The London St. George’s Rugby Club dates its origins back to 1958. Over those years it has seen some growth and retraction in the overall club member numbers, but we are currently experiencing exponential growth in our mini and junior programs. The mini program, which began only four summers ago with 15 athletes, finished the 2016 season in August with over 90 mini ruggers from ages 5 to 13. We also boast a full compliment of Men’s, Women’s and Old Boys, as well as a very successful Junior Boys and Girls Program.
The Junior program consists of U14, U16 and U18 Girls and Boys players with over 100 athletes registered this past summer. The U16 and U18 teams compete in the Niagara Rugby Union in an 8-game schedule format, concluding with a 4-team final league tournament at the end of August. The top teams from this tournament qualify for the Ontario Rugby Union finals in Markham, Ontario, and this season we qualified the U16, U18 Girls’ and U18 Boys teams. The Girls teams both finished the tournament in 4th place, and the Boys team captured the Bronze medal in a lopsided victory in a rematch with Niagara Rugby Club who captured the Gold against our lads the previous week.
The Junior program is an affordable, competitive and fun experience for rugby players, both new and experienced to the sport. All of our coaches are certified with Rugby Canada, and each coach holds and maintains at the very least a Level I certification with the National Certification Board. Combined with each coach’s decades of playing experience, our Junior ruggers train and compete in a safe, fun and enriching environment at our top-notch facility located at 4308 Dundas Street East (next to Trail’s End Market).
London is currently the 8th largest rugby club in Ontario, and our growth continues with the prospect of a third men’s team next summer! If you are young or old at heart, or just want to ‘try’ out the awesome sport of rugby, we are always looking and welcoming new faces. We can be found at www.londonrugbyclub.com, LondonRugbyFC@gmail.com, or on Twitter @londonrugbyclub. See you on the pitch!
Submitted by Jay Howard, Junior Director, London St. Georges Rugby Club. Proudly Supported by Ross Trophies.
