BVI Rugby

With the Kiwis once again holding the world cup there is a wave of nostalgia amongst rugby folk in the BVI, many of whom have been asking themselves how old was I the last time the All Blacks held the Webb Ellis trophy. Most playing members of the club were either in primary school or were sickly sperms swimming in their father's scrotum. As such the BVI RFU is kicking off the new calendar year by reaching out to all its old boys and ex members and urging them to get behind the Union in 2012.

The departure from the BVI's shores of a few key club members in the late 90's/early 00's combined with the temporary (5 years) closing of the A.O. Shirley and the sale of Fort Burt (losing our dedicated clubhouse) saw the union experiencing some challenging times as the century drew to a close. The club rallied in the middle of the Noughties and through the efforts of Barry Mitchell, Rob McIntyre and Clinton Hempel to name a few, the committee took the

bold step to utilize the existing clubs funds to hire a full time development officer. This combined with an aggressive campaign to get financial support from both the government and private sector was determined to be the only way to ensure sustainability of rugby in the territory. The strategy was to focus at first on the primary schools, then work into the middle and high schools whilst concurrently developing an adult national program. This was all to be done within a friendly club environment providing social and fitness benefits to its members while enjoying the game of rugger.

As we move into 2012 the union is taking some time to reflect on where the program has come in the last few years and also more importantly where it would like to be ten years down the line from here. We have we feel at least taken some steps in the right direction. The kids program is coming along with many of the older children expressing their desire to move onto full contact and even some of the eldest showing up for men's 1st XV national team training.

The Union is calling on all past members to get in contact with the club to share stories of the past and help contribute ideas for the future. We are always happy to sign you back up to the membership role if you can get your dues across to the Treasurer. Please drop us a line or send a comedy check in the post.

Willy Johnstone the 1990's captain of the 1st XV recently got in touch with the current chairman and provided the scan showed here below which shows his mid 90's membership card (which still opens doors and remains a babe magnet to this day) as well as an excerpt from the BVI Beacon (local newspaper) detailing his game time heroics. Fun times to look back and reminisce on. Plus it's nice for us to have documentation of our history and for the new lads to know that they have joined a an organization with a proud storied heritage.

Some of the Strollers (active old boys section that meet regularly at Mulligans) have discussed putting together a document that details the clubs history. Any contributions (stories, photos, newsclips ect) to this would be appreciated. Even if it's just a short mail to say hello and let us know what you are up to it would be appreciated by the current bunch of lads knocking their heads about under the BVI flag.

2012 brings a lot of excitement for the union. We start it all off with a trip to Puerto Rico to play San Juan Rugby Club on February 4th. Any old boys in Puerto Rico please get in touch and come down and support the lads.

In March we have two fixtures against the traveling Washington State University. These games will be held Monday March 12 & Friday March 16 under the floodlights on the A.O. Shirley, both games will be played at 5.30pm.

We expect to be able to create a true festival atmosphere with the stands packed with the both new and regular fans of the BVI. Further the Union is hoping to cap off the winter season with a tour to Dominican Republic who are organizing a tournament to celebrate 40 years of rugby in the DR at the end of April. There are two teams coming from Argentina and one from Miami as well as a team from Portugal. Non players more than welcome as this is a location where extra tourists are always in need.

We hope to hear from you, or better yet see you on the pitch, sideline or at the bar.