Rugby is a sport for everyone. Rugby represents our community. It welcomes and encompasses every demographic and every type of person. It is the most inclusive sport. In our club we have members from ages 3 to 70. We begin teaching kids as soon as they can hold a ball, and people remain in the rugby family for life. Rugby has a culture where you play hard, but you also support your teammates and celebrate with the other team. No other sport promotes togetherness and working together in this way. Rugby has a place for all shapes and sizes. You can be fast and skinny, or big and slower, and there is a position on the field for you. If you want to join a rugby club, you will be included, regardless of ability, and helped to improve and enjoy the game. Rugby is one of the only sports where men and women participate equally and train together in a single club environment. This gender balance and support is a key hallmark of our sport and has seen a huge surge in the number of women joining the sports. Young women can aspire to scholarships at top universities like St. F.X. and Acadia and go on to win National CIS Championships as many of our members, like of Vice President Mary Giles, have done. Rugby encourages racial diversity and we for many years have been fortunate to have members from all backgrounds and ethnicities and maintaining and expanding this diversity continues to be a key focus of our growth. Rugby is also particularly inclusive of players with disabilities. We have been blessed for years by the presence of Lindsay (Hilton) Melanson, an athlete born with underdeveloped arms and legs who played for many years and went on to win a World Rugby Spirit Award for her amazing commitment and abilities.  

We proudly watch Halifax raised Egyptian-Canadian TARS bred player Moe Abdelmonem play professionally for the Austin Gilgronis of Major League Rugby, former player Kyle Baillie as he captains the NOLA Gold also of Major League Rugby, and waiting Olympian, TAR bred, and Halifax native Cooper Coats of the National Men’s 7 a side Rugby Team.    Halifax and Graves-Oakley have also become a hub for our National Women’s team, led by Irish native and Halifax Resident Jack Hanratty and featuring Team Captain Olivia DeMerchant of Fredericton, Halifax native Emma Taylor who plays for a friendly rival club, Alysha Corrigan of Charlottetown PEI, and other athletes from across Canada. 

The community of Spryfield itself is underserviced and very low on infrastructure in the sporting and general sense.   As noted, this facility will directly complement other sports including soccer, softball, ultimate frisbee, and cross-country skiing almost immediately.   We see this facility as being the first step in developing the multi field space at Graves Oakley so that other sports might benefit and events and tournaments may occur, benefitting the local economy.   The facility will also serve as a new and well-appointed gathering place for local community groups and residents to enjoy their community, collaborate, and hold events and fundraisers.  

Supporting Rugby, and our Club House build, means supporting people from all different backgrounds in our sport, as well as the benefits to the broader sport community and the community of Spryfield.   We will host events, big and small, and continue to develop diverse people who aspire to just have fun and be fit, or reach the National Team and the Olympics.