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BROOK JONES \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n
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The Winnipeg Wanderers 100th anniversary was celebrated by Rugby Canada during halftime of the Canada-Zimbabwe match, fitting at the home of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on July 18. From left: Mayor Scott Gillingham, Wanderers president Brad Hirst, vice-president Dan Fardoe, secretary Turner Green and men\u2019s team head coach Joey Potter.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Longtime Wanderer Joey Potter said support away from the pitch was essential to the club\u2019s longevity.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo keep a nonprofit organization running for that long is a testament in itself,\u201d Potter said. \u201cIt\u2019s a testament to so many volunteers, so many people who have a passion for just being around \u2014 not just playing the game, but making sure that everything around the team functions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Potter grew up playing football, but had never played rugby before joining the club. In 1998, attending a social, Potter found all the motivation he needed to start.<\/p>\n
\u201cGood old Gordy Den was talking to some of my huge friends about coming out to rugby. He wasn\u2019t talking to me because I\u2019m five-foot-nothing, right?\u201d Potter joked. \u201cAnd none of those guys came out. I came out by myself and never left.\u201d<\/p>\n
Twenty-eight years later, he\u2019s still playing.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Potter\u2019s unique venture into rugby is one of a million stories that make up the club\u2019s history, immortalized through conversations over a pint after the final whistle.<\/p>\n \u201cTradition, right? That\u2019s what we\u2019re celebrating,\u201d said Potter, the longest-serving player on the team. \u201cThere\u2019s not a lot of things in Canada that make it to 100 years.\u201d<\/p>\n Potter now gets to pass those traditions on to a new generation of Wanderers, serving as a player-coach with the men\u2019s team. On match days, they wear the same green and white colours they wore 100 years ago. After games, they sing the Wanderers song over drinks at the clubhouse, just as their captain John A. Bulloch sang in 1929.<\/p>\n But perhaps the most important Wanderers tradition is their devotion to growing the game. It\u2019s certainly important to the near-33,000 fans at Princess Auto Stadium during Blue Bomber home games, or to the tens of thousands who watch from home \u2014 even if they don\u2019t know it.<\/p>\n The Blue Bombers are born<\/p>\n In the late 19th century, a new game emerged in Canada featuring modified British rugby rules. In 1909, Earl Grey donated the Grey Cup, to be awarded to Canada\u2019s best rugby football team. Popularity skyrocketed for the new game, which eventually became Canadian football.<\/p>\n In 1913, the Winnipeg Tammany Tigers were founded to compete for Earl Grey\u2019s trophy. After 16 years, the club folded.<\/p>\n Winnipeg was eager to field a new team, but short on players. That\u2019s when they called on the Wanderers.<\/p>\n The Wanderers answered the call, supplying enough players to roster a team. In 1930, the Winnipeg Football Club was born. Five years later, they became the first team from Western Canada to win the Grey Cup, beating the Hamilton Tigers 18-12 and inheriting the Blue Bombers nickname from journalist Vince Leah.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t FREE PRESS FILES<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n The Wanderers filled out the Winnipeg Football Club\u2019s roster that won the first Grey Cup for the city in 1935 and was the first team from Western Canada to win the Cup.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n On the July 10 home game, hosting the Toronto Argonauts, the Blue Bombers paid their respects, inviting the Wanderers to carry the Canadian flag onto the field for a pre-game ceremony.<\/p>\n One hundred and thirty Wanderers players and alumni carried out the nine-by-18 metre flag before being honoured by the Bombers organization. The Wanderers were the first group with enough people to carry the flag by themselves.<\/p>\n According to club president Brad Hirst, they were also the first team allowed to wear green.<\/p>\n \u201cWade Miller gave us that distinction because of \u2014 obviously \u2014 the resemblance to Saskatchewan,\u201d Hirst said, laughing.<\/p>\n On July 18, the Wanderers returned to Princess Auto Stadium where Canada hosted Zimbabwe in a World Rugby Nations Cup match.<\/p>\n At halftime, in front of 6,712 rugby fans, Mayor Scott Gillingham presented the club with the City of Winnipeg Community Service Award. Rugby Canada also presented an award commemorating the club\u2019s 100th anniversary.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t BROOK JONES \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Winnipeg Wanderers president Brad Hirst said the Winnipeg Blue Bombers allowed Wanderers green on the field when the club was honoured during the July 10 home game. Hirst was presented the City of Winnipeg Community Service Award by Mayor Scott Gillingham (left) during the Rugby Canada celebration of the club on July 18.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n It was a dream come true for Hirst. The Wanderers had finally received their flowers, and the secret was out.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was monumentally historic,\u201d Hirst said. \u201cKnowing that I was able to be a part of that moment in time, that moment in our club\u2019s history\u2026 it was just overwhelming to be a part of that.\u201d<\/p>\n The Wanderers have to make room in their trophy case with two more awards to add to a long and decorated history.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve had a lot of accolades throughout the years,\u201d Hirst said. \u201cThere\u2019s been a lot of successes, and we\u2019re here to just continue to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n Finding an identity<\/p>\n Somewhere in that trophy case is the 2004 Men\u2019s Manitoba Rugby Union Division One banner. The Wanderers men\u2019s team went 14-0 that year, becoming just the third team to record a perfect season in Rugby Manitoba\u2019s 128-year history.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll find several Wanderers alumni in the Manitoba Rugby Hall of Fame, like Neville Rhoda and Albert Shepherdson. Others like Stephanie Harland and Robert Turk represented Team Canada in international play.<\/p>\n Many talented ruggers have graced the pitch in Wanderers green, none greater than Mandy Marchak.