Vikings Rugby Club

2018 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

January 5, 2019

Thompson Rugby Park

110 Ragland Road West, Oshawa, ON L1H 7K4 • [email protected] • www.vikingsrugby.ca

2018 Oshawa Vikings Annual General Meeting Agenda Saturday, January 5th, 2019, 10:00 AM at Thompson Rugby Park

Attendees: Johnny Watkins (JW), Lisa Watkins (LW), Tek Ang (TA), Richard Wheller (RW), Duane Dorfman (DD), Jeff Stralak (JS), Sara Shaw (SS), Gord Humphrey (GH), Gary Dyster (GD), Dean McNally (DM), Stephen Park (SP), Eric Noyes (EN), Matt Parkins (MP), Scott Goff (SG), Trevor Bentley (TB), Jason Traviss (JT), Dan Evelynn (DE), Glenn Elliot (GE), Mike McArthur (MM), Scotty Stephenson (SS), Dan Cooper (DC), Max Barill (MB), Mike Creggs (MC), Jodi Konick (JK), Shawn Briden (SB), Chris McKee (CM) Regrets: Brad Buss, Paul Connelli

JW call the meeting to order at 10:19 AM – 26 Vikings Rugby Club members in good standing attended this meeting; DM motioned commenced 2018 Vikings Rugby Club Annual General Meeting and SS seconded the motion.

1. Reports and Updates a. Financial Report (Prepared by John Watkins; Presented by JW) i. Successful year even without Hampton Property Sales. All items are within budgeted amount. Saving account is set for rainy day fund. ii. JK: what’s the different in revenue between having this year? JW: no financial impact as the club and college traded spaces – Thompson Rugby Park field for DC to play in the summer and DC gym space for Vikings to practice in the winter iii. DD: what is the ROI on the capital expense? JW: having the kitchen fixed, we will be able to apply for liquor license – able to rent the clubroom for function, hence more income. iv. SS: re DC – to confirm that we are not charged for Vikings using DC facility in the winter – JW Confirmed.

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b. Hampton Property Update (Prepared by Johnny Watkins & Richard Wheller; Presented by JW & RW) i. GE provided a brief history of the property: Property was bought in the late 80s. Due to legislation of no development on farm land (and being part of wetland), the club was not able to do anything to the property, even at one time, AT&T offered to build a tower on the property. We paid $XX,XXX for the property. ii. RW: we put the property to the market with help of Scott Wesley and received multiple offers. iii. JW: some of the fund was used to paid off mortgage and line of credit. The rest of the fund will need to be put to a proper used. iv. GE questioned: Meridian item is different between Financial Statement and Statement for the property sales. JW: the difference was to pay off the line of credit. c. Registrations (Prepared by Lisa Watkins; Presented by JW) i. Refund is still an issue as it requires a lot of administration 1. No fee on refund, however, there are the league’s fund is not refundable, only club’s portion. However, it is a lose policy as Lisa was able to get some of them back. ii. ORU is organising this coming year’s schedule to help with U19 groups challenge on numbers. d. Social Update (Prepared by Lisa Watkins; Presented by JW) i. SS requested: 1. would like to have Rugby vs Cancer day – to chat with on the details LW.

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2. would like to continue with Pride socks event (Alumni Day) – JW suggested to look into our supplier for the socks, instead of doing it herself. ii. JW: 1. All events this coming year will have 60th anniversary twist. 2. 60th anniversary dinner will be held at the end of May/early June. Will honour members and teams in the past 10 years. Expected 100-120 people. We will have a committee to set the event up. e. Raglan Facility Update (Prepared by Gord Humphrey; Presented by GH) i. Thank to Tom and Dave to do the garbage over the years. ii. Add Fastenal and Peacock Lumber to sponsor list. iii. Dan Evelynn installed the washer and dryer. f. Sponsorship (Prepared by Richard Wheller; Presented by RW) i. DD: suggesting for each team manager/coach to maintain communication/engagement with the sponsor – invite them to the game/event to show appreciation – Facebook page, certificate of appreciation, etc. ii. JT: success in raising sponsorship for U15 tour to bring the cost down to about $X,XXX/kids. JW: to include Jason to Sponsorship Committee. g. Communications (Prepared by Tek Ang; Presented by TA) i. SS: need to get more contents for Junior program – coaches/managers/someone from the team to provide content ii. JT: suggested to create closed group for coaches/managers h. Director of Rugby (Prepared by Chris McKee, Paul Connelly, Eric Noyes, Trevor Bentley and Shawn Carmichael; Presented by CM) i. Men Program

