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Darrel Couzens Has a Dream of Club Rugby for the Peninsula
[ed. an interesting story in the local paper for North Saanich, check out the story in the Peninsula News Review.]
posted June 24 2010
Darrel Couzens has a dream of club rugby for the Peninsula.
Having grown up a rugby player, for his school, city and then club rugby before coming to Canada 10 year ago, Couzens has a passion for the sport. He coaches at North Saanich middle school and sees similar dedication among the young athletes there.
“I need to get these kids playing. I don’t care whether it’s girls or boys. I’m not picky,” he said. “I like getting out in the rain and watching kids play. That gives me a buzz.”
Couzens aims to create a club on the Peninsula, offering different levels, from the school kids feeding into youth programs, to a senior program and even something for the older crowd.
“It doesn’t make sense to me, why there isn’t a team here to compete with (Victoria area clubs) James Bay, Velox and the Castaways,” he said. “They need competition.”
He’s already done the rounds, gathering support from the three Peninsula mayors plus principals and staff at North Saanich middle school and Parkland secondary, including an offer of locker room and field use at the high school.
“I’ve done the legwork,” he said. “I need to get people’s interest together.”
If a club comes together, Couzens has a long-term dream to make rugby a draw to the Peninsula. “Ultimately I’d love a piece of land. My dream is Sandown Park,” he said. With room for pitches, facilities for players and a liquor license, “it’s ideal.”
For more information or to get involved, email peninsularugby@shaw.ca.
Rugby in Local News: Cut to BC School Sports; Tragic Death of Young Player; Football Player with Rugby Roots
posted Sept 17 2009
Well the fall season is about to start this coming weekend, the BC Bears are out in Newfoundland and I'll likely take in the JBAA @ CW match on Saturday. Let's take a look at some local rugby stories in the papers.
Cut in Grants for High School Sports May Affect Rugby
Championships for high school sports such as wrestling, aquatics and rugby are in danger of being cancelled because provincial government funding has been lost.
The province has told B.C. School Sports that it won't be receiving an expected $130,000 grant this year, which is "devastating" news, said Sue Keenan, the group's executive director.
Here is the full story
Tragic Death Touches Rugby Community
Jason Hardy, the 25-year-old Victoria man who died Sunday when he crashed his Sea-Doo watercraft, had recently moved to Shawnigan Lake to be closer to the lake.
Hardy played rugby for Esquimalt High School and graduated in 2002.
Here is the full story
HARDY, Jason William Wayne February 20, 1984 - August 30, 2009 With much love and sadness we announce the passing of our beloved son and brother Jason. Jason passed away suddenly at Shawnigan Lake on Sunday, August 30, 2009 at the age of 25 years.
Flowers gratefully declined, any donations can be made in Jason's name to the James Bay Rugby Association at 205 Simcoe Street, Victoria, BC V8V 1K6. Donations will go to help a player in their journey into the trades.
Here is the full story
Local Football Player with Rugby History
Besides juggling football and two jobs in the summer, Tonowski stays in peak condition by spending winters in the oilfields, and working out six days a week. He said fitness is a key to performance, and he’s played enough sports to prove it. In high school, Tonowski added football to a resumé that’s included 14 years of hockey, a black belt in taikwondo, rugby, and baseball.
Here is the full story
White Rock Rugby Player Gets First Start as Kicker for BC Lions
from Edmonton Journal
posted July 17 2009
[ed. it worked out well for Sean Whyte as the Lions won 40-22 and he was perfect on the evening with 1-1 on FG and 5-5 on XP. His punt average was 43.4 yards]
He has a pro football nickname before his first pro football game.
Sean Whyte: Ice Man.
"If he wasn't a football player, he could be a great icemaker," Peace Arch Curling Club icemaker Darren Spencer said.
Whyte, who spent the last two summers on the B. C. Lions practice roster and last two winters apprenticing with Spencer in White Rock, B. C., finally becomes a real player today when he makes his CFL debut against the Eskimos in Edmonton.
Discovered by Lions coach Wally Buono six years ago in a minor football game, Whyte's long wait to play in the CFL ends due to 17-year veteran Paul McCallum's knee injury.
It could be the end of McCallum's fine career, too, but the 39-year-old vowed this week to return--if not this season, then next.
