Make sure to come out to the club, grab a  pint and support your favorite nation.

Christmas Eve Carols

Centaurs/Family are invited to the Centaurs Rugby Club to come meet Santa & sing some Christmas Carols.
Meet Santa 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Christmas Carols 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Outdoor Touch Rugby – Boxing Day

Come out and run off some of that holiday cheer you have been indulging in this past month. Touch will be outside at the main pitch for 1 pm.

Gnome Bowl – New Year’s Day

All Centaurs, Members, NOBs and families are invited for the annual gnome bowl.
· Minimum age of players is 16 year old.
· Sign up time is 11:50 am.
· Games are from 12:00 pm to 3:00 pm
· Minimum donation to play starts at $5
All Proceeds go towards the Dave Burnett fund

Thanks for everyone showing up to last nights AGM. A more detailed wrap up of the AGM will be provided in the coming week. For now congratulations to our newly elected 2015 Executive board.

Andy Maunder – President

Nick Manz – Administration Director

Claire Piloud – Finances Director

Louis Hinshelwood – Social Director

Mark Chesser – Games Chair Director

Tim Morton – Senior Mens Director

Kaitlyn Sharp – Senior Womens Director

Barry Goldberg – Junior Development Director

This years winners are;

Thanks to everyone who helped our during the season and with the banquet and a special thanks to our emcee Cye Beechy.

Centaurs, Alumni and Supporters, All the fall tests WILL be shown at the club. Come down,spread the word and bring your friends‎ and enjoy top international rugby. Save money and buy the “all-in” package and get all 16 matches for $80 or pay $30 for the day. We appreciate your support that allows us to bring you‎ these games. ‎Go Centaurs!

The Fighting Squirrels Wheelchair rugby team is a newly formed wheelchair rugby team in Southern Ontario. They re now fundraising until December and would appreciate your assistance. We are trying to raise money for practice equipment, facility rental and rugby jerseys.

Please go to there site linked below for ways to donate their club. Also follow them on Facebook and twitter @FGSquirrels

www.fightingsquirrels.ca

The First Registration Night for the Dome League will be this Thursday upstairs prior to the dome.
Please bring your $150 to secure your spot in the 2013 dome league. All players MUST be paid in order to be eligible for the draft on November 7th.

The Dome is open tonight from 8-9 pm in Dome 1.
The dome league will again hold a DRAFT for teams after the registration night on November 7th.
The league will be capped at approximately 60 players to ensure equal playing time for all paid members.

If you are a certified referee and would like to be involved again this year please contact me.

CENTAURS ANNUAL WINTER DOME LEAGUE – REGISTRATION NIGHTS – October 30th & November 6th @ 7:30 pm

COST:      $150 (Includes Official Dome League Team T-shirts) NO PAY = NO PLAY
REGISTRATION TIME:        7:30 pm – Upstairs in the Clubhouse

The Dome League runs from Thursdays 7:55 pm to 8:55 pm from November to February with over 15 Weeks of playing time.
(No games on December 25^th or January 1^st)

Please review the rules attached below. Quick summary:

• Tackle is made by 2 hands which must touch simultaneously below the shoulders and above the knees
• After a tackle is made the offence MUST place the ball between the legs and the defence MUST retreat 1 meter (2 steps)
• The tackler may not make the next tackle or obstruct the scrum half
• The scrum half can run, but if tackled the ball is turned over to the defending team
• A score is made when the ball carrier crosses the defending goal line (touching the ball down when possible) – for safety reasons please immediately release the ball on the ground in the dead ball zone – DO NOT THROW/KICK OR RUN WITH THE BALL AWAY AFTER CROSSING THE LINE (will be enforced by referees)
• The scoring team must immediately retire to behind the halfway line before moving forward and may not cross until the attacking team has begun to advance
• If the ball is knocked-on, passed forward, etc, it results in a turnover. A legitimate “Dropped ball” is LIVE – again for safety on defense do not jump on loose balls or kick the ball.

Get your money in to secure your spot or let me know ASAP that you are interested

Although we fell short at the final hurdle regarding promotion to the Marshall League this season was a special achievement in many ways. To come from a position of not even having a team in the fall cup last year, to playing for the Intermediate Cup and promotion was a remarkable achievement for essentially the same squad of players as last year. The dedication and commitment shown by the players to practice and to the club’s schedule throughout the summer was fantastic, and it yielded results. Saturday’s game was a slugfest with two relatively similar teams competing ferociously for all the marbles. No quarter was asked or given and in the end the difference was a couple of tackles here and there. No one can doubt the commitment and the heart of the Centaurs this year, embodied in the wins at home versus Hamilton Hornets and also versus Barrie RFC last week. Many of the younger players matured greatly over the past season most notably Brendan Bryan versus Barrie. All in all a very positive start to a journey both for the new coach and for the senior men of the Centaurs RFC.

Jon Goldie

Burlington Centaurs continued their winning ways on Saturday afternoon with a 22-17 Niagara Rugby Union Cup victory versus Highland RFC who made the short trip down from Fergus on what turned out to be a spectacular day for rugby.