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1. MB: a number of men have been working out together to get themselves ready for the season. 2. MC: increased numbers both men and women to NY Sevens. Sara: the tour helps engage the team and increase the number. 3. DC: there is a lot of interest from DC players to play for Vikings. 4. DD: do we have club open-house to have people coming in to see what being involved with the club about? TB: there was interest from guests attending the haunted house to see what the club is all about. 5. MC: we are at the tipping point of having a good number for both first and second teams. 6. CM: the team leaders have been doing a great job in ensuring the players going away for school are coming back in the summer to play. ii. Women Program 1. CM: a proposal is to have a developmental team that will involve the other teams in the region: Cobourg, Belleville, Peterborough. iii. Junior Program 1. Majority of our Women and Men graduated from our Junior Program. 2. Challenge: rep players commitment to club vs rep – ORU is setting schedule not interfering with club’s schedules. McKee: make sure that we instill the culture that club is as important if not more important than rep. 3. CM: Nico started Action Rugby, an academy team – something that we need on the East side of . A few Vikings have joined in the team.

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4. DE: we have a successful first year of Minor House League. The kids love to have Coop and Parson to coach them. 2. Motion to Accept 2018 Reports and Updates a. Motion to accept: SS b. Seconded by: SG 3. Elections

Vice President position is vacant for next year and Tek Ang is willing to stand for the position. Leaving Communication Director position vacant. All other directors are willing to stand again.

a. President – Johnny Watkins b. Vice President – Tek Ang c. Director of Rugby – Chris McKee d. Facility Director – Shawn Briden e. Director of Special Projects – Richard Wheller f. Communication Director i. SS nominated Sara Shaw ii. Motion by TB, seconded by JT g. Social Director – Lisa Watkins h. Director at Large – Brad Buss & Paul Connelly 4. Other Business a. SS: suggested to add Women Captain to the board 5. Motion to Adjourn a. MC motioned to adjourned the meeting at 1:10 PM and DM seconded the motion.

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Financial Report

Financial Statement was presented at the AMG and is Available Upon Request

Account Balances as of December 30 2018: • Savings Account $X,XXX.XX • Chequing Account $XXX,XXX.XX

Future capital projects and expenses that have been noted to be addressed include: • Washroom renovations and or improvements • Kitchen installs • Parking improvements • Flooring throughout the facility • Investigate capital partnership with the City of Oshawa to develop Raglan Park

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Hampton Property In 2018 we were able to sell the Hampton property for. After many attempts and several good offers, we were able to sell the Hampton property in October 2018 for $XXX,XXX. By selling the property the mortgage and line of credit with Meridian Credit Union have been closed and property taxes to Clarington had been paid in full. Financial Details of the sale include:

The Cash Flow Statement was presented at the AMG and is Available Upon Request

* note $XX,XXX.XX was paid to Century 21

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Registrations Category Players Registered Refunds Processed Minor Rugby 45 5 U11 (3 playing down from u13 girls) 26 0 U13 boys 25 1 U13 Girls (NO Team Available) 5 2 U15 Boys 35 2 U15 Girls 20 2 U17 Boys 56 2 U17 Girls 30 0 U19 Men 22 U19 Women (NO TRU League for them to 20 4 participate in) Senior Men 44 1 4 2-weeks registrations Senior Women 27 0 Battle Axes 34 1 Runes 32 1 Total 425 21 Does not include registered coaches, physio and volunteers

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Social Update This past year club purchased a tap machine for the Point of Sale system. This was a great investment making purchases easier for the members and visitors. We still have outstanding bar tabs which will need to be cleared up, but each home game has been greatly attended helping to cover the cost to operate the snack bar. This summer each home game with purchased a Special events liquor license which has increased in costs from previous years.

