachable, and courageous leader of his team who handled both
success and adversity with grace.
Mr. Descarreaux commented: “I was elated when I heard my name called as the winner of this
prestigious award. I knew I had been nominated, but did not expect to win it. When I heard all the
cheers and applause as I walked to the stage, it made me feel very honoured and grateful for the
support of my teammates. This new endowed award at McGill Rugby is proof of the strong support
of our alumni and the brotherhood and strong values of our rugby team across the generations. I
am thrilled to be the recipient of this year’s Hanaway Award”.
The award was first proposed to McGill Athletics in late 2020 as a way of formally recognizing a
quality that is especially valued in rugby culture across the world, and to which Churchill was
referring: the trait of tough and aggressive rugby players exemplifying gentlemanly behaviour in their everyday life. It has been handed out for the last four years as a non-monetary award to five rugby players who distinguished themselves as role models for Redbirds Rugby.
According to McGill rules, a minimum of $80,000 needs to be raised and collected to create an
endowed Athletic Financial Award or AFA. As of December 2025, the fund has collected $148,764 from which the $3500 award will be generated every year going forward, in perpetuity.
The award’s inspiration and namesake, Dr. Joseph Hanaway MDCM ’60, passed away in his
hometown of St. Louis in July of this year at 92 after a long and distinguished career as a
physician, professor, author, philanthropist, and volunteer. He played on the 1955 championship
McGill rugby team.
The McGill University Rugby Football Club, in its storied 153-year history, has always placed great
importance on how its members conduct themselves on campus and in the community. This is a
part of the team’s culture that the coaching staff regularly emphasise to their players.
Neil Stephenson, a Toronto lawyer and McGill rugby alumnus who created the award in 2021 and
led the subsequent fundraising campaign, commented: “I was so honoured to be there at the
ceremony to represent Joe and present this inaugural endowed Hanaway Award to the 2025
winner. Mr. Descarreaux is a hugely impressive young gentleman who is widely respected by his
teammates and coaches. He will be an excellent ambassador for the award as he begins the next
chapter of his life as a distinguished young McGill rugby alum”.