Whyte, 23, hopes to have many next seasons. He'll play tonight because McCallum tore ligaments in his kicking leg and broke a bone in his wrist while making a tackle Friday against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
"It means a lot; this a dream," Whyte, who grew up and still lives in White Rock, said. "I get to play for my home team. I always knew I was in a good position here.
"I was ready to wait another year if I had to. Everyone always said to stay ready, your opportunity will come when you least expect it. Everyone said I had a future in it, so I just stuck to it."
But just in case, he has been working winters at the curling club to learn the refrigeration trade.
Whyte didn't begin playing football until he was 17. He was a rugby player in high school until recruited to kick for the White Rock Titans, the local minor football team.
"I was a rugby player," Whyte explained.
"I was a fly half and fullback. I wasn't the biggest football fan. I didn't understand the game, so I didn't watch it as much. But I knew who Wally was.
"Lucky for me, Wally's son was on the team."
Buono signed Whyte as a territorial exemption and the kicker spent 2007 and 2008 on the Lions practice roster, earning $600 a week while living with his parents.
His entire CFL experience is two pre-season games.
"I played many sports in my life and this was obviously the one that took the most toll on my mind," Whyte said. "This is the first time I ever played where I never started.
"You're on the practice roster all the time, and you kind of wonder why you want to play this game anymore because it takes a toll on the mind. Then you get to play a game and it just rejuvenates you."
Whyte's mom agreed.
"He was told: 'It's a long road, and you've got to walk it,' " Pat Whyte said.
"Sean knew that and we knew that. My husband said just last week, even before this happened, that everything has gone the way it should. We always knew this was Sean's dream."
Defence Minister Peter MacKay fumbles pass, breaks wing in rugby match: Updated with 1988 Tour Program Photos
[ed. Tom Woods sent in this story with the comment, "I thought this was pretty funny having been concussed several times by Charron at Canadian Team practices"]
[ed. Also a past teammate sent in photos (program front cover, Peter Mackay profile) of the Jasper Dregs tour to the Maritimes in 1988 which Peter MacKay was on.]
By STEPHEN MAHER Ottawa Bureau [full story here]
posted May 31 2009
OTTAWA — Defence Minister Peter MacKay broke his arm Wednesday while playing a charity rugby match on the lawn of the Parliament buildings.
Mr. MacKay was playing for Canadian Forces Rugby against Ottawa Irish Rugby Club in a fundraiser for the Military Families Fund, wearing unlucky number 13.
Two minutes before the game ended, Mr. MacKay received a low pass from teammate Morgan Williams, a former Team Canada captain from Cole Harbour. When Mr. MacKay struggled with the pass, Canadian rugby legend Al Charron tackled him.
“His knee hit the outside of my right arm and it dislocated the elbow, and as a result there's some fractures and some bone shards in the elbow, so I got to get that operated on today,” Mr. MacKay said on Thursday.
Mr. MacKay joked that Mr. Williams was responsible for the injury.
“If you hadn't given me that hospital pass, Al Charron wouldn't have been able to put the big hurt on me,” he said.
Mr. MacKay's staff tried to take him to the hospital but he stayed for the reception afterward and made a speech with his arm in a sling. He said it was not his love of speech-making that made him stay, but a show of support for the organizers of the charity event.
“It was more love of the cause,” he said.
Mr. MacKay showed what he was made of, said Summa Strategies lobbyist and Tory strategist Tim Powers, who organized the event.
“He's a tough man,” said Mr. Powers. “Full marks to him. Lots of character.”
Mr. MacKay, 43, said he is not too old to play rugby.
“This could just as easily have happened to a 20-year-old,” he said. “When your number comes up it comes up.”
The match raised more $25,000 for the Military Families Fund, which was created in April 2007 by Gen. Rick Hillier, former chief of defence staff.
The Irish won 6-5.
Auckland ceremony, rugby match honour connections forged during 1994 Commonwealth Games in B.C.
[ed. an interesting article run in the Times Colonist newspaper about the Ebb Tide Over 40 rugby team in Victoria and their trip to NZ. Alec is still listed as a Director of BCRN and it will be good to see him again in Auckland. The original story can be viewed here.]
