Club Day matches this Saturday to cap off the Balmy Beach Rugby Club’s 70th anniversary celebrations
Local sports fans can help the Balmy Beach Rugby Club celebrate its 70th anniversary on Saturday, June 7, as the club hosts a number of matches at the Tubs & Gee Gage Field in the Beach.
Saturday’s Club Day celebrations see will see four men’s rugby games and one women’s taking place at the rugby field located on Emdaabiimok Avenue (formerly Lower Coxwell Avenue) north of Lake Shore Boulevard East and south of Eastern Avenue.
The Balmy Beach Rugby Club is celebrating its 70th anniversary with a number of events this week. On Wednesday, June 4, there was a gala dinner at the Balmy Beach Club. On Thursday, the rugby club’s alumni hosted a golf tournament in Ajax; and on Friday, June 6, there is a Pub Night at the Balmy Beach Club.
The final celebration event will be the Club Day matches this Saturday. The rugby action begins at 10 a.m. with Balmy Beach’s Toronto Rugby Union team hosting the Mississauga Blues. At noon, the Balmy Beach women’s team will be hosting Brampton.
At 1 p.m., the Balmy Beach’s Ontario Rugby Union (ORU) III Senior men’s team hosts the Oakville Crusaders. At 2:30 p.m., Balmy Beach’s ORU II Senior men’s team plays Oakville. The Club Day wraps up with a match between the Balmy Beach ORU I Senior men’s team taking on Oakville at 4:30 p.m.
Along with the full day of rugby action on June 7, Club Day will also feature a food truck from Tropical South selling Cuban sandwiches and other treats, and the Radical Road Brewery providing beverages. Those attending are also invited to the “top of the hill” at the Tubbs & Gee Gage field where they will find the Alumni Peanut Gallery captained by Kevin Quinn.
For more information on the 70th anniversary events, please visit https://balmybeachrugby.com/70th-anniversary
The Balmy Beach Rugby Club was founded in 1955 and has gone to become one of Canada’s most successful rugby clubs. The senior men’s team holds the most provincial titles of any club in Ontario, including the McCormick Cup and Gee Gage Cup.
The rugby club was launched when Dennis Fletcher and local sports figure Ted Reeve discussed bringing rugby to the neighbourhood. Reeve introduced the sport to community members, who quickly embraced it and formed the club’s first rugby team in 1955. Some of that first team’s surviving members will be attending this week’s 70th anniversary celebrations.
