A Prince George woman is one of six people who will receive up to $2000 in funding from Rugby Canada’s 2023 Women in Leadership Fund.
Katie Gordon is the organizer and treasurer of the city’s 1697 First Responder rugby team.
The 1697s competed at the 2023 World Police and Fire Games in Winnipeg and played against teams from the Hong Kong Police, Australia Police, and Saskatchewan First Responders Club.
Gordon told MyPGNow.com that the program has ballooned rather quickly.
“The 1697s’ has evolved into a youth program, we have a first responder program and have up to 10 coaches. It’s been a great show of growth of the program itself and the community buy-in.”
“When I went to high school, everyone had a rugby team. It was kind of one of the sports everybody did play and now it has been absent for several years, especially through COVID and we are slowly growing that back. In Prince George, it was kind of just BC High School sports and now I am exploring this whole new realm of BC Rugby there are provincial and regional championship tournaments, they have regional tournaments and we can build out in the entire community and celebrate those athletes.”
Gordon is also a huge fan of how inclusive the sport is and that everyone has a place when they hit the field.
“A big point of messaging is that rugby is for every body. There are lots of sports where you have to be built a certain way to be able to go all the way in competition. In rugby, it doesn’t matter if you are 5’2 300 pounds, or 6’4 120 pounds, there is a place on the field for you.”
“Everybody brings something different to the table and that diversity is celebrated throughout the game. That is exciting and it shines through in our youth program – we have kids who are competitive soccer players, wrestlers, and football players and then we have kids who have never thought of engaging in sports before and have come and checked out rugby and are now some of our most dedicated players.”
The goal of the funding is for women to pursue development that will enhance their ability to lead from within the sport.
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