Wednesday's, "Ruck & Maul".

MEET THE NEW PREZ

CW welcomes a new man to the helm, Don Swainson. We recently chatted with Don about the task.

CW: Don, you have recently returned to Victoria, home of your H.S. Alma Mater, Oak Bay H.S. and their rugby Barbs. You have re-connected with former classmates and teammates from the Castaways and Wanderers and have now taken this interest with CW. What inspired you to take on the leadership role with the Tricolors?

DS: Short answer is that I love rugby and just wanted to continue to have it be part of my life now that my family is older and I don’t get to watch my son play anymore! My rugby club, Highland in Ontario had the motto “Fun, Fitness, Friends”….. I always thought that this tagline sums up quite well what rugby offers. Who doesn’t want to be part of that? In terms of the leadership side of things, well, I have a fair bit of administrative and leadership experience so I thought I could help the club out just as Chris needed to take one step back to focus on other priorities.

CW: What goals do you have for the Club during your term of office?

DS: Good question. My short answer is: Better Rugby. More Fun. More Tours. More People.

The long answer is that I have four main goals. Starting with improving the rugby in the men’s league… I think the CDI premiership can get even better by allowing more top players to play (currently there are restrictions on national team and international players). We at CW can help lead that change. I think if our top men’s league gets better, all levels will follow, at least in well run clubs. It is important that we see the quality of rugby right improve here in Victoria. Watching international rugby on TV is one thing, but seeing guys we train with play at a high level of competition is another, and is great for developing players. We also need to help our coaches and referees to learn and continuously improve to keep up with our top players!

Secondly, I would like to ensure that at ALL levels we keep rugby fun and make it as safe as it can be. A specific example of how we can do this is that I believe that CW needs to work a little harder to cultivate the social nature of the post-game for all players. Chatting with the opposition over a meal and/or a beverage is a HUGE part of what we as a sport are about. What is the connection to safety? Rugby is a game of contact with potential for injury…..there is no getting away from that. In my experience however, maliciousness and stupidity tend to go away as the post-game becomes more important to clubs.

Third, we need to get more touring going on within the club, this is another “defining characteristic” of our game, and rugby is a huge international club. Those who tour or have toured, know what I mean by this. Touring opens doors and opens minds. It creates stories, even legends….it is a blast! Who would not want to go on tour? We have to enable our players to tour, and help them with this special aspect of our game.

Finally, those of us who are “on the inside” of rugby, need to be ambassadors and bring new people to our sport: new fans, new sponsors and new players to the game. I would love to see a women’s team return to the club under my watch. We already have a fast-growing girls program, thanks to the hard work of a few individuals. If we can do these four things, I believe I will have helped the club out. Then the next person at the helm can move on to something else that he or she feels strongly about as I do about these things!

CW: What experience and abilities do you bring to help achieve these goals?

DS: My experience as a player, coach, manager and administrator within the rugby world will help me for sure. I know the game from various perspectives which I think is a pre-requisite to taking on this role. I have also spent over 25 years working in various businesses, including in senior leadership positions and as most recently as a small business owner, so I know the business side of what we are doing, in terms of administration, finance, marketing and communications. As a small business owner, I also know something about sponsor expectations. More importantly perhaps, I am a huge fan of rugby and a rugby parent, so I identify with the alumni, parents and fans who want to come out and watch a high quality game on Saturdays or see their kids with the ball on Sunday. I also get the player side of things….and this is probably the most important perspective….rugby is about the players and we have to remember that. It’s for them that we do this.

CW Rugby will bring a second installment next week.

B.C. RUGBY SO FAR

The season is up and running, many clubs with two matches under their belt. Two significant items so far……i) BC Bears had/having a horrid campaign after what looked promising in one match in Uruguay. I am not sure what the problem is with this perennially poor summer performance and it must be a cause for concern for Head Honcho and coach, Jim Dixon. ii) The emphatic results of the two victories of Seattle so far with 101 points for and a mere 27 against. They gave Burnaby what only could be described as a whipping last weekend and the hosts fielded a pretty fair squad. Thanks to Mark Bryant who has done some homework on just who constitutes their squad and it is rather formidable.

At the BCRU AGM, CW reported that our club welcomes the competition. On a personal note, that tune may change somewhat if The Tricolor was to play the best Seattle can muster! It appears obvious that they are “odds on” to be promoted next season, despite a healthy start from our friends from Connaught, in Tier11. I could editorialise by stating that if the parameters that have been levelled on B.C. clubs as to eligibility are fairly applied and honestly adhered to by Seattle, then their inclusion could be a plus.

However, as postulated by Bryant, perhaps the time has come for a League, one tier higher and more selective, with no limits as to players……include 2/3 “international” players…let’s raise the bar. Many would speak strongly against this view point however, as I see it there would be no need for club rugby to play at a lesser ability level or take a lesser role, rather, clubs would simply need to get off their duffs to raise the bar and recruit and teach with greater energy. What about it, sports fans? Post your reaction on Facebook.

CW COMMUNICATES

In this age of social media, we have determined that there are some 800 past players, current players, parents of current players and interested friends who need to be kept appraised, one way or another of matters going on CW-wise. To that end, a number of folk have been working hard to develop and update “the list” but we are far from being accurate. Further we are working on the ability for you to become a "20/20" Member for $20 per month or a Social Member and pay the annual $150 via our website and we hope this will be completed soon. If you would like further information about our efforts to COMMUNICATE, we invite you to complete the survey by clicking on this link and “Go, CW!”

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8FH52PF