Yon, Sabres celebrate rich rugby history

Twenty-five years ago, something magic came out of a little bit of old-fashioned peer pressure.

Brian Yon was hired for a term position in physical education at Souris School in the fall of 2001, and was teaching with Rhonda Young.

A product of Prince George, B.C., Yon had played a little bit of rugby in high school before concentrating on hockey. After three years skating in the now-defunct Rocky Mountain Junior Hockey League with the Creston Valley Thunder and Williams Lake Mustangs and then down in the United States, he had been away from rugby for about eight years.

“I happened to be coming into the gym heading to my office … and there was this large man in the gym coaching a middle-years team from Green Acres, and his name was Larry Townsend,” Yon said. “Rhonda must have mentioned to Larry that I had a bit of a bit of rugby background, because he wanted to get a rugby program going.”

Young introduced Yon to Townsend and the subject of rugby came up immediately. Yon didn’t think he wanted to be involved but went home that night and thought about it.

“Being a young teacher and full of piss and vinegar, I said to my wife (Monica) ‘I think I’m going to give it a go,’” Yon said. “I remembered how much fun it was for myself.”

And as it turns out, enduring too.

Yon and the team are holding a 25th anniversary celebration today in Souris, with more than 160 people attending a banquet in the evening and other activities earlier in the day.

EARLY DAYS

Yon, 51, began his rugby career after his high school shop teacher, Bruce Northrop, approached him about joining a new team that was being formed.

Yon had just finished his AAA hockey season, and since that had always prevented him from playing high school sports, he decided to try it. At an organizational meeting, the teacher showed a video of Canada’s national team watching as New Zealand did its famous pre-game ceremonial dance, a haka, in the 1991 World Cup quarterfinals.

“I thought that was pretty cool,” Yon said. “I went out to our first practice and didn’t have a hot clue what the hell I was doing, but it was fantastic. You get to tackle guys and run around so I ended up playing a couple of years with my high school team.”

When rugby re-entered his life as a young teacher, it didn’t him long to tackle the new challenge.

He approached the school administration, principal Bill Bailey and vice-principal Bob Young, and both were supportive of the concept.

But having the idea alone wasn’t enough, he needed players. Yon put out the call and girls responded in numbers.

“A lot of them were middle-years, Grade 7 and Grade 8, and we had some 9s, and a sporadic numbers of 10s, 11s and 12s,” Yon said. “The boys, we had mainly middle years kids but the only Grade 9 we had at the time was Andrew Ritchie. So what we did was we trained, we practised.”

It wasn’t just the kids learning the game. Yon had to get himself caught up, so he watched as much as he could on television and jumped at any professional development opportunities. Townsend, who formed the program at Crocus Plains, also helped out.

The girls team played four exhibition games in the spring of 2002 and it went well, but the short-staffed boys played just once.

But a seed was planted, and Yon, Townsend, Barry Dowsett, Sandy Donald, Kevin Chambers and Nancy Pitcairn decided to form a league the next year.

Yon was confident he had the numbers for a girls team, but unsure about the boys.

“When the call went out in the early spring, all of a sudden we had 20 guys,” Yon said. “Andrew got his brother Jim and they brought out their buddies, and the next thing you know, Westman High School Rugby was formed in 2003 and Souris fielded a varsity boys and varsity girls program and we haven’t looked back.”

While the passage of a quarter century certainly suggests there was a need for the program, Yon remembers that wasn’t the case in the early years. In fact, the program had some vocal skeptics, including another staff member.

If you know Yon, who is highly motivated, extremely competitive and no stranger to hard work, you can imagine how that went over.

“They were saying it would be just another flash in the pan,” Yon said. “They had apparently tried lacrosse and getting a team going the year before, and I took that as a challenge. I’m like ‘We’ll see about that.’ The rest is history. Twenty-five years later, with all the success we’ve had, it’s been fantastic.”

It also became something that went well beyond the school for him. He has guided many Rugby Manitoba teams over the years, and founded and coaches a women’s program at Brandon University.