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t REMY DE LA MAUVINIERE \/ THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Winnipeg\u2019s Mandy Marchak is tacked back in 2014 at the Women\u2019s Rugby World Cup. Marchak is one of the most famous Wanderers. She went on to represent Canada in five World Cups, winning silver in 2013 with the women\u2019s sevens team and in 2014 with the 15s. In 2011, Marchak was named captain of the national rugby sevens team, who went undefeated in four World Tournaments that year.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Marchak represented Canada in five World Cups, winning silver in 2013 with the women\u2019s sevens team and in 2014 with the 15s. In 2011, Marchak was named captain of the national rugby sevens team, who went undefeated in four World Tournaments that year.<\/p>\n Marchak hung up her boots in 2016, finishing her career with 60 international caps. In 2017, she was inducted into the Manitoba Rugby Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n Two years later, she was joined by teammate Shannon Ploegman Smith.<\/p>\n Ploegman Smith is another Wanderers star who enjoyed a decorated career. Growing up, long before she found rugby, she had a different sport on her mind.<\/p>\n \u201cI wanted to play hockey, my parents wouldn\u2019t let me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Ploegman Smith played every sport she could in school, planning to play basketball in university. In her first year, she took time off to rest her body.<\/p>\n During that year, Ploegman Smith\u2019s sister convinced her to try rugby.<\/p>\n \u201cI wanted to play hockey, my parents wouldn\u2019t let me.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMy sister played rugby and said, \u2018You\u2019ve got to do this,\u2019 and I joined,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd then it\u2019s just invigorating, exhilarating.\u201d<\/p>\n It was love at first try for Ploegman Smith. She spent 11 years with the Wanderers, serving as the women\u2019s captain or co-captain every year after her rookie season. She played Provincial Team rugby for nine seasons, also making two international caps with Team Canada.<\/p>\n Ploegman Smith\u2019s longtime Wanderers teammate Joadine Self wanted to play tackle football growing up. Attending Churchill High School in the 1980s, Self approached the school\u2019s head coach and asked to play.<\/p>\n That coach was Brian Dobie.<\/p>\n \u201cHe said, \u2018No, you cannot play tackle football, but I\u2019ll organize the next best thing,\u2019\u201d Self said.<\/p>\n A 2025 Football Manitoba Hall of Fame inductee, Dobie coached the Manitoba Bisons for 28 years, winning the Vanier Cup in 2007.<\/p>\n When Self asked to play, Dobie helped create one of the first women\u2019s high school rugby teams in the province. Self played a year of field hockey in university before returning to rugby, joining the Wanderers women\u2019s team.<\/p>\n \u201cGirls who were afraid to try something, or who thought that maybe they didn\u2019t fit into an athlete\u2019s type\u2026 rugby embraces it all.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cThe game draws you in\u2026 it\u2019s the physicality of it,\u201d Self said. \u201cAt that time, it was the most aggressive thing that we could have as an outlet. And man, was it fun!\u201d<\/p>\n Self spent 11 seasons as a player and coach with the Wanderers. After her playing career, she started a women\u2019s rugby team at St. Mary\u2019s Academy. When Self stepped down from coaching at St. Mary\u2019s, Ploegman Smith took over.<\/p>\n Both Ploegman Smith and Self grew up in a time when girls couldn\u2019t play certain sports, but rugby changed the narrative. As coaches, they got to pay it forward.<\/p>\n \u201cGirls who were afraid to try something, or who thought that maybe they didn\u2019t fit into an athlete\u2019s type\u2026 rugby embraces it all,\u201d said Ploegman Smith.<\/p>\n With more opportunities now for female athletes, Self said she\u2019s proud knowing the next generation\u2019s experience will be different.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, girls didn\u2019t play those things,\u201d she said. \u201cOur children\u2019s generation \u2014 they go, \u2018What do you mean? Why can\u2019t I play?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Building for the future<\/p>\n The Wanderers 100th anniversary weekend wrapped up at Maple Grove Rugby Park, featuring men\u2019s and women\u2019s alumni games and a men\u2019s league game, concluding with an evening social.<\/p>\n Taking in the action from the men\u2019s game was Wanderers alumni Jon Siddall, who began with the club in 1977. Looking out at the pitch, he recalled playing in much different conditions.<\/p>\n \u201cWe used to play on community club fields that were half gravel,\u201d Siddall said. \u201cWe used to walk around the field before the game, picking up the broken beer bottles off the field before we played.\u201d<\/p>\n In the 1980s, Winnipeg\u2019s rugby community imagined a new facility. It didn\u2019t take long before the clubs came together, pooling enough cash to lease a plot of land in St. Vital.<\/p>\n In 1983, Maple Grove Rugby Park was built. With five regulation rugby pitches and a clubhouse, it\u2019s the only rugby park of its kind in the province. The facility also hosts St. Vital Mustangs minor football and the Winnipeg Rifles of the Canadian Junior Football League.<\/p>\n \u201cRugby is such an incredibly great sport and promotes incredible friendships with people.\u201d<\/p>\n Now 66, Siddall said the project was a testament to the spirit of the game he loves.<\/p>\n \u201cI can remember going out playing the game, bashing heads as hard as we could with the other team, and then going to have a beer with them and laughing and joking,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Through rugby, Siddall built lifelong friendships with teammates and opponents alike. He said the weekend wasn\u2019t just about celebrating the Wanderers, but the sport as a whole.<\/p>\n \u201cRugby is such an incredibly great sport and promotes incredible friendships with people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n As the final whistle sounded on the men\u2019s game, the teams shook hands, iced their wounds, and went inside to cool off \u2014 perhaps over a pint. It\u2019s a tradition as old as rugby itself; a testament to a shared love for the game that transcends the pitch.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNotice of the Winnipeg Wanderers’ general meeting appeared in the Oct. 29, 1926 edition of the Winnipeg Free Press.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
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