President calls it a 'Day' after 40 years with Barrie Rugby Club

Sometimes a sport just calls, and then it keeps calling. For Len Day, that sport is rugby.

It all started for him more than four decades ago when Innisdale Secondary School developed a team. After high school, he went to Georgian College and played with the Barrie Rugby Club at the old fairgrounds on Saturdays, with practices at Sunnidale Park.

“It was a pretty easy sport to play because you didn’t need any equipment,” just a ball and a jersey, says Day, who played with the club from 1984 for the next several decades as he moved into his career with Ontario Hydro.

He continued to play right into his 50s, challenging the younger players, many of them in their 20s.

When the pandemic hit, Day hung up his jersey for the last time and turned his attention to the club’s executive.

“I remember going to a meeting,” he recalls with a chuckle, “and my wife said don’t come home as club president.

"And I did.”

He served as president, on and off, while serving in other capacities, dealing with the equipment or booking the field and coaching.

After 40 years of involvement, though, Day decided at age 59 to enjoy retirement and stepped down as president in February.

The initial draw may have been the sport, but Day says it’s the people and camaraderie that were integral to his continued involvement.

He also drew inspiration from the late Jim Hamilton.

Hamilton coached and served as mentor to Day and many other players and was involved in the development of the club in 1967 and serves as namesake to the pitch at the Barrie Community Sports Complex in Midhurst.

“It’s a life. You make some lifelong friends that you respect. It’s the community, it’s not just wanting to play for the local club, it’s about making the sport better,” including new players and sharing a sport he loved with the next generation, he says.

“It about people, the different characters you meet, the lifelong relationships.”

Day’s son and daughter have both been involved in the club as well, and both maintain their connection through different volunteer capacities.

Day’s wife, Angela, meanwhile, supported all their efforts and often repaired and cleaned jerseys.

He recalls being in Tampa Bay after their wedding when she turned to him as said: “If we leave now, we can make it back in time for your game on Saturday.”

Pierre Gautier has agreed to step into the role of president for Barrie Rugby, following Day’s lengthy tenure.

The former police officer also has a rich background in the sport, playing with the now-defunct Dingos club based in Orillia and then coaching his stepdaughter’s team as she moved through the age groups with Barrie Rugby.

“He’s been there a long time, there’s big shoes to fill,” says Gautier, whose background includes being vice-president of the Ontario Provincial Police Association, located on Ferris Lane and with a membership of 1,800. “As a collective, we can do great things.”

Rugby, he adds, is a sport in which a player can easily be involved from high school right into adulthood, while also staying involved in the community.

“I think it’s just an all-around great sport,” says Gautier.

Day, meanwhile, says he’ll still be around and pitching in occasionally. He just won’t be going to the meetings.

He’s looking forward to spending more time with his wife and continue his involvement with the Lion’s Club.