Rugby Ontario Summer Spotlight: Forged Rugby Alliance
- Aug 27
- 2 min read
Markham Irish, Caledon Cavaliers, Brampton Beavers, Vaughan Yeomen
[REPOSTED from Rugby Ontario] To create better opportunities for all athletes, the alliance believes that smaller clubs should not have to struggle independently when many clubs are facing the same challenges. By combining resources, coaches, players and ideas, Forged is able to give young athletes the rugby experience they deserve while retaining club identity.
The Forged program is built on the belied that growing the game of rugby requires developing all clubs - big and small! By protecting, supporting, and growing smaller community clubs, and resources, player pathways are increased across the board! Stronger local clubs create more entry points into rugby, making the entire rugby community stronger.
Noticing that it was becoming difficult to field full competitive teams at the youth and junior levels, Caledon Cavaliers and Markham Irish came together to form the Forged Rugby Alliance. In the years since its creation, the Brampton Beavers and Vaughan Yeomen Rugby clubs have also joined the alliance.
Forged doesn't try to erase individual club identity, but instead highlights the connection that each player has with their home club! One way they are doing this is with the creation of the Forged Alliance jerseys. These jerseys combine the colours, logos, and designs of all four forged clubs to represent collaboration, club identity, and partnership.
“Each club contributes and benefits from the ability to leverage resources - players, coaches, field space, clubhouse, etc. The key is to be flexible and understand that as a true partnership, we all succeed of fail together.” - Darcy MacArthur, Markham Irish President
“We are not asking [athletes] to give up their club identity; we are showing them that different clubs can stand together and collectively create opportunities that may not otherwise exist.” - Mike Iacovelli, Caledon Cavaliers President
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