The Red Deer Titans Rugby Club announced this week they would be hosting the four nations 2015 Women’s Rugby International Super Series on July 1st at their clubhouse in Red Deer County.
The tournament will feature Canada, England, New Zealand and the United States with the game being played over three double headers in Calgary, Red Deer and Edmonton from June 27th, July 1st, and July 5th.
The Red Deer based game will see the Canadian national rugby team go head to head against the U.S. national team. The New Zealand national team will go up against the English national team as well.
President of the Titans Rugby Club, Neil Hagerty said the U.S. versus Canada match up will be the highlight of the night as the game is taking place on Canada’s own national holiday.
Hagerty added the decision of which City would host the additional games outside of Calgary and Edmonton came down to Red Deer and Lethbridge, similar to the decision earlier this year as to which city would host the 2019 Canada Winter Games.
When he approached the City to receive approval and support for the event, they were thrilled to again be in competition with the southern city and even more thrilled to hear Red Deer’s bid was approved.
“Mayor (Tara) Veer has been extremely supportive of the event – she has tweeted about it and said she would be happy to help in any way she can,” said Hagerty. “The City puts a strong emphasis on making sports and athleticism a part of Red Deer and they were in full support of us hosting the event, especially when I told them who the other city was that we were bidding against.”
As the Titans’ field is located west of Gasoline Alley, it puts the Club in the territory of Red Deer County to which they also had to seek approval.
“The support from the County and Councillor Jean Bota in particular not only for this event, but also the Club in general has been monumental,” he added, “She’s always looking out for us and trying to help us in any way she can.”
The Club hopes to see around 1,500 Central Albertans come out for the two games to show their support, as well as expect to see around 100 volunteers accumulate for the event.
Hagerty added the event would be a huge help in raising the profile of rugby not only in Red Deer and Central Alberta, but Canada as well.
The Titans have been in Red Deer for around 40 years and continue to be actively involved in the community through various events.
On May 4th the Titans club will be participating in their annual Kids Help Phone Walk so Kids Can Talk event which raises funds and awareness for the free, anonymous professional counseling and support service for youth mental and emotional health.
Their regular season starts around the same time with an average of between eight and 10 home games.
This year the Titans will be fielding two men’s team, a women’s team, and a number of youth teams and invite anyone with an interest in the sport to get involved by visiting their web site at www.titansrugby.com.
The games are set to kick off on July 1st at the Titans Rugby field with New Zealand versus England at 4 p.m. and Canada versus the U.S. at 6:30 p.m.
Hagerty added there will likely be a variety of local entertainers involved and talks are currently in place with the City to arrange for busing to Bower Ponds for patrons of the game to watch the Canada Day fireworks.
jswan@reddeerexpress.com
