A Summer Summary - Club Newsletter

August 19, 2024 Posted in Canada Rugby / CW Rugby / Fundraiser / Minis / Rugby Club / Victoria BC / News / Juniors / Girls Rugby / B.C. Rugby / Community / NSWT / Senior Women / Boys Rugby

(Photo - Rugby Canada)

Castaway Wanderers would like to congratulate their pathway product, Caroline Crossley, and the National Senior Women's 7s team on their incredible run at the Paris Olympics culminating in a Silver medal. It is a new level for a program that was reset just after the Tokyo Olympics. Full marks to the head coach Jack Hanratty and his team that transformed a virtually brand-new team into a medal winner in a short three years.

The timing was perfect as it was an Olympic 7s tournament for the ages. It was a competition of high-quality rugby and excitement enjoyed over 6 days for both the men's and women's tournaments. The tournament organisers are to be commended for a fabulous spectacle that broke attendance records (the largest crowd to watch a female rugby game at over 66,000 fans) and offered worldwide coverage of rugby 7s format. It was a tournament that will not soon be forgotten and should provide a great boost to the growth of the game especially in North America with Canadian and US teams winning Silver and Bronze respectively.

Castaway Wanderers were also represented by players who had worn the Tricolors over the years. The try-scoring machine and third time Olympian, Charity Williams, wore the Tricolours in its inaugural season in 2015/2016, and the NSW7s captain, Olivia Apps, has suited up periodically over the past few years.

At CW, our mantra is athlete development through a well-defined pathway. While female pathways seem commonplace now, it was not the case 15 years ago when Caroline started in Minis. The pathway grew up around her and other female athletes in the club and the following sequence of photos shows her progress through Club, Provincial, and National pathways culminating in an Olympic selection and silver medal. Congratulations to Caroline, her teammates, and the fabulous "support team behind the team" led by Jack Hanratty.

                               Register now for a great Fall season

Our days are finally getting cooler and with the Olympics behind us, we are focussing on the start of the Fall 2024 season starting in just a couple of weeks. If you haven’t already heard… Registration is now open! Here is the link for registration so you, or your child, can get started. Please start with Sportlomo first so you can see your team roster quickly. If you have registered in TeamSnap and wonder why you can’t see your team page, you likely haven’t registered in Sportlomo.


                                       Juniors go to Kamloops

If your child is not registered for the Fall yet, we are already communicating and gathering our junior teams up for the Kamloops 7’s tournament Sept 21-22. We are taking 2 fewer teams this year to Kamloops because of the date shift and some teams are already full. If you wait to register for Kamloops, your athlete might not have a spot. It is first come first served this year. Here is the link to sign up your Junior player. This is one of the most anticipated tours of the year, so don’t wait on this one. Registration closes September 4th or once the teams are full.

                                         Mini’s Opening Day

I know many of the mini’s athletes are looking forward to starting back up this year. The Mini’s opening day is Sunday, September 15th at 10 am.

From Mini’s Director, Rod Fraser sent in this picture of a summer Mini's gathering for Koru’s (U12), birthday with Rugby Canada Player Mark Balaski.

Team Store

If you missed out on buying any Castaway Wanderers branded swag last year, you have an opportunity to purchase something for yourself this year. The swag store closes September 2nd and items will be available for pickup the third week of September. Here is the link to purchase CW merchandise.

Garage Sale Fundraiser

There will be a garage sale in our Oak Bay neighbourhood at one of our CW Supporters' homes on September 14th from 9 am to 1 pm. The house is at 850 Victoria Ave, next door to SMU Junior School. The proceeds will go entirely to the Junior Girls tour to the Florida 7’s. Please come out and support the Junior Girls program!

WXV Coming to Vancouver

Cheer on Canada’s Women’s Rugby Team in Vancouver at WXV1 this fall as they play against the best teams in the World. Make sure you don’t miss out on the biggest rugby event of the year in Vancouver!

Rugby Canada is pleased to offer the Club Ticket Program to help and encourage all local rugby clubs to attend WXV 1 as a group.

Purchase your tickets to enjoy the games with all your friends and family using this exclusive offer to support our rugby club! 15% of all ticket sales will go back to our club to directly benefit our members and teams!

Saturday September 28th – WXV Weekend 1 - Triple Header: All Teams Play: Purchase tickets.
Saturday October 5 & Sunday October 6 – Langley Games: We don’t have a promo offer.

Saturday October 12th – WXV Weekend 3 - Day 2: Canada vs England; France vs New Zealand: Purchase tickets

Important Dates - Mark Your Calendars!

August 20th - Junior practices start! Check your TeamSnap team page for more info

September 2 - Club Merch Store Closes

September 13 - WXV ticket sales close for CW Club members.

September 14th - Jr Girls Garage Sale, 850 Victoria Ave, 9am-1pm

September 15th - Opening day for Mini’s at 10am

September 20-22nd - Junior Boys and Girls at Kamloops 7’s

How to stay in touch….

Please follow us on Facebook or Instagram @castaway.wanderers