Events held in 2018: • Senior Men’s Team Poker Tournament • Chris and Kyla Jack and Jill • Rookie Night • Battle axes Night at the Races, raised $1,600.00 • Prom Dress 7 Rugby, raised $1,000.00 donation to Their Opportunity • Rugby Blues game • Durham College Men’s and Women’s home games • OCAA Men’s Rugby Championship Banquet • Christmas Awards night

Special thanks to Max Barill for setting up his Lowlands Firefood at different events throughout the year.

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Raglan Facility Update I would like to begin by making a shout out to those who had a significant impact on the property maintenance side this year. • Number one on the list is Steve Rensink. Steve did the cast majority of the cutting of the grass this year, and as you may know that is the key to a strong and healthy turf. • Next is Scotty, who although is a new grandpa has managed to find the time to do a lot of garbage pickup and put out this year. Thanks Scotty. Scotty’s mechanical abilities have also come in handy with the maintenance of our grass cutter. • Landon Beacock of Landon’s tree service for his help with the bucket truck getting the nets up at the west end. • The Van Camp business and in particular, Dean VanCamp for the delivery of and donation of the limestone crush and screenings needed for our grandstand base. • Iian McLean of Enviromaster for the use of his equipment • Andre of Weedman for the 2 times, time release fertilizer application to the field (donation!!) • Fastenal for the donation of 5x5 gallons of lining paint and then a greatly reduced price for 2 more. • Sherwin and Williams for the excellent ’club’s pricing on aerosol paint. • The repair guys at Howard Martin in Pickering for their help with our old liner and cost forgiveness on our last repair quote. • Jason, for his tractor work in smoothing out the dirt pile in front of the storage shed. • Nick Brazier and his brother for their work with a skid steer in excavating the grounds for the grand stand platform and the moving of the bricks to that spot. • Shawn and Mike for helping out with field lining when needed, and Shawn in particular for continuing to act as the board member responsible for property. • Jarred Aus for his help in electrical work throughout the clubhouse. • Numerous club members who have helped with the set up of the club for the season, putting up the sings and ropes, in particular Johnny, Justin and Reese, with the ever behind them Lisa, Gail Pidgeon and Sara Shaw. • I would also like to thank the executive for their trust in my judgment that a compact tractor with a front-end loader could be of a real benefit to the club. (it has already proven to be so, at least to some small degree.)

Accomplishments, or perhaps better stated, jobs done. 1. Purchase and installation of an aluminum pole to support the West net. 2. Construction of a stand for the bleachers. 3. Installation of cross pieces between hedge sections.

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4. Aeration of and cutting of field. 5. Hunting for and purchasing Kubota compact tractor. 6. Purchase of gas-powered paint liner. 7. Installation of a flag pole at the front of our property. 8. New players benches on North sideline. 9. As well as this list, numerous improvements were made inside the club house including the installation of a washer and dryer, I believe donated by Dean, electrical work initiated by Shawn, WIFI tower installation, field camera and ancillary equipment installed.

Hopes for next year: • More day to day club member involvement in keeping the club house, and grounds neat and tidy as well as the pitch in good repair. • I would like to have put into practice a habitual repair of the pitch after each game, with the filling in of divots and the retrieval of all materials from the field including the player’s bench side. This would be seen as recognition of the work that goes into maintaining the pitch as well as a great assist in doing what is needed to maintain the pitch. • A better and greener way of sorting, storing and getting rid of our waste materials. With the purchase of reusable recyclable and compostable consumables and the proper sorting of these we should look to cut down on our environmental impact. • The construction of a storage facility for out tractor and future purchases of field maintenance equipment. • The construction of a walkway for the Vikings change room to the field of play. • The movement of the white bin to a less obtrusive place. • The installation of new flags on our standards as well as the reinstallation of our west end net. • Repair of the parapet. • Installation of a transparent cover, sky light, over the roof vent in the men’s washroom.

