The Varsity Blues men’s rugby team, along with four other OUA teams, wore orange laces during its last two games of the season.
A symbol of involvement in non-profit organization Gainline Africa, the laces show the team’s commitment to establishing after-school rugby programs at nine high schools across the post-conflict region of Gulu in Uganda.
“It came as a way of raising awareness through everyday [play]; there is unity if all the team members wear those laces,” says David Marchesseault, founder of the organization and a Blues player.
Gainline Africa was born last year when Marchesseault contacted rugby players at both the provincial and national levels. “I wanted to show that this sport has the potential to be more than [just] rugby,” he says. “We all benefit from it physically but also psychologically; rugby helps [you] through tough times, and [that’s] one of the reasons I wanted to start Gainline.”
Some of Marchesseault’s friends at University of Western Ontario, where he was studying at the time, jumped on board, as did the coach of the Blues men’s rugby team, Paul DiCarmine.
Most members of the Blues knew that Marchesseault and coach DiCarmine were involved with a non-profit organization. As the season progressed, a couple of players started to wear the laces, and soon enough, the whole team got on board. “A lot of the guys have come asking questions because they [understand] what we’re saying about rugby: we’re more than [just] rugby players,” says Marchesseault. “Anyone can relate to the fact that sport has helped [them] through tough times. It’s also another way kids can learn. In the end, I think rugby is a tool to promote education and health.”
The message resonates with the whole Canadian rugby community: though they are still waiting for official registration as a charity, Marchesseault and his team have already gotten the national rugby teams involved in the effort. “I pitched [Gainline] to the captains of the seven and fifteen men’s teams and they accepted … Gainline as their charity of choice.”
The organization also garnered publicity when some members of the team walked across St. George campus in Gainline hoodies and laces. As the founder explains, “There has been interest in getting involved from people across campus because the organization is not about playing rugby. We go to Uganda every year to help those kids, and four of the eight people we took there this year had never played rugby before.”
To DiCarmine, the effort added a new dimension to the season-ending games for the players. “The season did not go the way we wanted, and I think Gainline made the team realize there is a lot more to rugby than winning the game. At U of T, we are a family, part of a worldwide community. Ultimately, you want to do more to give back than [just] play rugby.
“Gainline speaks to what we are trying to do as a team because its aim is to create a community in this post-conflict region of Africa.” And of course, it is also a good way to reinforce the Blues’ team spirit.
The work with Gainline might also help the rugby team with recruitment. “It is not our goal, but it is also a good way of catching people’s interest and [making] them consider joining the Blues,” says coach DiCarmine. Here’s hoping a lot of people join the team, whether with Blues or Gainline Africa.
With files from www.gainlineafrica.org
