© the other press Continued from page 25 when the Canada development recruiters noticed him in rep team tri- als. Douglas’ flagship has to be the women’s Premier team that plays in the West Coast Women’s Rugby Association. Their modest beginnings are detailed on the Centre for Sport Recreation and Wellness website. Like the men’s side, the lady Blues began sometime in the 1970's. They took part in a Totem Conference seven-a-side tournament and despite a few incarna- tions of the women’s side of the club the first solid Douglas Women’s program didn’t evolve until the 90’s. In their rel- atively short existence, the women have become a dominant force in BC rugby. Most recently the women won back- to-back championships in 2001 and 2002 while narrowly missing the three- peat this year with a loss to the Capilanos team. Dave “Rocket” Pearcy has been the women’s voice in the col- lege as the team manager. He provides write-ups and statistics for the team. Rocket is also a Douglas traditionalist where the Blues play their regular sea- son games. Both fields are maybe a kilo- metre or two apart. A couple players have jumped ship going either way over the years. While they have very differ- ent reputations, Pocomo and Douglas play similar styles of rugby. They are similar in that recently they tend to lose more games than they win. While that’s a grievously unfair claim, there may be an underlying issue. The contents of this article could have spewed out the history of Pocomo, an older club, but the Other Press is a Douglas College newspaper and no such Pocomo College exists. My words may stray into the realm of blasphemous from here on in; please stick with me. Pocomo and Douglas play in almost the same areas. During the mid-seasons both clubs have suf- fered low number problems from poor organization, bad coaching or alien abduction. Because both clubs play first division rugby, anyone with ambitious an heart tends to head for the higher grounds of the Premiere Division. The most heinous solution, ever mentioned, e Sports and would love nothing more than to see the Blues club as a whole return to its former glory. Until that time the women have put numerous players on the BC rep sides, Canada development teams and the Canada women’s rugby team. Fly half Kirstie Smith, was named to the Canada roster earlier this year and received mention in last month’s issue of the Other Press. Kelly McCallum was the last player named to Canada from the Blues and played fly half for the club as well. The women run three sides coached by player/coach Ged Griffiths. The really gritty news has more to do with the men’s side. Club side or college side, the teams have been vagabonds in the City of New Westminster with not much more than the club’s history to maintain standing. Their club houses have been anywhere from 4th Street just off Columbia St. to Front St. to the Legion on 8th St. and now to the mod- ified garage that’s now home to the club’s memorabilia. There is a very social atmosphere in the club amongst to these problems is amalgamation. Bring the remaining collective talents of both clubs into one stronger organiza- tion. Two struggling first division teams could find salvation as a unified new club. That’s one theory. There are some uneducated few who believe Douglas is like an escaped sheep from the Pocomo flock and that eventually they will have to come back to join the shepherd. The truth of the matter is that Gert Van Niekerk created the Douglas Club. Even if there were no more Blues to play, there would be Van Niekerk start- ing over like he did in 1971. The South African born man admits that some of the original dozen players of the college side were Pocomo members at the team; they were college students who wanted to play in a college league. Pocomo has no ownership whatsoever of the Blues. Whether Pocomo and Douglas are destined to join forces to battle the forces of evil, there is much work to be done for improving either organization. The process of a merger is not an issue to be resolved over a few beers. There the players who have any history with the club. After practices and games they will share beer and stories. Given the recent relatively unsuccessful seasons on the field, one might criticize the club has become less focused on the game side of the sport. Van Niekerk says a club with proper organization encour- ages better play by being proactive to getting the best possible team out every weekend. It involves relentless calling - nagging even to make sure players don’t lose interest over the mid-season break at Christmas. Is that management side of the operation lacking in the Douglas camp? There may be nothing wrong with the club at all. It’s not uncommon for clubs to run through a cycle of good times and then not-so-good times. Last season began slowly with only two wins in the first half but some of the losses were closer than they appeared on the score sheet. Criticism should fall on the coaching staff and team captains then for not bringing the best out of the club at training sessions. Kinnaird has much experience working must be serious consideration for the preservation of the divided histories that exist. In a sport like rugby, the opponents to such an idea may react based on emotion alone. By no means does a unified Pocomo-Douglas team solve every problem. It doesn’t put an instant contender for the Premiership on the field. An amalgamation makes sense on some levels, but rugby as a sport takes pride in the history of its teams. It’s under- standable for a man like Niekerk to fight relentlessly against losing the identity he gave birth to so long ago. He’s not alone in his views but does that personal pride in the club come at the expense of not moving the club for- ward. Old boys and members of the Blues’ executive mutter and grumble when the merger issue comes up because it’s a difficult problem to resolve. There are some who believe that a merger will revive rugby in the area to make a more competitive prod- uct. Another idea exists that clubs go through their own lifecycles where one crowd will mature out of playing and it July 2003 with the wee lads, but the junior rugby system is less technical. Coach Kinnaird also handled coaching men’s practices. If a coach is blessed with the right group of athletes, they can make him look like a wizard of rugby. Serious pro- grams need consistent coaching. When Kinnaird missed practices, player/coach Mike Collins stepped in; he is a man with a much different coaching style. Still when between six and ten players are showing up to rainy practices, the onus falls back on management for not getting on the players enough for show- ing. The word Pocomo is somewhat of a dirty word when it comes to talking about Douglas and rugby. Pocomo shares nearly the same territory as Douglas, but plays in the Vancouver Rugby Union. A rivalry exists that I believe earns the comparison to neigh- bourhood dogs that spend their days and nights barking at one another. The Pocomo home field is Hume Park, where Douglas plays touch rugby dur- ing the summer and Queen’s Park is might take years before the youth fill the ranks. The future is undecided. By writing this article I may have put myself in hot water with the club but that’s nothing new. As for one last lingering fact—at what point did the Royals become Blues? All that can be said is the name Blues comes from a drinking song, “The Blues, the Blues! The Blues are here” In the interest of competitiveness, more teams are better. More teams are better, as long as they can stay competitive. For anyone interested in joining the Douglas Rugby Club, they can be found practising throughout the sum- mer on Wednesday nights at Hume Park in New Westminster. Questions or comments about this article, Douglas or Pocomo Rugby please feel free to contact the Other Press at dcsportsedi- tor@yahoo.ca. Keep an eye out for next month's issue of the Other Press and the “Top Five Best Of’s New West Lists.”