By Jim and Nic Hume, Special to Times Colonist
posted March 24 2009
When Victoria's golden oldies of rugby -- the Ebb Tide -- trot onto the field in this New Zealand city on April 20, they will play in the shadow of great historic events and share a legacy from the Commonwealth Games of 1994.
The history was shaped on a hill just behind the playing fields of Teachers Eastern, host club for the Ebb Tide game in Auckland. The Commonwealth Games Legacy comes in the shape of Alec Hawke, a member of Teachers Eastern and organizer of the Ebb Tide visit who once played for the Ebb Tide -- and will again suit up for them on game day.
It's a long story and not much space to tell it, so best to hurry along. As a young Maori, Alec Hawke took part in what is known as the Bastion Point Occupation. Bastion Point is located on the hills forming a backdrop to the Teachers Eastern clubhouse and playing fields. The Point is part of what the Maori call their Marae, a sacred place for generations and doomed in the 1970s to be swallowed by a high-end highrise condominium development with the full blessing of the New Zealand government.
But not with the blessing or approval of the Ngati Whatua ki Orakei tribal group, once owners of the land on which modern Auckland stands -- but reduced in the '70s to owners of less that one hectare.
In 1977, Joe Hawke, Alec's older brother, and other Maori leaders supported by a handful of non-native sympathizers, had had enough and moved to occupy Takaparawha -- better known to Aucklanders as Bastion Point and known to Marois from time immemorial as their Marae.
The patriarch of the Hawkes -- 11 brothers, three sisters and two "whangi," children adopted as part of Maori tribal custom -- was longtime social activist Eruini (Edward) Hawke, a leader of the great New Zealand waterfront strike in the 1950s.
Eric Hawke was in his 20s when, as he puts it today, "we began to occupy the land that had been ours for generations." It began Jan. 4, 1977, and, for 506 days, the Orakie Maori Action Committee defied government edicts and the developer's threats. On the 507th day -- May 25, 1978 -- the government moved in with a police force bolstered by army and navy personnel, mustering at more than 700 strong.
By day's end, they had arrested 222 "occupiers," bulldozed and burned the temporary buildings erected to provide shelter from the elements and evicted the rest from their ancestral lands. World reaction was swift and critical; national reaction was that of a nation shamed by its government's actions. And within 24 hours, the government was in embarrassed retreat. The majority of those arrested -- Alec Hawke among them -- were released overnight. Thirty-three were charged with trespassing on their ancestral lands, then quietly forgotten.
It would be another 10 years before The Orakei Claim -- as famous in New Zealand as the Nisga'a Treaty is in British Columbia -- declared the Ngati Whatua Orakei were indeed the rightful owners of the Orakei Marae which includes Bastion Point.
Alec Hawkes's Victoria connection with the Ebb Tide and the Commonwealth Games began in 1990, the year the Games were staged in Auckland. At their closing, a Victoria delegation -- including First Nations chiefs -- was on hand for the official takeover for the 1994 Games in Victoria. As a courtesy, the Vancouver Islanders invited a Maori group to visit for a sporting and cultural exchange. In 1991, Alec Hawke was one of the Maori contingent. He was with a second group of Maoris in 1993 and, in 1994, he married (at Cattle Point with his face toward New Zealand and his Marae) Gloria Williams a key player for the provincial government in native affairs.
He remained on Vancouver Island from 1994 until 2005 when he returned to New Zealand to take up residence with Gloria at Papa Kainga -- a reserve on the edge of the Marae.
In his years on the Island, he made friends in the rugby fraternity and among First Nations in the Victoria area, in Port Alberni and Alert Bay. "They -- the First Nations people and the rugby players treated me like a brother. I owe them so much," he says.
On the land claims front, Alec holds a rare and unusual position. He was at Bastion Point, he was up on the Nass to witness the signing of the Nisga'a Treaty and he was part of the official Nisga'a delegation when they were presented to the B.C. Legislature during Glen Clark's term as premier.
By way of saying thanks for past friendships, he has organized for April 19 -- the day before the Game with the Ebb Tide -- a traditional Maori welcome at the great meeting house on the Morae. It will be followed by a Maori tobacco- and alcohol-free feast after which the visitors will be extended a rare honour and bedded for the night in the great meeting house.
