Welcome to the Valley Vintage Rugby Club Web Site

The Valley Vintage Rugby Club plays in the Pacific Northwest Over 40's Rugby Union, which is comprised of clubs located in British Columbia, Canada and Washinton State, U.S. The members of our club are drawn primarily from Senior Clubs in the Fraser Valley Rugby Union including Richmond, Surrey, Langley, Abbotsford, Chilliwack, and Pocomo. Most of our players once faced each other in the Senior Men's League but are now of course playing on the same squad -- such is the fraternity of rugby. We also have playing members from Bellingham, Washington and from other clubs and locales as well. We welcome new players or friends to the club, so if you are interested in playing or socializing, please drop us a note.

NEWS

October 19, 2009 - Game Report - October 18 Versus Ebb Tide at home

Once again we had awesome weather for our match on Sunday. The Victoria Ebb Tide definitely showed up to play with over 20 players making the trip. They were likely seeking revenge from our match in their park last year as they were running their full warm-up 30 minutes before the game start. Ourselves, on the other hand, slowly drifted in with the 15th player coming on the field just as the whistle blew for the opening kick-off. Predictably, we started out slow and fell behind by two tries. We managed to get one back and turn up the level of our game in the 2nd quarter to end the half down 3 to 1. We had lots of pressure in the 3rd quarter but failed to capitalize with any scores. In the end, injuries and our shortage of players got the best of us and Ebb Tide scored two late tries. Final Score: Valley Vintage 1 Ebb Tide 5.

It was good to see John Eaton and Vince Simon make their season debuts.

We will be moving into the gym this Wednesday for basketball. Tip-off time is 6:00 at Langley Secondary. Thanks to Ron McKave for making the arrangements with LSS.

Langley is hosting a 3rd Division exhibition game this Saturday against Maple Ridge at 11:00. They’re looking for players, so if you’re interested, show up at the Crush Crescent field at 10:30. We do not have a game this week – the next scheduled game is Sunday November 1st against Twilighters at home.  

Mark has sent out the notification for the Christmas dinner, so be sure to put it on your calendar for December 4th. Ron MacWilliams is accepting registrations and dues.

October 12, 2009 - Game Report – October 4th vs Evergreens at Brockton Oval

The weather was exceptional once again for this match against Evergreens. Unfortunately, the Evergreens have been struggling for players, so we had to play 12-a-side rugby with a no-push scrum. Nevertheless, the match was well contested with much of the play going back and forth. In the second half, we blew a 3-2 lead and were down 4 to 3 when Dean McCarthy scored on a set up by Neil Grant. Final score: Valley Vintage 4 Evergreens 4.

The Evergreens were very good hosts – On a sunny Sunday afternoon, you just can't top their venue.   

We also welcomed back Rusty Johnson and Gary Hilicki from long periods away from the club. It was great having them back out.

The next game is scheduled against Ebb Tide at 12:30 on October 18th at Home.

September 28, 2009 - Game Report - September 27th vs Legends at Home

This last Sunday, we were at home versus Legends. The weather was near perfect, the pitch was in fine condition, and both sides had full contingents of players. In the first half, with the wind and sun at our backs, we started out slow but picked up momentum as the half wore on and ended up 3-0 at the break. In the 2nd half, we managed to hold off a couple of Legend’s scoring opportunities while tallying another two tries ourselves. Final score: Valley Vintage 5
Legends 0.

We welcomed two newcomers to the club, Dale Anderlini from the Langley Rugby Club and Paul Gillette (AKA Victor Kiam) from the Richmond Rugby Club. Victor debuted with 2 tries, including one off a brilliant kick that he popped over the opposing defenders.  

Afterwards, Lenny said that the game was probably the cleanest over 40s match he’s refereed. Credit should go to both sides for respecting the laws and keeping the hands out of the rucks.
 
Thanks to Mark Hobden and Richard Bott for taking care of the food duties.
  
Our Christmas party this year will be Friday, December 4th at Newlands. Make sure you mark this date on your calendar. More information on this will come out under a separate email.

The next game is scheduled against Evergreens at 1:00 October 4th  at Brockton Oval (Stanley Park).

September 14, 2009 - Game Report - September 13th at Snowcaps

This last Sunday, we were at Klahanee Park playing a 3-way versus Snowcaps and Twilighters. The weather was fantastic and the Rugby was well-played. In the first game, cobwebs and a lack of numbers got the best of us as we lost to the Twits 3 to 1. In the second game against Snowcaps, with tries coming from our storming backline, we came out on the right side of another 3 to 1 result. So the afternoon ended up a split decision. The Snowcaps were once again very gracious and organized hosts.

Congratulations to Gary Stewart who scored tries in both games. I’m sure he’ll be able to dine out on that for several weeks.

We welcomed several newcomers to the club on the weekend including Ryan Cameron, Rash Dhillon, and Neil Grant. Mark Hobden, Steve Hoffman, Jeff Stewart, and Sam Rockson also made triumphant returns after significant lay-offs due to injuries.

The next game is scheduled against Legends at 1:00 September 27th at home.

May 2009

We finished our season well this year at the Spring Festival wind-up at Klahanee Park in West Vancouver. The Snowcaps did a great job hosting the event, and unlike some previous years, there were no complaints about a lack of games to play. It was disappointing that not all of the clubs fielded sides for the tournament; however, it can sometimes be difficult to make it over the Lions Gate Bridge. Congratulations to our over 50's and 60's for not only putting the numbers on the field for their games but for filling in the ranks for the over 40's games as well. Contributing 10 players to help the East Side Gents out with their game against S.O.B.s probably didn't serve our best interests for our subsequent games -- but we all know that it's in the spirit of the game and the East Side Gents sure appreciated the help. The highlight of the day had to be the match against Victoria Ebb Tide.

Our season definitely had some ups and downs. Fortunately, like most years past, there were more ups than downs. We don't keep standings and there is no league trophy, but we can say that in every case we managed no worse than a split win/loss with other clubs and our record was much better than .500. Injuries took their toll this year and the number of players on many Sundays was no more than 16 or 17. Unfortunately, we have had to rely on our 60+ year old players to step up and we realize that we won't be able to continue going to this well for future seasons. For the 2009/10 season, we will need to focus on recruitment, retention, and commitment to ensure that we can meet our fixture obligations.

See photos in the GALLERY section.