BANFF – For years, Mark Hooper was a bruiser on the Banff rugby pitch – who’d transition duties from player to head coach, even with blood running from his nose.
“Hoops” was the ironman for Banff men’s rugby team and held many hats, including team president and media liaison, but now it’s time for the next generation of Banff Rugby Football Club (BRFC) to take the reins and lead the club into the future.
“It was kind of my baby for nine years and it’s my turn to step back and hand it off to Oli (McKay), Lee (Garrett) and Darrell (Cranny),” said Hooper about the recent change at the club.
McKay is stepping up as club president, Garrett is assigned as treasurer and Cranny is the new secretary.
McKay’s glad to accept the new role and looks forward to continuing on the tradition of Banff rugby, now in its 42nd year.
“Realistically, you won’t see any changes from the outside view,” said McKay. “I’ve been here 10 years now, and had Hoops as a mentor … Last year, I started involving myself in the executive, getting a feel for it, and it was a natural progression for myself – coaching the high school girls program and having background with executive work.”
The men’s team has an immediate opening for its head coach position, and the new executive announced plans are in place to resurrect the women’s rugby program under coach Garrett.
As always, BRFC is seeking new players and still plans on keeping up with community involvement and fundraising efforts.
McKay also spoke to the longstanding lobbying to Calgary Rugby Union (CRU), the league Banff plays in, regarding its three import player limit.
McKay’s hopeful there are opportunities for “alternate avenues” in the future.
“Our hope is to modify it, so after one season you’re recognized as a Canadian player,” he said. “I don’t foresee any changes this season, but it has been put forward to Rugby Alberta and Calgary Rugby Union.”
BRFC has always been a black sheep in the league due to its higher rate of international players joining the team based in the resort mountain town.
In 2017, there was a dispute between BRFC and CRU over import players, which caused the league to ban the local club from the playoffs due to its use of import players in division 3 action.
Last season during the provincial finals, Banff was a man short of a full 15, after opponent the Edmonton Clansmen refused them the right to field an extra import player.
Prior to the match, Banff was granted special exemption to field the player by both the Calgary and Edmonton rugby unions, on the condition its opponent agreed.
The Clansmen denied it and Banff lost the match, 20-12.
The rule clash is the same that guys such as Hoops took on, and despite not being shoulder to shoulder on the frontline, Hoops “can’t go cold turkey” on the sport he started playing at age four in England.
“My passion has always been rugby,” Hooper said. “I’ll always be a point of reference and I am looking forward to just playing, putting on the boots and running around like a maniac and shouting at the younger players to get involved when I’m a little bit gassed, but yeah, I’ll still be around.”
The new CRU season kicks off in May.
For more information, email [email protected] or visit the Facebook page Banff Rugby Club.