“I just have a real passion for the game,” Yon said. “I fell in love with the game again. I was always a big hockey guy, but rugby was a second passion for me and it really came about with developing the Souris program.

“The other part of it is just seeing kids succeed. Rugby is such a welcoming game for people from all walks of life.”

That’s included kids who were at risk for various reasons and faced some challenges, and Yon thought the game helped instil confidence in them and taught them about commitment.

“I think sport is just a real positive tool to help young people succeed for later on in life,” Yon added.

SETTING A STANDARD

Like all high school coaches, Yon has an interesting quandary. Some athletes have gone on to post-secondary rugby and enjoyed tremendous careers, but the majority likely never touched another rugby ball after they graduated.

Somehow, he had to find a way to help both groups without alienating either one.

“The ones who want to take it a step further and want to play at a higher level, I’ll be supportive,” Yon said. “For the kids who don’t carry on with it, they’re just as important. I look at the successes that so many of them had. We try to teach them some of the standard life skills stuff, like be confident in yourself and holding players accountable and establishing a culture within a team and what the expectations are.

“I’ve had so many people say that rugby had such a positive impact on their life.”

His approach has led to a remarkably successful program. The girls won provincial titles in 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010, and the boys topped Manitoba in 2013.

That’s impressive for a giant reason. On the boys’ side, Winnipeg’s St. Paul’s has won 16 titles, with only six other schools victorious since 2003. The AAAA Crusaders come from a school of 600: Yon’s teams certainly don’t.

“We’re just a small little AA school on the verge of being A this year,” Yon said. “I think we were seven students over. At the time I was telling some of the kids — especially our girls team from 2003 to 2010 when we were dominant and really spoiled with so many great athletes — that you guys don’t realize how tough it is to win provincial championship, especially when we’re playing the big AAAA schools out of Winnipeg.”

Even with all that success, there were times when talented players walked away from the game after high school, which Yon admits was frustrating because he could see their potential. But he had to let them go.

“Whether they doubted themselves or just wanted to get on with life or work, each to their own,” Yon said. “It used to eat at me a little bit, but as I’ve gotten older and the program has moved on, I think I’m in a better place with it. It what it is. Some kids just love playing high school sports and then they just want to get on with life.”

MARKING THE OCCASION

The program has previously held anniversary events, with more than 100 people attending the 10th anniversary celebration in 2011. They also held one in 2016 but couldn’t hold the 20th anniversary event in 2021 because of COVID.

He said it’s meaningful to a lot of people to reconnect with that part of their lives.

“It’s part of building our culture,” Yon said. “Some people say ‘Ahh, it’s just a high-school team, but to me, it’s much more than that, and to a lot of people it’s much more. To see 160 people coming back this weekend for the 25th, it’s fairly important for them.”

At 11 a.m., things kick off with the unveiling of a sign recognizing the accomplishments of pro and national team player — and former Sabre — Emily Tuttosi. It will be located beneath the score clock at the field.

They will have a touch game of rugby after for anyone who wants to participate.

At 5 p.m., the doors open at the hall for the banquet. At 5:30, they’ll honour five great teams, with dinner from 6:30 to 7:30.

Following the meal, individual inductions take place into the Legacy Cup, which is the program’s Hall of Fame that recognizes both players and volunteers who have been impactful.

That will be followed by a highlights video, with the party beginning around 9 p.m., and lasting until 2 a.m.

“I’ve been excited for it since we picked the date,” Yon said. “It’s kind of hard to believe it’s here already … I’m just excited to see everybody.”

No doubt it will be a trip down memory lane for Yon, who was watching the game on TV 25 years ago to reacquaint himself. After a generation spent sharing rugby with his students, he can leave the television off now, and so can a lot of other people in the community.

“It’s funny to think back in 2002, nobody in the Souris area had seen a rugby ball before,” Yon said. “To see where we are now, it’s unbelievable.”

» pbergson@brandonsun.com