Calgary Herald June 19, 2000
Relief for battered and bruised
by Todd Kimberley
It's a game that gives these old war horses another chance at coltish glee. After five years of almost complete obscurity, the game of touch rugby is starting to gain popularity in Calgary particularly among the battered and bruised members of the international rugby brethren. The Calgary Touch Rugby Association operates a year-round, Friday night drop-in session currently held at Calgary Rugby Park, in association with the Calgary Rugby Union much to the relief of a nucleus of expatriates from Australia New Zealand, England and South Africa who've absorbed more bone-jarring tackles than they care to remember. "I broke so many bones I had to give it up," said Paul Fanelli, who formerly played representative rugby league in Australia. "This is the next-best thing." Added association president Geoff Jenkins, a veteran of the Cornwall county rugby wars in England: "Quite a few guys here don't have the inclination to take the heavy hits, the scrunching tackles, anymore. "This game allows us to work up a thirst in a legitimate manner, and tell lies about when we used to be great." Touch rugby which features seven players per side on a field 70 metres by 50 metres, and was contested by 36 countries at the last World Cup in 1999, won by the host Australians doesn't allow scrums, line outs or kicking, and instead emphasizes deft movement, passing and ball handling. "It's a fast game and it's quick-thinking," said Fanelli. "Mentally, it's very similar to squash you've got to be alert. It's trying to create spaces with quick ball play, whereas rugby is a grind." Attendance is up about 60 per cent over the past year, with a total of nearly 100 participants in recent months and enough of a showing at the weekly 6 p.m. gatherings to field two games simultaneously. The sudden influx of numbers has the association thinking big. The CTRA, with sponsorship from Big Rock Brewery; will host Canada's first invitational touch rugby tournament September 2, when it hopes to draw between 10 and 20 teams from as far away as Vancouver and Toronto. Jenkins and vice-president Colin Beresford are also mulling over the possibilities of forming a team to repre-sent Canada at the next World Cup in 2003 at Japan. "It's a fulcrum year for us, said Beresford, who takes the weekly sessions indoors to The Infield from late September through March. "Two years ago, we were struggling to get people out. Now we're getting more than enough. "We're beginning to think more broadly about where the game should be going, whether it's forming a league or expanding into the schools." And touch rugby isn't just for the putting old war horses out to pasture, either. Rugby neophytes, including women and teenagers, are an integral and part of the mix. "It's given me a new lease on life," noted Jenkins, 51. "I came out of retirement from full contact last year with the Canucks, and we won a provincial Old Boys' championship." For more information on local touch rugby, call Jenkins at 258-5868 or checkout the CRU's Web site at www.calgar-yrugby.com
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