Weekend Schedule for Rugby in BC, Week 1 of Coastal Cup and the Carson Family Tree Explained – Keeping Track of Seven High-Level Players
I remember when keeping track of Tait or Tate when referring to the high performance coaches, John and Doug, caused some editorial grievance. Child’s play now. There’s a new editorial conundrum looming, keeping track of the Carson’s. There are 7 of them playing in BC and most of them are on track to play for Canada, with two already capped at the senior level in XVs and 7s.
Most of them have represented Canada at the U20 level and one is currently on the Canada U20 roster. It’s not beyond belief that we will see a senior XVs team with 5 Carson’s on the roster. Donald has been capped already, Frank and Nick have been invited to selection camps, Jack is currenly on the national 7s team amd Hillyard is currently on the Canada U20 team. David was Canada U20 in 2019.
Here’s the breakdown, it started with Frank Carson (grandfather), as explained by the three brothers (fathers) Donald Sr., James Sr., and Leonard, owners of the Carson Automotive Group. “Our father, the late Frank Carson, joined Ford as a clerk in 1952, and rose through the ranks to become a Mercury, Lincoln, Meteor Product Manager. He opened his first dealership, Suburban Motors, in Victoria in 1961, and became the first Ford Credit Canada dealer in 1962. He, and subsequently his sons Donald, James, and Leonard Carson, grew the family enterprise to include six Ford dealerships: two more in Victoria, as well as three in Vancouver, Burnaby, and Squamish.”
The Carson Automotive Group have the following dealerships, Suburban Motors Victoria, Suburban Lincoln Victoria, Jaguar Victoria, Land Rover Victoria, Glenoak Ford Downtown Victoria, Glenoak Ford Westshore, Victoria Mitsubishi, Pacific Mazda Victoria, Coastal Ford Burnaby, Coastal Ford Vancouver, Coastal Ford Squamish.
With the background out of the way, here are the current crop of Carson players and their family connections.
Frank Carson father to Donald Sr., James Sr., Leonard
Donald Carson Sr father to:
1. Donald Carson (UBC, Canada)
2. Frank Carson (UBC, Canada long list)
3. Hillyard Carson (Canada U20)
James Carson Sr father to:
1. James Carson (UBC / UBCOB Ravens)
2. David Carson (UBC, Canada U20)
3. Jack Carson (Canada 7s)
Leonard Carson father to:
1. Nick Carson (UVic, Canada long list)
The research on the Carson’s was prompted when I received the UBC lineup for this weekend’s Coastal Cup match. It had last names only and at #4, #6 and #7 were Carson, Carson and Carson. We’ll post the Coastal Cup match rosters later in the week, and yes we now have the first names, stay tuned.
In the meantime here is the schedule for rugby in BC this weekend. The first full weekend of action. It was gleaned from various sources, the BCRU and club announcements. Most of the games are exhibition except the Coastal Cup games (in bold) and the CanWest match.
Saturday 25th September
Womens’ Matches
11:00
Meraloma v Vancouver Thunderbirds
Referee: Brittany Blackford Venue: Connaught Park Comment: Div 1
12:00
Vancouver Rowing Club v Scribes
Venue: Brockton Oval Comment: Div 1-2
13:00
Capilano v Burnaby Lake
Venue: Klahanie Comment: Div 1
Mens’ Matches
11:30
U Of Victoria v Vancouver Island Tide
Referee: Visiting Referee 1 (Pending) Venue: U Of Victoria – Wallace Field Comment: U20
Capilano v Burnaby Lake
Venue: Klahanie Park Comment: Div 2
Meraloma v Vancouver Rogues
Referee: Michael Landiak Venue: Connaught Park
Comment: Div 3
12:30
Kats v Scribes
Referee: CLINT LEMKUS Venue: Balaclava Park
13:00
Nanaimo v Port Alberni
Referee: Max Freund (Pending) Venue: May Bennett Pioneer
U Of Victoria v Castaway Wanderers
Referee: Visiting Referee 1 (Pending) Venue: U Of Victoria – Wallace Field Comment: Div 1
13:30
Westshore v Bayside
Referee: Benjamin Lambrick Venue: Juan De Fuca
14:15
Pacific Pride v Van East Rugby (Coastal Cup)
Venue: MacDonald Park, Victoria
14:30
Meraloma v Vancouver Rowing Club
Referee: David Smortchevsky Venue: Connaught Park
Capilano v Burnaby Lake
Venue: Klahanie Comment: Div 1
UBC v TWU (Coastal Cup + University Championship Qualifier)
Referee: Bradley Schwalger Venue: UBC- Gerald McGavin Centre
U Of Victoria v Vancouver Island Tide (Coastal Cup)
Referee: Ryan Alguire Venue: U Of Victoria – Wallace Field
Sunday 26th September
10:00
Abbotsford 10s U17-U19
Venue: Exhibition Park
Bayside 7s U14-U16
Venue: South Surrey Athletic Park
Westshore 7s U16-U18
Venue: Juan de Fuca
11:30
U Of Victoria v Alberta (CanWest)
Referee: Ryan Alguire (Pending) Venue: U Of Victoria – Wallace Field
12:00
Ebb Tide vs Evergreens at Brockton Oval
Comment: Over 40