MONTREAL – The Westmount Rugby Club celebrated their 140th anniversary on Saturday by hosting three games at Westmount Park.
Two of the games saw the men’s teams compete, but one game was played by the women’s team who were defending their perfect season.
They won against Trois-Rivières, five tries to one.
The women’s team has been competing for just four years, but they have improved drastically.
Megan Konz recounts a time when the future of women’s rugby at the Westmount club seemed uncertain.
“I was one of the first women to join the team four years ago,” Konz said. “I was here when we were struggling to even field 15 players, so for me to be here and see us succeeding and doing so well is actually really special.”
The success of the women’s team has also spurred the men’s two squads.
When Joe Pogson joined the club three years ago, the men’s team also faced a similar dilemma.
“When I first started we were struggling for numbers, didn’t really have enough for two teams and last season we just got about enough,” said Pogson. “This season we’ve really swelled in numbers and quality of rugby.”
Pogson has since become president of the club and Henri Rozenblet, a member since 1972, credited Pogson for turning their fortunes around.
“I’m very proud of the accomplishment of our new directors of the club, they’ve grown our membership from 30 to well over a hundred,” said Rozenblet.
One of Westmount Rugby’s goals is to own a new club house.
“One of our old boys, Henri Rozenblet, has got a large collection of pictures and stories about the club in the past,” Pogson said. “We really want to have a building that would display of all these and really show off the history that we have.”