I promised not to reveal details of the Maori welcome ceremony. I can say it will be something the Ebb Tide visitors will treasure as long as memory lasts.
Fiji Rugby Union CEO Resigns, Scottish Rugby Union Restructures, Rugby Canada AGM Reports Online, England Prop Fails Dope Test
[ed. comments below]
posted Jan 20
It’s always interesting to see what other unions are doing around the world. A few interesting stories this past week.
Fiji Rugby Union CEO Resigns – Provincial Union Calls for Investigation of Finances
This is kind of interesting considering the Rugby Canada AGM is this weekend. Apparently the FRU CEO, Ratu Timoci Tavanavanua, had a "spiritual calling" and changed his name to Timothy Daniels and resigned. I couldn't make up stuff this bizarre but read the story for yourself.
On top of that one of the Provincial rugby unions, the Nadi Rugby Union, called for a "complete investigation of the finances and running of the Fiji Rugby Union at the FRU's Special General Meeting in December 2008". The article is especially amusing considering this line in the Fiji Times article about SGM/AGM meetings, "as we all know, [the AGM] is meant to be a customer-friendly meeting cum workshop ... so that provincial rugby officials have an excuse and an all-expenses paid trip to attend". The parallels abound but I can guarantee our CEO won't have a spiritual calling and resign, and none of the Provincial rugby unions will make a peep about the finances or running of Rugby Canada. The part about an excuse for an all-expenses paid trip is probably similar though.
Scotland Rugby Union Restructures
This article in the Scotsman reports "Former Scotland coach Richie Dixon is one of a handful of employees made redundant by the Scottish Rugby Union yesterday as part of the latest wave of cost-cutting and restructuring at the governing body". Apparently the SRU decided to abolish all jobs, create a new structure and have everyone re-apply for positions. It's not a rare occurrence in the world of business, I know because I was part of the team involved in the 1995 restructuring of CP Rail where thousands of employees were involved, and we did just that. Everyone from the top down had to re-apply for the new (and fewer) management jobs, the result was a streamlined operation with the best skill set matched to the new position. Just thought I would throw that out there, in case anyone wanted my consulting advice, free of charge of course.
Rugby Canada AGM Reports Online
The Rugby Canada AGM reports are online. They make for some interesting reading but the first thing that I notice missing is the financial statement. The Finance Report just states in part "The addition of the Director of Finance position will improve the financial communication and reporting with the members", well apparently not yet. Surely with adding another top management position at HQ devoted to finance we're going to see the mother of all financial statements so we, the members, know where all this iRB and Government money is being spent. We'll do a review of the reports in a following article, the fun just begins.
And talking about non-performance enhancing activities.
England Prop Fails Dope Test
According to this Reuters article, "England prop Matt Stevens has been provisionally suspended from all competition after testing positive for a recreational drug, the RFU said on Tuesday". The international prop states ""I was tested for a prohibited substance but it's not performance enhancing, so you can take what you want from that".
South Africa Supports Argentina's Entry into Tri-Nations; Economic Downturn Causes NZ Provincial Rugby Unions to Reduce Staff; Foreign Players Hurting England and France?
[ed. with rugby taking a break on the west coast as we sit under a foot of snow, it's time to take a look at some rugby stories around the world]
posted Dec 21 2008
Argentina in Tri-Nations?
This story is interesting as South Africa's support of Argentina entering the Tri-Nations "is dependent on the establishment of a professional league in Argentina, a process in which the Argentinian Rugby Union is currently engaged, said Saru president Oregan Hoskins." Now this certainly merits some attention in Canada as to the process Argentina are following to meet this condition. Read the full article here.
Economic Downturn Effects Sponsorship and Jobs
Even in New Zealand they are feeling the effect of sponsors pulling back. The interesting part is that sponsorship money is linked to staff size, that is normal economics, "provincial unions throughout the country are shedding staff in desperate bids to balance their books". In Canada however, because we live off the iRB teat at the national union level, the lack of sponsorship has no correlation to staff size. Read the full article here.
