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February 18, 2010

Well...How about the Vancouver Opening ceremonies last week...Pretty cool I thought!

How about watching the Men's Figure Skating replays the other day (Barb was watching I was working on rugby stuff as usual) There was a shriek from the better half, and yes, upon looking up, there was Mother Hubbard (JBAA) sitting in the stands at the Pacific Coliseum cheering on the boys on blades! Kind of wondered why he wasn't down cheering on the Bays on Saturday!

Anyways....Boys we need to be at training. We have a great group out right now...the best I have seen at the club since I have been involved.

"Chunk", at 330 lbs, finally has no excuse for wearing the Green and Black hoops with his designer black and fluorescent red shorts during games....Long time supporter RG came up with a size 60 pair of black on black shorts that the Chunkster quickly gobbled up to add to his small collection of knickers. BTW, Chunkster said thanks to RG for the purple tights, but he thought that a 2' wide rear end in purple tights would have garnered more laughs from the boys!

PASSING OF OLD CRFC MEMBER

Patricius CHAWORTH-MASTERS (1925-2010)

This gentleman was a much decorated individual who played for the Cowichan Rugby Club in the 1960's. He was born in Rawalpindi, India to British professionals and grew up in Bedford, England. He went on to a distinguished military career with the Royal Armoured Corp. where he volunteered for the fledgling 41 Royal Marine Commandos where he served with distinction in Holland during WW2. After the war, the 4th Commando Brigade was disbanded and he volunteered for the Parachute Regiment and served for a year in Palestine with the 2nd Regiment.

After serving in the British Military Pat emigrated to BC where he settled in Mill Bay to take up farming in 1951. He joined the 66th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment in Duncan that later became the Canadian Scottish Regiment. He served as Captain and the Aide de Camp to BC's Lt. Governor, George Pearkes, VC (1962-68). It was during this time Pat joined the Cowichan Rugby Club and former player and now great supporter, Terry Taylor (Grandfather or Thomas and Patrick Kay), remembers well as both these guys started with the club on the same day. Pat went onto live in Vancouver and retired in Nanaimo where he passed away a couple of weeks ago.

I have a picture of this chap in his full military regalia. Very impressive and proud to have someone of such esteem play a little sport at our club!

I'm not sure if Jim Ryan gets these posts, but I'm wondering if Jim's dad and Pat served in the military in Duncan together in the early 60's. Jim, a well known rugby guy, started playing for the club in 1962 and went to play for BC and Canada. His dad served in the Military regiment that was stationed in Duncan in the 60's. Jim now lives in the Fraser Valley, is the FVRU Rep., and calls Langley RFC his home club. His picture is seen at the CRFC clubhouse on many of the top teams in the 60's.

U-20 WOMEN'S NATIONAL TEAM

Three Cowichan players have been selected to play for the Canadian Women's National U-20 team. This is great news for the club and goes to show that our continuing support for youth rugby is bearing fruit.

In Canada though, being selected for a National program means some expense to the athlete. Most countries support their National caliber athletes with financial support. Unfortunately we're not there yet. So these three young women need financial help to make their dreams come true on the International stage. If there is anyone out there who would like to support the girls through the club or perhaps to them directly please let me know.

Please congratulate our CRFC members:

Michelle Moore (Ladysmith HS, Cowichan RFC Senior Women) Scrum-Half, Member CRFC's 1st Div. Champions.
Danielle Scott-Polson (Cowichan HS, Cowichan RFC Junior Women) Scrum Half, #10, Member CRFC's Jr. Champions.
Cassy Stevens (Cowichan HS, Cowichan RFC Junior Women) Fullback, Wing, Member CRFC's Jr. Champions.

U-20 MEN'S NATIONAL TEAM

Three Cowichan players have been selected to travel to Russia this June as part of the Canada Men's U-20 Team.

Pat Fraser (Shawnigan Lake School, Cowichan RFC Premier Men) Scrum-Half/Fullback
Ty Hamblin (Shawnigan Lake School/LadysmithHS, Cowichan Premier Men) Center
Casey Cavers (Ladysmith HS, Cowichan RFC Juniors/ U-Vic Norsemen) Hooker

All these guys are tough, good young players coming through the CRFC system. All three had great High School careers. This will be Pat Fraser's 2nd appearance at this level after being an underage at the Japan World Cup last June. Casey and Ty are both eligible for another shot at it going into 2010 as underage's. Super talent here. Come on out and see then play on any given weekend!

3rd DIVISION

Our Mighty 3rds defeated the Velox bunch 24-19 this past Sunday at the club. Good crowd on hand and it was a good game.

PROPERTY PROJECT

Is moving forward. The underground and field infrastructure is a complete success. I would like to thank Stan Holman Backhoe for his excellent work in getting it right. This will bode well for the club for year to come. The cost to date is $210,000.00. The next step is to complete the parking area. This will include filling in the excavation hole then trucking in suitable gravel base to ensure a stable, effective, efficient parking area. This will take place when the moisture content on the grounds drops to level where compaction can take place. Currently we are in a "quagmire stage"...if we did the work now...we would end up with a substandard finished product. We will be waiting for the grandstands as apparently there will be some available after the Olympics are over. Please be patient...we are working towards a better solution.....

Joe McGeachy Memorial High School Rugby Tournament

The 7th Annual "Joe" will be held next week, February 26 & 27th at Cowichan Secondary (all games). The full schedule will be released next week by start time is anticipated to be 11 am @ Cow High.

As always, Ron Glass and Brad and Alana Skene will be leading our Cow High teams and organizing the event. A concession will be run out of Cow High and extra help is appreciated. Please contact Annie (amcgeachy@shaw.ca) or Denise (denise-mcgeachy@shaw.ca) is you're able to lend a hand.

All for now

JJ