The Nanaimo Hornets season came to a close at the end of April. The Division 2 women's squad had the most successful campaign making it to the semifinals. On May 11 the season will culminate with the annual Hornets awards banquet. (Dreamstime)

By Dan Marshall

Season in Review

Nanaimo Hornets rugby season to close with awards ceremony

May 5, 2024 | 5:34 AM

NANAIMO — It’s the end of the season for the three teams in the Hornets rugby program.

In the 2023-24 campaign there was a men’s Division 1 and Division 3 side and a women’s Division 2 squad.

Hornets president Brad Marshall said the program as a whole is in good shape.

“We’ve still got lots to improve on. Everybody’s already striving to be better next year and our group did well to make us successful. I think we’re heading in the right direction and that’s important for the growth of rugby in Nanaimo.”

While there were mixed results on the men’s side the Division 2 women had a strong year losing out to the Comox Kickers 27-7 in the semifinals on April 27.

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“I think the women’s team has helped put rugby on the map for our club,” Marshall said. “BC Championships last year, unfortunately losing out in the semi finals this year, it speaks volumes for the growth of the sport as a whole and the diversity that the sport does have. I’m super proud of what they’ve achieved and I can’t speak more highly about what they’ve done in the club.”

Depending on the turnout the Hornets may look at fielding just one men’s team in the 2024-2025 campaign.

There were a lot of factors that made running two sides challenging.

“We were definitely caught in a situation where we had too many numbers for one team but not quite enough for two.”

Injuries, work and family commitments left the Hornets short players at times but there may be less of a strain due to travel next season with most or all games potentially on Vancouver Island.

The annual Hornets awards banquet is on Saturday May 11 at the clubhouse at May Bennett Pioneer Park.

Marshall says they have several onfield awards but two of the most important honours are for contributions the club as a whole.

“The ones that are important to me are the Old Boys Alumni award that will be handed out by the Old Boys to somebody who ends up becoming an alumni member of the Hornets. Somebody who has meant a lot to the Hornets rugby club in more ways than just playing. Then there’s the Club Person of the Year, someone who has gone over and above their role this season.”

The Hornets minis program is going until the end of May with nearly 120 kids out to the latest session.

Marshall is pleased with the development of the mini and youth sides with plans to expose the game to more younger players down the line.

“We’re really trying to focus on getting things going in the high schools. We’ve got some ideas for rugby next year, getting more kids involved like maybe doing a ‘Friday Night Lights’ thing where we get some schools involved hosting a game under the lights, just to generate a bit more buzz around it.”

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