The men in blue and orange got off to a flying start coming out the blocks from the opening whistle putting together phase after phase and pushing back Highland into their own half. This pressure translated into points soon after as the ball was worked wide to 18 year old fullback Ryan Siddall who weaved his way outside the cover defence to score a wonderful try in the corner. More Centaurs pressure and more scything runs by Siddall would soon put wing Joshua Jones under the posts for a second try. A recent lack of match practice due to uneven scheduling was soon to take its toll whoever as the Centaurs play became scrappy, leading to numerous mistakes and often falling foul of the rather overly fussy referee. Highland came back into the game with three tries of their own in the second half but a final effort from captain Colin McLeod was enough to see the Burlington side over the finish line, adding to an already impressive 9 and 1 record for 2014.

Sunday September 7^th marked the final festival for the 2014 U8’s and U10’s of the Burlington Centaurs Rugby Club. The day started off at 9amwith the kids ready and eager to play an entire day’s worth of rugby.  However, this was a very emotional day for parents and children alike as it marked the end of a season and the great success of the club’s mini’s program. Parents got to see their kids improve since the beginning of summer and some of the players even got their very first try. The energy of this tournament was at an all-time high with parents cheering and tearing up while their kids played their hearts out.

I had the great pleasure of coaching the Under 8 team in addition to stepping in near the end of the season to coach the Under 10s. I have never seen teams play as well as they did. These teams exemplify the true meaning of teamwork and the meaning “friends through rugby friends through life.” A lot of the children came to me not knowing what rugby was, or the rules. Some of the under 8 kids even stepped up and were able to play in the Under 10 division for the festival.

The season started off as a challenge, coaching between 15-20 kids ranging 5, 6 and 7 year olds is not the easiest task.  Every practice we worked on their skill as well as played fun games to keep their interest alive. Other clubs had asked me how do I get my kids not to pick flowers or throw sand during practice. I would like to say that the key to it was that I ensured it was a scheduled practice with a mix of fun, however the reality is that these kids were here to not only play rugby and learn but to win and grow.

 I couldn’t have asked for a better season or a better group of kids to not only coach but to represent the future of the club.

Coach Chloe

For the 3rd year in a row the BURLINGTON CENTAURS RUGBY CLUB will be joining tens of thousands of Canadians to participate in the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure.

Everyone has been impacted by someone with cancer. Just this past month fellow Centaur Tim Morton’s mother was diagnosed with Breast cancer and she has already had surgery to remove the cancer. She is in pain and is fighting everyday to recover from the surgery. Tim wishes he was as strong as her. This year Tim, his family and the Centaurs will run in her honour.

The Run for the Cure is Canada’s largest single day, volunteer-led fundraising event dedicated to raising funds for breast cancer research, education and health promotion initiatives. This year’s event takes place on Sunday, October 5, 2014. 

The Centaurs will again be ordering BRIGHT PINK Team T-shirts for $10 please notify Nick Manz of your size.

We are proud to run as team and support the City of Burlington for this year’s event to support one another in our fundraising efforts. Please help out the Centaurs Rugby Club by joining our team or donating today!

Click here to view the team page for Burlington Centaurs Rugby Club

Burlington Centaurs clinched the NRU Division A title with a thrilling win over the Hamilton Hornets at Sherwood Forest Park on Saturday afternoon, securing a 45-21 and running in 7 tries in the process. Needing to win by 21 points over a tough and organized Hamilton outfit, the Centaurs got off to a perfect start with Zach Shurtleff latching on to a dropped catch and sprinting in from 50 metres to score under the posts which was easily converted by Paul Kelly. The lead didn’t last long however as Hamilton responded with three penalties and a try to regain the lead. The tit for tat nature of the game continued as strong Burlington pressure ended with Paul Kelly forcing himself over the tryline under the posts. At half time the Centaurs were up by 19-16 and the Division title seemed out of reach. With the wind behind them in the second half the Centaurs took full advantage, with fly-half kicking smartly into corners and playing the game in the opposition end. This strategy proved effective and led to further tries for Zach Shurtleff who completed his hat-trick in his new favourite wing position, and also for Nick Evans, Brendan Bryan and Denis Tomas. Hamilton were not going down without a fight however and with three minutes to go took advantage of a rare lineout in the Burlington half to score from the set-piece reducing the deficit to 19 points thus temporarily taking control of the number one spot in the division. The Centaurs however were not to be denied and in the final minute pressure on the Hamilton line lead to a mistake at their lineout which flank Louis Hinshelwood took full advantage of, diving on the loose ball to secure the final try and thus the game by a margin of 24 points, which was enough to secure the Centaurs their first NRU Division A title for many years.

Huge day for the Centaurs! 1st XV win the NRU league over Hamilton 45-21. 2nd XV won 24-10 and the Women won 17-12. 

Come on down to Sherwood Park and catch the last game of the season. We have a triple header with Senior Men and Women taking on heated rivals Hamilton.

On top of our usual Bavarian Garden and food provided by the dickens. We will also be having a Pig Roast. So make sure to come out to support the team but don’t forget your Hawaiian shirt!

Your Centaurs traveled down the QEW to play a strong Niagara Wasps side and came away with a couple wins. The men short alot of players due to injuries brought down 34 men for the 2 games. The 2nds team used there experience and fitness to there advantage by taking it to the Niagara 2nds 51 to 21. Outstanding performances by Fly half Zach Dundas and 8 turned 9 Andy Maunder.

The 1st team game was a battle with Burlington and Niagara trading trys early in the first half. The men dug deep and after what seemed like hours were able to defeat Niagara 17-12. This was a whole team effort including some key substitutions in the 2nd half with Mark Chesser and Josh Jones both coming in and making immediate impacts.  The men look forward to the last game of the season vs rival Hamilton with the winner taking home the league championship.