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Sponsorship Committee lead by Dean McNally, Jeff Stralak and Duane Dorfman have done another outstanding job of securing sponsorship for our teams. Halenda’s stepped up this year to provide sponsorship to fund the Inaugural Vikings Minor House League. Through this sponsorship, we were able to add Pepperoni Sticks Fundraising to offset some club expenses. Our Sponsorship committee has had another great year of raising money to offset Kit expenses for each team. Vikings Rugby Club would like to thank and acknowledge the following 2018 sponsors for their continuing support to help reach our 2018 Achievements:

Vikings Black Level Sponsors

honda.ca investorgroup.com actechnical.com

halendas.com gxts.com brockstreetbrewing.com

decdistributionltd.com pipm.ca aecdaily.com chilli-proscooter.ca

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Vikings Red Level Sponsors

quakerchiropracticandsportsinjury.co meritsportstravel.ca m

oshawa.weedmancanada.co extremeroofing.ca www.cusw.ca m

Vikings Support Level Sponsors

Curiosity Children's Centre 186 Casimir Street www.fastenal.com Watkins Blinds Port Perry, Ontario (905) 985-5589

mmfinsurance.ca financialdrawingboard.ca www.peacocklumber.ca

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Communication Director Report I have had a great pleasure in the past three years to manage the club’s communication; a contradiction to the running jokes within the Runes that I need an interpreter. I was able to help streamlined the communication channels and established our club’s branding on the Internet:

• Vikings Rugby Club (website) and Thompson Rugby Park (Map Location on Google Map and Bing Map) are separate entities on search engines (Google, Bing). Both entities appear on the top of the search results for rugby in Durham region (Oshawa, Whitby, Ajax, etc.). • Our website remains the core of the club’s official identity and club related news. • Facebook Club Page is club’s communication channel for the latest events and news. • Facebook Group is the main team communication channel, where each team manager/coach is responsible for the content. • Instagram has grown in the past year with regular contents to reach out to younger members. • ScrumDown newsletter has been used to reach out to the members who do not have social media. The contents are mirror of Facebook contents. • Twitter usage is on a decline as we do not get the benefits from this channel.

I would like to take the opportunity to thank the following:

• Lisa Watkins for continuously helping with the contents for Facebook. • Sara Shaw who have taken over the management of Instagram account and ensuring regular contents. • Adam Stralak for his continuing assistant in taking game photos. • Kevin Rerrie for his help in taking U15 photos. • Parents who take game photos and shared them on team group.

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Director of Rugby Report Men Program (Paul Connelly)

Pre-Season Training Very good work over the winter sessions at the Abilities Centre. Combining S&C with Core Skill development provided a solid foundation on which to build for the season. 2019 • Begin weekly Core Skill Training at Durham College Dome (Thursday Nights T.B.C.) • Engage ETS for winter training program • Actively recruit (College/University/High School)

Pre-Season Tour Hi-light for the Year. Great team-building opportunity (Train Trip and Pinky Blinders Dress). Game vs. Kingston and Montreal were the perfect level. 2019 • Repeat. New York trip may be too early for University and College Students. Late April may be our best option. Will examine Kingston/Montreal/Ottawa as options.

Season Numbers were great at training and practice was very productive. Our very young side worked hard and made significant improvement in core skills during the year. Injuries to some of our veteran players (especially in the forwards), forced many young players to step up. We proved to be very competitive for the first 50 minutes in most games, but tended to wear-down as we were exposed physically. The League Structure was a big improvement from 2017 and will only get better for 2019 with a few adjustments (consistent 2nd team schedule). 2019 • Select leadership group to co-ordinate goal setting for 2019 season. (April) • Coaching staff to build on last seasons development.

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Relegation Round/Durham College Our training and game play during the last 3 weeks of our season was the hi-light of our year. The team made very big strides and were rewarded with two very big wins. Many of our young players used this as a spring board for further development with an excellent Durham College campaign. Great job by players, Johnny and his staff in bringing home the Championship. 2019 • Engage as many Durham College players as possible with the Vikings 1st and 2nd teams in an effort to develop a pipeline for future development. • Goal: To avoid the relegation round and compete in the McCormick Cup.

