Pictou County Rugby Club celebrates 50th anniversary

The Pictou County Senior Rugby Club celebrated half a century of playing in Pictou County on Saturday with a special dinner, dance and fellowship held at the Stellarton Fire Hall.

The rugby club fielded its first team in 1971, but the anniversary was celebrated a year late because of COVID’s continuing impacts last year.

“We still wanted to appropriately celebrate the event, so it made more sense to wait a year so we could do it in true Pictou County rugby fashion,” said Shelby Macdonald, club president.

Approximately 160 people registered for the event representing teams from various eras.

Macdonald said a big reason for the event was just to get everyone together ”to truly pay tribute to everyone who has donned a green jersey over the last 50 years or contributed in any way on or off the field.”

She said the club has seen tremendous growth over the years.

“Right now there's more opportunity than ever, especially at the grassroots level.”

The club started as a senior team but now includes a senior program, a junior program and a rookie program.

"We had 85 kids, between the ages of five and 14 playing rugby this summer,” she said. “That was unheard of when this began in the ’70s.”

Combined with school rugby, the Pictou County program has helped foster talent. Many athletes from the county have since gone on to play at the university level.

Dana Lee was one of the former players who came back for the anniversary night.

“It’s good to see some guys haven’t seen in years,” he said.

Andrew Bell is another person who came to talk about the old times.

"It feels really cool," Bell said of having everyone together. “I knew I really wanted to come to see all the faces I haven’t seen in a long time.”