WINGHAM – After a two-year break, F.E. Madill was able to host the 14th Matthew Dinning Memorial Cup rugby tournament on April 27.
This year’s tournament was more focused on skill and team building, as many of the players have zero experience on the rugby pitch due to the previous cancellation of high school sports during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The tournament saw three junior boys’ teams participate: F.E. Madill Secondary School, St. Anne’s Catholic School, and Kincardine District Secondary School (KDSS).
Following tradition, Lincoln Dinning was in attendance to not only thank the teams for attending but also to share his son’s story.
“Matthew was my son, he walked these halls, he ran these fields and he loved sports, especially rugby and hockey,” he said.
Matthew Dinning was killed in action while serving in Afghanistan in 2006. The tournament was started by a former teacher Andy Jones in 2007 and has been carried on by LeeAnn McDonald-Ellis.
“Speaking of tradition, thirteen other teams have plaques here to say they are the champions,” McDonald-Ellis announced to the players. “Although we are not really here to score tries, we have scored tries and so we have a winner – Kincardine are the 14th annual champions.”
Not only was KDSS congratulated for winning the tournament, but also for the return of their junior boys’ rugby team after more than 10 years.
Each team was also given a plaque to present to their most valuable player. Madill named Jackson Dolson as their team’s MVP.
As a way to build skills, referee Peter Darbishire gave the players some constructive criticism after the matches to better their game, and he hoped to inspire them to consider playing club rugby.
“I have been playing rugby since I was nine years old, and that was over 60 years ago,” Darbishire told the junior boys’ teams in attendance. “Club rugby is a lot of fun and you can make a lot of life-long friends.”