I would like to thank all of the Vikings Coaches and Management Staff for all of their hard work during the season. It is awesome to just be able to coach and not worry about all of the "extras" that are needed to make a program function. I am very much looking forward to an excellent 2019!

Women Program (Chris McKee) This years’ season was very successful. We had great numbers at practice and at games (actually too many players at games). Next season we are looking at running a developmental squad as well. The girls finished 2nd in their division but beat 1st place Belleville in the semis. For the 3rd year in row the Vikings Women lost in the league Championship game (missing key players to university and injury hurt). We had three girls play Ontario U20 (3 were selected but not able to play due to injury and Canada commitments). Sarah Hoerig, Sam Gates, and Autumn Gervais won silver with Ontario. Katie Geddes, Emma Frey were unable to play due to injury and Brooklynn Feasby was selected to Canada U18 7s and represented the country at the Youth Olympics. Our womens 7s team also travelled to New York this fall for the New York 7s, again played very well and won the Plate Championship. Award Winners: • Chris McKee Award (MVP): Shelby Oad, Sarah Shaw • Vikings Award: Katlynn Trindade • Top Rookie: Sarah Hoerig • Ironwomen: Reagan MacDonald

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Junior Program Summary (Chris McKee) Our Junior program had an outstanding year again from U-8 all the way up to U19s. With close to 300 players and over 25 coaches and managers the Vikings ran 12 teams at various age groups: 2 U8, 2 U11, 2 U13, 2 U15 Boys/Girls, 3 U17 Girls/Boys 1 U19 Boys All of our teams did very well with all teams making at least the semi finals in their leagues. • The U17 Boys and Girls and U15 Girls won Provincial 7s Championships. • The U14 Boys Sevens (Falls season) were Provincial 7s Bronze Medalist. • The U15 Boys were Provincial Bronze Medalist. • The U15 Girls were league and Provincial Champions. • Our U17 Girls had an undefeated season until the finals finishing second in the league and Provincial finals. • The U17 boys had an off year missing numerous players throughout the season due to Provincial team commitments. In the end they won the Plate final. • Our U19 boys had an up and down season with a surprising default loss. However, they pulled it together to win the Toronto and Provincial Championships.

CONGRATULATIONS: • U15 Girls: 1st ever Toronto and Provincial Champions • U19 Boys: 1st ever Toronto and Provincial Champions • U15 Girls: U16 Boys and Girls Toronto and Provincial Champions • Brock Webster: Junior Provincial Player of the Year, Canada Senior Men “A” Cap, Canada U18 7s, Canada Senior Men Maple Leafs 7s • Brooklynn Feasby: Canada U18 7s, Youth Olympics • Jared Augustine, Carson Young, Brock Webster, Rob Eliadis: Canada U18 15s • Girls Ontario 15s and 7s: 10 players • Boys Ontario 15s and 7s: 27 players This season successes have once again cemented our reputation as the top junior program in the province. The Vikings Junior Program had 200 players from 20 different schools and over 12 different towns.

THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT!!!!

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Vikings U15 Girls 15s Season (Eric Noyes) Overall Season Record: 13-1

