Fort McMurray Knights celebrate 50 years of rugby

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It may have been the first time he had seen Shell Place and his friends were a lot older, but Neil MacLean still felt it was just like the old days.

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The Fort McMurray Knights Rugby Club celebrated their 50th anniversary on Aug. 3 with a day of rugby and an evening gala. About 150 athletes from across five decades travelled from across Canada and the United States for the reunion, which MacLean compared to “a big family gathering.”

“For a lot of us older guys, this might be the last time we get a chance to see each other,” he said. “Some of these guys I haven’t seen in 40 years. It’s absolutely brilliant to have us all together.”

MacLean was one of four people who founded the club in 1974. He had come to Fort McMurray as a construction worker to build what is now Beacon Hill. There was no rugby presence in the city at the time and MacLean debated leaving to play rugby in another community.

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But one day MacLean and a group of friends put posters up across the city that said there would be rugby training every Tuesday and Thursday at Father Turcotte School at 7 p.m. About 10 men showed up that first night, followed by 20 people on the second night. An executive was put together and the club took off.

“People came out of the woodwork and so the formative days of the club were really quite easy,” MacLean, who travelled to Fort McMurray from his home in Surrey, B.C.

“For people to travel all these distances shows how much of a family we really are.”

Many early members were young, single men new to Fort McMurray. Most had no families and few friends in the city. The club started welcoming more family-oriented members as it matured, but people say that early trend of newcomers looking for community was constant.

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Fort McMurray has seen plenty of sports clubs start, decline and than start under a different banner. The Knights have remained constant. Organizers and alumni credit this to the camaraderie on the pitch and travelling to tournaments, as well as the quality of people who came out and a love for the game.

“It became a close-knit family team. Over the years it just kept expanding. Anyone who played for the Knights became part of the Knights family,” said MacLean.

Alumni were also happy to see the large number of local children and teenagers playing rugby alongside the older crowd. The club has struggled to form adult teams for regular season competitions in recent years. A men’s and women’s team came together for this year’s Edmonton Rugbyfest, though.

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Some club leaders blamed the smaller membership on the increasing reliance of transient workers and work camps in the oilsands. Others blamed recent layoffs in the oilsands, the nature of shiftwork, and the economic challenges from fluctuating oil prices and the pandemic.

James Borosch, who was part of the Knights from 1985 to 2000 and now plays for an Edmonton club, said the Knights saw similar struggles when he lived in Fort McMurray.

But he has seen Fort McMurray children play in junior tournaments in Edmonton and was happy to see the number of young people on the pitch this weekend. He is confident Fort McMurray’s rugby scene will be competitive soon.

Jennifer Powell, who was part of the inaugural women’s team in 1996 and is still with the club, is also confident that rugby will see a strong return.

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Powell never played rugby when a women’s team was announced and was curious about the sport. She was immediately hooked and hopes more people will experience that same feeling.

“Rugby is just an easy sport to come in if you’ve never played before,” said Powell.

Tom Power, who has been with the club since 1986, is worried that rugby in Fort McMurray could skip a generation. But he is happy to see the junior and mini rugby program continue growing. New members are always welcome, he says.

The club has also introduced rugby to local schools. This past spring, five schools sent six teams to a tournament for kids in grades 5 and 6. Power would like to see rugby added to the physical education curriculum. The club plans to expand outreach to kids in grades 7 and 8.

“Nobody’s bigger than the sport and everybody’s a part of it,” he said.

“We’re sticking with it. It’s gonna take us a few years but there’s very passionate community of people.”

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vmcdermott@postmedia.com

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