The Yukon Rugby Federation (YRF) was originally formed as an unofficial club in 2015. At that time, it was not a registered society and existed mostly as a group of former rugby players in the Yukon who wanted to keep playing some form of rugby, according to Charlie Feht, the club’s president. The club was organized by a few of its members, who drop-in touch (non-contact) rugby sessions to anyone interested. They also put forth travelling senior men’s and women’s teams that would compete in Anchorage once a year, in June, for a full-contact Sevens Tournament action.
“As with most things, participation and involvement took a big hit during Covid,” said Feht. “Since then, we have been able to revive the Yukon Rugby Federation as an officially registered society and are now the sport governing body for rugby in the Yukon, operating as an affiliate member of BC Rugby Union.”
Feht went on to say that the modern YRF began out of a goal to provide meaningful rugby competition to youth in the territory.
“Working as a teacher, I thought that rugby Sevens could be a viable alternative sport option for high-school-aged kids to get involved with beyond the traditional volleyball and basketball seasons,” he said. “We began offering youth rugby at F.H. Collins in 2022, and once we started to gather some momentum, we quickly expanded to both Porter Creek and St. Francis for the 2024 season.”
Currently, the YRF’s main goals are to ensure that inter-high-school rugby competition remains sustainable and continues as a mainstay sport in Yukon high schools; that it provides junior-level rugby programming, throughout the summer, through a Team Yukon that will eventually compete in St. John’s at the Canada Summer Games in 2025; and to provide club competition and full-contact games for both men’s and women’s adult divisions throughout the year.
“Rugby seems to be the fastest-growing sport in popularity among youth in Whitehorse,” said Feht. “Within a two-year span, we expanded from having a drop-in rugby ‘club’ at FHC, with ten to fifteen players, all the way to holding the first-ever high-school rugby derby at F.H. Collins, with eight different teams across junior boys, senior boys and varsity girls divisions.
“We have also had great success at the rookie rugby level [ages 9 to 12]. We have been able to offer several six-week sessions of intro to rugby for this age group at the CGC, throughout the year, and it always reaches max capacity. We have heard from parents that their kids love getting involved with rugby because it is such a fun and fast action sport that anyone can get involved with.”
Beyond this, Feht said the club has also had significant interest from adults in the community who are trying rugby for the first time.
“The culture of rugby is that of fierce competition on the pitch, while having respect for one’s opponent,” he said. “You could travel to any rugby club around the world and see the same principles of inclusivity and respect at play. I think for this reason we have been getting lots of new faces out for our adult sessions. Rugby Sevens is a sport that you only need a handful of people to play, and I think the fact that it is full contact offers something to Yukoners that they can’t get anywhere else.
“The physicality of the game, paired with the camaraderie afterwards is something unique about rugby that makes it a sport many people fall in love with.”
Feht eventually would like to see youth rugby to become a main high-school sport that kids get involved with, and he said he would love for the YRF to be able to offer regular competition for both youth and adults. Another goal for the YRF’s future is to have competitive youth teams represent the Yukon and Canada Summer Games in 2025.
“Our hope is that all of this great momentum we have built around rugby is not just a flash in the pan,” said Feht. “Throughout the last twelve months, we’ve made incredible progress reviving rugby in the Yukon, and we hope to carry this momentum forward. I look at some of these other mainstay sports in the Yukon—like volleyball, that have school competition, club teams and representative territorial teams—and I hope that rugby can be the next big thing like that.”
The YRF invites anyone thinking about trying rugby to get involved, regardless of experience. To learn more and get involved, visit the YRF’s Facebook page at facebook.com/YukonRugby