Provincial Representation: • Madi Thompson • Taylor McKnight

Team Accomplishments: • TRU Champions • ORU Champions

In 2018, Rugby Ontario introduced new age grade banding. This meant the introduction of the new U15 Girls competition. The 2018 summer season was an exciting and tremendously successful one for the U15 Girls. The team was a mix of both rugby experience and rugby knowledge, some girls had played rugby before, and others had never picked up a rugby ball. It didn’t take long for the team to come together and become a very close-knit bunch. One of the highlights of the regular season was playing in a first-place showdown against Barrie RFC on home turf. The game was fast paced and full of action which saw the girls from Barrie control most of the game until the final minute of play. With an attacking scrum 22 meters from the Barrie goal-line, the Vikings won possession of the ball and punched in a really well worked team try with no time remaining on the clock. This win set the girls up for their playoff run with games against Belleville and North Halton. With wins in those two games, the girls were on a tremendous winning streak heading into the TRU title game. In the TRU Championship game, the Vikings met their new rivals from Barrie. A really back and forth game that saw the Vikings dominate the first half. The second half saw Barrie make a strong comeback, however, the Vikings were able to pick-up the pace when it mattered and put the game out of reach getting a positive result. The TRU Championship was a stepping stone towards the goal. During the final day of the season, the Vikings had one last goal in mind… a provincial championship. The road to the big game was not to be an easy one. The girls had a tough 3- game final day to round out the season. In the first two games of the day, the ladies took care of business against both London and Kingston to advance to the big game. Once again, they would be tested by a familiar rival from Barrie. In what was to be an edge of your seat type of game in front of a very colourful and vocal crowd, the Viking U15 girls scored a try in the very

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last minute of the game to bring home the hardware. A fitting end to what was a truly special season, digging deep and scoring a last minute try when the pressure was at its peak. The 2018 season was a true example of an extraordinarily great group of young ladies coming together and working towards a common goal. At the root of it all was always fun. The team was a great mix of young talented players as well as experienced leaders. This team is poised to make another run at a championship in 2019 with about one-third of the team returning next season.

2018 U15/U16 Girls 7s Season (Eric Noyes) Overall Season Record: 19-7

Provincial Representation (Blues Long List): • Madi Thompson • Riley Rewakoski • Danika Johnston

Team Accomplishments: • U15 TRU Champions • U16 ORU Champions

The 7s season was the ultimate example of a group of athletes coming from nowhere and becoming the best team in the entire province. The success of the summer season didn’t translate at first early on in the fall season. The 7s season, saw a blend of U15 girls and U17 girls to compete in the U16 girls 7s season. With one practice to prepare, the girls headed to the first 7s tournament in Markham. At the first tournament, the girls spent most of the morning learning each other’s names. This made for a tough first day on the pitch. The girls finished the day with a 1-3 record. With an underwhelming record on the day, there was certainly the makings of what could be a very talented team. Over the next 8 weeks, the girls committed to practice and made themselves available for all tournaments. Each tournament, you could see the improvement on the field right before your eyes. During the remaining 3 tournaments of the fall 7s series, the Vikings made it to the Cup

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final game in each of the 3 tournaments. In Ottawa, as well as Brantford, the girls came-up just a hair short of the cup with a few slight errors in the second half of both championship games. With a bitter taste in their mouth, the girls walked in to the provincial championships in Fergus with one goal in mind, correct their errors and bring home the 7s provincial championship. 5 wins stood between the Vikings and the championship. The goal was simple, have a perfect day, win 5 games and walk away champions. The path to get there was not going to be an easy one. After a perfect 4-0 start to the day, there was only 1 game remaining. It would be fitting that the final game of 2018 would end very similarly to how it began, one final battle against Barrie RFC, winner take all showdown. In the opening 7 minutes, the game was very back and forth with each team putting a score on the board. In the second half, the Vikings ran away with the game and completely dominated possession of the ball. The ladies would not be denied a championship a third time in a row, ending the game with a convincing 29-5 victory. The conclusion of the 7s season capped off an incredible 2018 Vikings season. At the end of a season it’s bittersweet in some regard. Everyone goes their separate ways, but hopefully everyone will remember all of the fun they had this season, all of the hard work they put in, all of the success they had and all the friends and new people they met along the way.

Vikings U15 Boys (Trevor Bentley) The Boys U15 Team had another successful season on many fronts. We had a few players brand new to Rugby and a many newer to Club Rugby and the Vikings. We also had a new Team Manager, Kevin Rerrie who was an excellent addition and huge help. Thank you, Kevin, for keeping us on track! We had a very successful, undefeated, regular season despite some season ending injuries to key personnel. We had no less than 7 players wearing jerseys for Ontario which did lead to some commitment issues with Ontario players either missing practices or games to save themselves for Provincial fixtures or not reporting for the TRU /ORU finals because of injury and / or apathy. It did allow for a lot of growth and opportunity for some less experienced players who really stepped up and took some great strides. We narrowly missed our goal of winning the Ontario Championships by falling just short in a tight semi-final game against Sarnia. We rallied back against a very tough Brantford team to earn a well-deserved bronze with many players stepping up and showing great leadership.

