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The Windsor Rogues Rugby Football Club
Origins and Evolution
The Early Years:
The first Windsor RFC team was associated
with the Assumption College and formed in the 1963.
In 1965, the Blackrock ex-patriots’ rugby
club formed with founding members such as Gerry Frain, Mike
O’Brien and Mel Lawn. In 1968, Mel splintered off to form a new
club, the ‘Borderers’ to compete with the renamed ‘Anglos’.
Both clubs grew and a fierce rivalry developed between the two
within the Southwestern Ontario Rugby Union (SWORU).
After 1972 the Anglos struggled and folded
back into the Windsor RFC while the Borderers became a dominant
team in Southern Ontario rugby through to the end of the 80’s.
As time passed, SWORU struggled and
eventually merged with the Niagara Rugby Union (NRU) creating a
major travel problem for a geographically and demographically
isolated Windsor rugby population. As a result, the
Anglos/Windsor team grew into the ‘Rogues’, while the Borderers
folded (with many players moving to the Detroit RFC) after
playing in the Michigan Rugby Union.
The 1990’s:
With old boys, Mike O’Brien and Brian
Cartier at the helm, the Rogues quickly advanced to the NRU 1st
division despite the extreme travel. They were a small club
with limited numbers, and were restricted to the NRU despite
their perennial superiority. The club was a regular contender
for the league title throughout the 1990s and in 1996 took the
NRU crown, but remained in that division due to them only
fielding one team.
1997 saw new recruitment and the beginnings
of a second ‘B’ side as well as women’s and junior programs, but
the strained finances caused difficulty leaving the team removed
from league rugby, almost ending rugby south of London.
As the new millennium approached, a new
executive based around individuals such as Akos Toszer, Brian
Gorman and Shaun Cushing, began to rebuild and reform the club
from the ground up.
The lack of high school rugby in the region
forced a reliance on converted gridiron players, imports newly
arrived in Windsor from elsewhere, and the help brought through
growth in he University of Windsor Lancer rugby.
The New Millennium:
2001 saw the Windsor team re-emerge at the
top of the NRU – narrowly missing promotion by a single try,
while the Lancer ruggers got their first taste of Ontario
University Athletics (OUA) competition as a varsity team.
In 2002, the Rogues took titles in both the
NRU ‘A’ and ‘B’ divisions, qualifying them for the Intermediate
Cup – the competition which dictated promotion to the Ontario
leagues. Success in the Intermediate competition guaranteed the
Rogues a berth in the Ontario Rugby Union (ORU) Keenan Division
(2nd div.) for the 2003 season.
After two seasons at the Keenan level,
where the Rogues lack of comparative depth and high travel
demands led to bottom half finishes, the club moved back to
branch union play. This time however, in 2005, the Rogues opted
to support a rebuilding South West Rugby (SWR) league, where
competition only allowed for a single men’s team. After
inconsistent competition and an 8-0 regular season campaign,
spoiled only by a championship game loss to Stratford, the
Rogues moved back to the more competitive NRU for the 2006
season.
During the time in the Keenan and SWR, many
advances were made elsewhere in Windsor rugby. Junior
initiatives began to arise with rugby available for high school
aged boys in Essex and girls in Belle River. Although growth
has been difficult, with sanctioning by the boards still not
forthcoming, interest in the sport at Ontario’s South Western
tip has started to flourish.
Two events central to this new-found appeal
were the move by the Rogues from their 12-year home at the
Fogolar Furlan club to the AKO field in East Windsor and the
hosting of an under-19 international game in June 2006.
By moving to the AKO facility, the club
returned to its roots and began a new relationship with the
fraternity which, for many years, has been a major advocate of
junior sport in Windsor. The move has also showcased the sport
to a new audience of young athletes – the AKO Fratmen football
team – who have taken a great interest in their new tenants.
June 2006 saw the first international rugby
game ever in Windsor, as the Canada U19 team took on their US
counterparts at the University of Windsor’s new stadium. The
event attracted a great deal of interest and also demonstrated
the Windsor rugby community’s ability to host such spectacles.
On the field, the 2006 NRU season was one
of ups and downs for the men’s sides as they dominated NRU
competition, losing just once all year, and falling shy of
another title due to administrative decision-making. Meanwhile,
the women struggled, as numbers dwindle, but showed promise that
the new year would bring with it a renewed zest for the game and
many new faces.
2007 saw the club elect its first female
president as Jo Follo took the reins from Shaun Cushing, and the
club enters an era of great optimism and potential growth.
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