Foreign Players Hurting England and France
This NZ article postulates that the increased number of foreign players in the England and French professional leagues are hurting their national team's performance, "Last weekend's Heineken Cup games showed just how much influence foreign players have in Europe now. All 24 teams were in action and almost one third were not eligible for either France, England, Scotland, Ireland, Italy or Wales. New Zealanders constituted about a quarter of those 134 players ineligible for European teams, Pacific Islanders about a quarter and the remainder were Australians, South Africans, Argentinians and Georgians." If this strikes a protectionist reaction in Europe will it effect Canadians looking to play abroad? In reality most Canadians in Europe play 2nd division rugby with few playing at the Heineken Cup level. There seem to be less Canadian players at the top levels of European rugby compared to previous world cup cycles. Is this due to more competition from other nations or are we not producing the finished product as well... don't get me started on the cancellation of the Pacific Pride program again. Read the full article here.
Canada hope to build on home improvements: Article from Independent.ie: Also Geraint John in running for WRU job?
[ed. besides the article from the Irish paper below, the Wales Online site has an article mentioning Geraint John on the long list for the Welsh Rugby Union's head of rugby.]
by BRENDAN FANNING (article at Independent.ie)
The last time Ireland were in a situation like this it was Bordeaux, 13 months ago. Lining up against the mostly amateur Namibians, who expected to have lumps taken out of them, the only issue was the amount of damage that would be done in the when the part-timers ran out of puff. All right, enough of that.
You get the drift though. Here we are again with a bunch of minnows as an appetiser for the main course. Of course there are differences between now and the World Cup but only in their proximity: Ireland need to start this series in positive mode so as to move up the gears immediately; for Canada however the results on this trip are only foothills in the climb against USA next June.
The common factor is the World Cup: we need the ranking points now; the Canadians need to lay a base for winning that home and away series against the Eagles, for the prize there is a ticket to NZ 2011.
If you're in the business of raising the standards of professional rugby across the board, then Canada is something of a project. A country with a long history in the game, they will never get into the top bracket -- their geography alone militates against a first class domestic set-up. The distances between competing states are vast. Travelling seven hours from Newfoundland to Victoria, for example, is in the same ballpark as flying from Victoria to Dublin.
"It's not like you can make a phonecall and have a training session," says Des Lynch, an Irish ex-pat who is co-manager on this trip. "But we have to look at the positive side which is that we're a Tier 2 country involved in developing our game and it's great to have the opportunity of taking on opposition like Ireland and Wales and Scotland."
Then there are the numbers. From top to bottom, there is a healthy 60,000 playing the game in Canada but the spread is massive and the standard is modest. And unlike say Argentina, who have a foreign legion, they don't produce anything like enough players to make for a strong overseas corps, with just 26 players in Europe.
So they try and straddle the gap between the two, making the most of those who stay at home and maintaining close links with those who go away. The domestic bit has kicked on since the employment of Wales's Geraint John as director of rugby three years ago. Of the 31-man squad on this trip, 10 are what are called 'carded players' who draw a salary from the sports ministry and can train virtually full-time. Some might have part-time work, and others would be students, but the facilities in Victoria on Vancouver Island, to which they have access, are top of the range. In fact, Canada Rugby find that home-based players on the carded programme -- 25 in all -- compare favourably in physical conditioning with the overseas players earning a crust as professionals.
There is an improved standard for them at home now too with the advent of the North America 4 which is a cross-border competition comprising two select teams from Canada and the US, chosen from the top club players. It's an attempt to fill the gap between what is probably an AIL 2 standard club game and the massive jump to test rugby.
Previously the only players coming within an ass's roar of that level were their crew of full-timers who on this trip -- aside from Glasgow's Kevin Tkachuk -- missed yesterday's opening game, against Portugal in Lisbon, because it was outside the November test window.
They are not household names. In the past, Canada always had a few big hitters -- the likes of Al Charron and Rod Snow and Mike James -- but this is a fresh start with 10 uncapped players in the party while the oomph is coming from the lower orders of the pro game: Cornish Pirates and Plymouth Albion are contributing four players.
Last week they had to mobilise the excellent Morgan Williams, who had retired from playing and started his new role as skills coach, after scrumhalf Phil Mack broke his jaw in training. Given the inexperience of the group, Williams will be very useful for them. If calling up the cavalry from England's Division 1 sounds like bargain basement stuff, however, it's because that's exactly where they're coming from.
