Gareth Rees, who went to on to play in four World Cups and two as Canada captain, will never forget starting out in the Victoria Elementary Schools Rugby Tournament. It celebrates its 50th anniversary today with more than 400 students on 34 teams playing 51 games on nine fields from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Gordon Head Middle School.
Rees will be the special guest of honour today and make a special presentation as part of the 50th anniversary celebration.
“A ton of kids have come through this tournament, including eventual national-team players, and kids from other sports like the Courtnalls from hockey and [two-time NBA MVP] Steve Nash played in it, too,” said Rees.
Another two-time player in the tournament was then Torquay Elementary School student and now PGA Tour golfer Adam Hadwin.
“It’s an important thing because for most kids, this will be their first touch of a rugby ball, and first opportunity to try out the sport,” said Rees.
“It has shown over five decades that rugby is a legitimate and healthy elementary-school activity and one that kids can safely enjoy.”
The jamboree was founded by Mick Eckardt, who was Rees’ Grade 5-6 teacher at Willows Elementary School, and who came out of the Claremont Secondary Spartans and University of Victoria Vikes to play for Canada and the James Bay Athletic Association dynasty teams.
Little did Eckardt know in 1974 that his fledgling jamboree to introduce the game to elementary-school students would last through five decades with more than 15,000 students estimated to have taken part. Since it is a contact and tackle sport, Eckardt made safety a prime component of the jamboree, which was the first in B.C. to introduce weight limits, and concussion protocols, long before the latter became a major issue in contact sports. He also introduced gender equity in the tournament 30 years ago, long before it became another key issue in sport today.
“These kids are age 8-10 and they are unsure in the first game, but by their third game of the day, it looks a lot like rugby,” said Eckardt.
“It’s an amazing teaching day and very rewarding.”
Despite being retired from teaching since 2005, Eckardt is still involved with the tournament, and will be on hand this morning to celebrate its 50th year.
“There is no thought of quitting. We just want to keep it going,” said Eckardt.
“The support of the local rugby community, from referees to sponsors to national-team players coming out to help, has been a huge part of this.”