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Vikings U13 Boys (Shawn Carmichael) The U13 team optimistically declared two teams to begin the season but through attrition and no shows were forced to reduce that number to one. At any given practice or season festival, the team had roughly 17 representatives from the 2005 and 2006 age group. Overall, the team managed to win approximately 75% of their matches, with Brock and Peterborough being the only teams that regularly challenged the U13 team. Parents and supporters were almost exclusively positive with no complaints about playing time or positioning. Players were attentive and willing to learn. It was privilege to coach this group of young men. There was no league championship to contest, but if there was I feel that the team could have finished top 4 in the province. Award winners this season: • MVP: Logan Aube • Viking Award: Carter Ingram • Most Improved: Eesh de Soyza

Concerns/Areas to Address: 1. U13 Laws are inconsistently applied. Some clubs (Peterborough is by far the worst at this) apply their own interpretation of the Laws during festivals. Rugby Ontario needs to address this. (I’ve brought this matter forward to Rugby Ontario already.) 2. Practice time and play time. Vikings players need to attend practices for safety and team development purposes. Play time should not be given to players who irregularly attend practice. If this was conveyed to parents before the start of the season they may not sign their child up but for the kids who are committed I could do more to develop their overall skills and reward them for their commitment to the club with playing time. 3. League play. I would propose that the league host exhibition festivals in May and June and transition to league play for July and August. Three festivals in July and and two in August with 4 teams at each sight would allow for 3 games of 20 minutes. Scores would be kept and used for playoffs. Clubs with two teams would be able to identify their best players for an A side and have a B side developmental team. I feel that at 12-13 years old that players know full well what the score is and are playing to win.

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Battle Axes Update (Lisa Watkins) This past season we went from 16 players to 34 players. We had in vision to run a 4 team house league program. With the summer holidays it was hard to do when showing up on Friday’s teams were without enough players. Each week we would still have our round robin games. Special thanks to our refs Dylan Parson and Daniel Cooper for coming out each week and running a practice and games for us. Battle Axes hosted their 1st annual Night at the Races invited. Special thanks to Shannon and Terry Aubie for their hard work the night at the event. As well as the senior men and women players that attended the event. The team raised $1600.00 which will be used to a Slushy Machine for the snack bar for the 2019 season.

Runes Update (Tek Ang) 2018 season has seen our Runes grew both in size and in determination. We had 30 Runes registered this year, up from 25 in 2017. The increase of 5 may look small, however, it is due injuries and other commitments that a number of Runes did not returned this year. At the same time, we welcomed players who were new to the sport, as well as veterans returning to the sport. Dean McNally and Ryan Walsh stepped up as forward and back leads for the team. Their leadership helped to make the Runes more organised and focused on game day. We were more prepared going into each game, knowing what to do. The team has grown into a competitive team, where we were able to give the teams we played against “a run for their money”, as we slowly recruit backs into the team. We came out 1 draw and 1 lost (very close one) against our good friends, Saxons Old Boys, this season. The team’s determination could also be seen in the last few weeks leading towards Saxons Golden Rod Tournament. We had four serious training days in October to prepare for the tournament, that resulted the Runes brought in very physical forward play, in comparison to most teams’ reliance on quick ball to the back. What to look forward to in 2019 Season: • Scott Goff will take to manage the team. • Vikings Rugby Legacy Fund – we are finalising the account for Vikings Rugby Legacy Fund which will be separate from Club’s Operational account. The Fund from this account will be used on a number of initiatives to support club’s member. • Vikings “Unleased in the East Deux” (Aug 1 – 5): to celebrate Vikings Rugby Club 60th Anniversary, we are going on a Rugby tour to Halifax to play against Truro and Halifax teams.

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