Reviving the Trail Rugby Football Club – Cory Walker’s Story
I love this story on several levels, raising the profile of rugby in BC, growing it outside the traditional mainland/island areas and featuring in a company in-house publication. Cory played at Velox/Westshore and when he moved to Trail he worked to revive the rugby club. He works at Teck Metals (part of Teck Resources) and they ran the story in their in-house publication “After Ours” and we’ve reprinted it below.
Cory expressed “It would be nice to have more coverage of the rugby going on in the interior/okanagan/north (would love some more recruits!).” So we’ll do our part, go out to Trail and play rugby. Check out the Teck Resources job postings on Linkedin – for example, at the time of writing they’re looking for a Computer Science grad (or equivalent) to be Group Leader, Applications and Information in Trail (also Superintendent Environmental Programs, Apprentice Steam/Pipefitter, etc). Where else can you get a house for $500k in BC, even some in the $300k-400k range and condos for $170k. If you do go out to Trail to play rugby this summer, drop me a line for a follow up story.
Good luck to Cory and the Trail Rugby Football Club. If you need his contact info, email me, editor@bcrugbynews.com
from Teck Metals Ltd in-house publication “After Ours” (with permission)
Trail has long been known for its hockey roots, with the Trail Smoke Eater legacy spanning nearly a century. But would it surprise you to know Trail has another sporting legacy that has been around nearly as long? While the Trail Colonial Rugby Club was officially formed in 1966, rugby in Trail can be traced back to the 1920s. Little is known about those early days of Trail’s rugby tradition, but the heartbeat of that legacy continues today, in large part due to the passion of one person, Cory Walker.
The Trail Colonial Rugby Club, once a thriving part of the community and winner of the Kootenay Cup in 2011, officially incorporated in 1966, but faded away in 2019. Despite its disappearance from the provincial rugby scene, the memory of the Colonials lingered in Trail’s collective consciousness. That changed in 2024, when Cory Walker, a metallurgy technician at the SLP, alongside a group of passionate rugby enthusiasts, reignited the flame.
Cory states, “I grew up playing rugby in Victoria, and it has been a pillar in my life. Coming to Trail, I wanted to share that feeling of community and rebuild the Trail Rugby Club.” Hoping to inspire the next generation of ruggers and build from the ground up, Cory and his wife coach mini rugby camps through Trail Recreation for kids aged two years and up.
What began as a modest touch rugby gathering in Upper Sunningdale quickly grew into a movement. With just three to five players showing up in the early weeks, the group’s persistence paid off; this year they officially registered with BC Rugby as the Trail Rugby Football Club and played their first full season in six years.
The Trail Rugby Football Club (Trail RFC) consists of a men’s 15s team and a women’s 7s team, which means there are seven players per side, rather than the usual 15. The men’s side, with Cory serving as head coach, demonstrated some early success, with a pre-season win against Penticton. While the rest of the season’s results did not fall in the “win” column, success was highlighted with steady growth and development, as the fledgling team found its footing again against strong competition in the Fernie and Cranbrook teams. Kyle Beeton, an electrician in Lead South, started the season injured, but came back in the second half to finish strong. Some alumni players, such as Ryan Johnson, DJ Packer, and Bryan Lauzon, returned to play a few games and pass the torch to the younger generation, with Bryan winning Player of the Match during the last game of the season. Even the enigmatic former leader of the Colonials, “Uncle” Ray Nelson, could be found lurking on the sidelines at the home games.
