orth shore news

SPORTS

Rugby coaches and
fields in short supply

IT’S a long way from
Klahanie Park to
Millennium Stadium in
Cardiff, Wales, but if
you'd care to stick
around for a while, we'll
see if we can bridge that
gap.

For starters, from Oct. | io
Nov. 6, Wales will host the

Vorld Cup of Regby, an
event, while newsworthy in
itself, is made even more sig-
nificant by the fact it will be
the final World Cup of any-
thing this century.

While rugby is an English
invention, it has found its
heartland, its ultimate passion,
in the Welsh valleys, where the
three dominant religions are
Methodism, singing and
rugby. And not necessarily in
that order.

Considered the more elite
of the two great team sports
(soccer is the other) given to
the world by England, it has
always had an egalitarian base
in Wales. There were never
many old school ties in the
Rhondda Valley coal mines.
But with the arrival of play-
for-pay in the last decade,
Rugby Union now is egalitari-
an all over the world. And
more popular than ever.

In no Canadian communi-
ty has it grown any faster than
on the North Shore, where,
officially, the Capilanos, as
they celebrate their 30th
birthday, are now the largest
rugby club in B.C. The Caps

‘field four senior sides, one
under-21, nwo under-18, one
women’s team (with a second
one on the horizon), an over-
40 and an under-14 scheduled
for the fall.

Toss 250 kids from five to

spectator

13, plaving mini-rugby every
Sunday, into this mix, and vou
have to know the pastime is
booming on this narrow stip
berween the mountains and
the sea. “Just ewo problems,”

says B.C. Rugby Union execu-

tive director Dick Woldring.
“A shortage of coaches and
playing fields. Coaches can be
tauvht. Playing tlelds cast
maney.”

The trend in most Lower
Mainland communities these
days is to install artiticial curt
fields. They cost more, but
can be used around the clack.
Natural turf can’t stand up to
more than three cleated-hours
of action a day. Rugby and
outdoor nylon rugs being
incompatible, there always will
be the problem of insufficient
fields.

Klahanie, over there at the
north end of the Lions Gate
Bridge, has rwo fields, a club-
house and seating for two or
three hundred. It stays busy
with practices five evenings a
week and games on Saturdays
and Sundays. If ir had another
two fields, it could keep them
busy, too. If this were Wales,
the need likely would be satis-
fied by tearing down the near-
est mountain and replacing it
with half'a dozen pitches and
a couple of pubs. Indeed, the
Welsh have torn down their
prearest shrine, Cardiff Arms
Park, and on the hallowed site

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are erecting Millennium
Stadium. About 80,000 seats
and money-making corporate
boxes all the way to the hori-
zon. In time, the new shrine
will inspire the sort of legends
the old one did. Such as the
ad that appearest in the
Personals column of a Carditt
paper on the eve of an
England-Wales match there:
Bachelor, 40, would like to
meet spinster under 60 with
two tickets for Sacurday’s
match. Send photo — of tick-
cts.

Only in Wales? Almost. But
once in Vancouver, a long,
long time ago, Wales was the
first overseas country ever to
play a match here. The vear
was 1908 and Brockton Oval
was packed tu the gunwales.
As the ball was kicked off, all
the Welsh expatriates in the
crowd started to sing Land of
My Fathers. The Welsh players
immediately stood at attention
and the local lads went down
the field to score a converted
try for five points, The sneak
attack cost them dearly..The
final score was 61-5.

Nearly 100 years later,
more than 100 countries play
the game and Canada — its
national team made up largely
of B.C. talent — is ranked
13th, just ahead of Tonga and
just behind Fiji. The top 20
will play in the World Cup.

Because Wales is a small
country — actually, a prinei-
pality — the opening round
will be played in four other
countries as well (England,
Scotland, Ireland and France).
The good news for Canada is
that it’s in a group with
France, Namibia and Fiji. ina
process where the top two

See Canada page 30

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