United Rugby Club - Pocomo History

Pocomo History

Over forty years ago a group of enthusiasts led by Gordon Eddy and Jack Cole met at the Port Arms Hotel and decided to establish a rugby club outside of the traditional Vancouver area. The idea was to foster the development of the game in the Port Moody, Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam; thus the creation of the Pocomo Rugby Club.

Vic Coulter (1917–2001) was chosen to be the first President and the Club has experienced a relatively health existence ever since its 1963 inception. Although the Club has never had access to significant finances, industrious members have done what was necessary to persevere.

Under the Direction of Coulter the Club continued to grow and set as a goal the dissemination of the gospel of rugby throughout the Fraser Valley. In order to do this the Club contacted all the Secondary Schools form Port Moody to Chilliwack and team members organized clinics in order to get recent graduates interested in club rugby. The Club established the annual Outriders Trophy with Richmond Rugby Club, who at the time was the only other club beyond Vancouver city.

All the hard work proved to be successful and in 1973 Coulter and Pocomo helped organize the Fraser Valley Rugby Union. The Fraser Valley Rugby Union launched with thirteen clubs, which included no less than five from the U.S. A few fledgling clubs such as Port Coquitlam, Pitt River, Maple Ridge and the U.S. sides have come and gone, only to occasionally resurface. Pocomo continued to grow as one of the pillars of the Fraser Valley and by 1983 they would field four senior men’s teams. The Club has won numerous league championships as well as various members were given the Vic Coulter Service Award, for their contribution to rugby in the Fraser Valley.

In 1985, Pocomo introduced their first Women’s side and defeated S.F.U., who hadn’t lost a match in three years. This first Women’s program didn’t last long and by 1988 the program was temporarily shut down. Sticking with their roots, Pocomo has continued to foster rugby in the high schools of the Tri-Cities for both boys and girls. Club members volunteer in both middle school and high school as coaches, referees and managers. The Club has also donated a trophy and organized an annual tournament for the top senior team in the Tri-Cities. This hard work has continued to prove successful and in 2000 Pocomo restarted a Women’s side who earned the 2nd division provincial championship. With this success, the women’s side moved up into the 1st division league, in 2005 they added a second women’s team and managed to win the 1st division Provincial Cup and the opportunity for promotion into the BC Provincial Premier League.

The Club heralds a strong tradition of players and alumni who are hard, dedicated workers. Club honours began when Bill Christie received the Stroess Trophy in 1966, since then members such as Gordon Eddy, Bill Turpin, Ken Yates and Ian (Onion) Robertson have gone on to win this award. The 2nd division earned the player’s first honours winning Dunbar Trophy in 1968.

With the introduction of the Premier league in 1997, Pocomo and several other clubs faced new strains and challenges. Pocomo saw over 20 players retire or defect to Premier clubs, this forced the club to be reduced to two senior men’s teams. However, they still fought hard and in 1999, Pocomo returned to the Vancouver Rugby Union where it made it to the 2nd division finals. The continued growth in Premier clubs and premier rugby forced Pocomo to make some difficult decisions and in 1998 Pocomo entered into amalgamation talks with S.F.U. and later Douglas but were unsuccessful at working out the particulars.

Over the next few seasons Pocomo fought hard, but to limited success and in 2005, Pocomo once again was talking with S.F.U. about merging clubs. At the same time a delegation of Douglas members were quietly talking with some of the Pocomo Executive regarding a similar merger. At the end of the season the Pocomo and S.F.U. voted but both were shy of the required majority. Formal talks with Douglas began and a vote was held shortly after. The clubs voted with large positive majority from both sides.

History provided courtesy of United Rugby Club executive member