Canada are still in the early days of an IRB-sponsored development programme and it's not going to propel them into the fast lane any time soon. But medium term it may well take them to where they want to go, into the top 10. "We're a pretty focused union and this trip is very much part of our development," Lynch says. "It's a great opportunity for some of our younger guys to be exposed to the type of commitment that's required at this level."
Their most recent form was in the Churchill Cup last summer where they lost 26-10 to Scotland A and 17-16 to Argentina A before beating their buddies from across the border, the Eagles, 26-10. The last most Irish fans would have seen of them was in the World Cup where they gave Wales plenty of trouble before running Fiji close and drawing with Japan.
It's a help that Saturday's game is in Limerick. They will spring onto Thomond Park with the benefit of a game already under their belts, playing against a team half of whom will be new to the place and its atmosphere, which will be more curious than hostile. Even allowing for Ireland's recent difficulties in these games, the tourists will need all the benefit they can get.
Ireland v Canada,
Saturday, 5.15
ESQUIMALT RUGBY EVENT BRINGS BIG BUCKS
[ed. local Victoria radio station C-FAX 1070 ran this story which is why it's all upper case, I'm too lazy to re-type. Event organizers are having a de-briefing meeting on Wednesday so we'll verify these figures.]
July 28, 2008
BY RYAN PRICE
THE ORGANIZERS OF AN INTERNATIONAL RUGBY MATCH IN ESQUIMALT LAST MONTH SAY THE EVENT BROUGHT A LOT OF CASH TO THE CAPITAL.
AN ECONOMIC IMPACT STUDY IS NOW COMPLETE AFTER THE "2008 CANADA RUGBY CHALLENGE." IT SUGGESTS AN ECONOMIC IMPACT OF OVER $400-THOUSAND DOLLARS.
THEY SAY THAT FIGURE IS FOR DIRECT SPENDING, AND THE EVENT LIKELY ALSO HAD A LARGE INDIRECT IMPACT ON THE LOCAL ECONOMY.
THE MATCHES TOOK PLACE AT BULLEN PARK IN ESQUIMALT AT THE END OF JUNE -- OVER 34-HUNDRED PEOPLE CAME OUT TO SEE A MIX OF LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL TEAMS PLAY.
Matt Damon to play rugby legend Pienaar in Clint Eastwood's new film 'Human Factor'
[ed. interesting story, thanks to the reader who pointed this out. Anyone read the John Carlin book that the movie was based on, want to share a brief review? Also with rumours that the Classics game in Victoria will feature some celebs like Lorne Cardinal from Corner Gas, and maybe, the Canadian Defence Minister, Peter MacKay, how about we invite Matt Damon to get into his role by lacing up the boots.]
from RTE Entertainment website
posted June 5 2008
Matt Damon is to play South African rugby legend Francois Pienaar in Clint Eastwood's new film 'Human Factor'.
Variety reports that the film tells the story of the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa and its impact on the country.
Morgan Freeman will play Nelson Mandela in the film, which is due to begin shooting early next year in South Africa.
The film is based on the John Carlin book 'The Human Factor: Nelson Mandela and the Game that Changed the World'.
from Film Junk website
Clint Eastwood and Matt Damon To Explore Rugby and Race Relations in The Human Factor?
A while back it was announced that Morgan Freeman had signed on to play Nelson Mandela in an upcoming movie based on John Carlin’s forthcoming book The Human Factor: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Changed the World. Now more details about the movie are starting to come together and it’s shaping up to be quite an interesting project. Clint Eastwood reportedly has an interest in directing after being roped in by Freeman himself, while Matt Damon is also reportedly in talks to star as well. The film will focus on the true story of the 1995 Rugby World Cup, which took place in South Africa, and helped to unite the country in the wake of Apartheid. Damon would play the captain of the South African Springboks team, and we all know the man is certainly built like a rugby player so it sounds like a no-brainer to me. More to the point, it could be an interesting and different type of challenge for Eastwood, who in the meantime is directing The Changeling (not a remake of the 1980 horror film) starring Angelina Jolie. Now if someone could just explain the rules of rugby to me, I can truly start preparing for this flick.
ROAD TO RECOVERY: Regina Leader-Post Story on Mike
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