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Archive Record
Images
Metadata
Object ID |
2014.37.9 |
Object Name |
Video Recording |
Title |
Gareth Rees Interview |
Interview Summary / Résumé d'entrevue |
Gareth Rees, Order of Sport recipient, inducted in 2014, born in Duncan, British Columbia, talks about his rugby career. Gareth mentions that he came from a family of first-generation Canadian parents who emigrated from the UK. His parents were Physical Education teachers who ensured that sport was always a part of his life. Gareth discusses how he played rugby at a time when it was an amateur sport in Canada and ended his career by playing professionally. He mentions how thankful he is that he was able to make a career out of playing the sport. Gareth talks about how proud he was to represent Canada, elevate the sport within Canada, and promote Canada as a serious rugby team internationally. Gareth describes the honour of being inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame and being the first rugby player to be inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame. Gareth emphasizes the importance of sportsmanship and how playing rugby means playing with specific values, including working hard, being honest with yourself and playing with honour. Gareth talks about how he continues to promote those values in his work as National Program Manager at Rugby Canada. Entrevue avec Gareth Rees, 22 octobre 2014. MP4 d'origine numérique, temps de visionnement : 00:18:36. Gareth Rees, récipiendaire de l'Ordre du sport, a été intronisé en 2014 et est né à Duncan, en Colombie-Britannique. Il parle de sa carrière de rugby. Gareth mentionne que ses parents sont des Canadiens de première génération qui ont émigré du Royaume-Uni. Ses parents étaient des professeurs d'éducation physique qui ont veillé à ce que le sport fasse toujours partie de sa vie. Gareth parle de la façon dont il a joué au rugby à une époque où c'était un sport amateur au Canada et a ensuite terminé sa carrière en jouant professionnellement. Il mentionne à quel point il est reconnaissant d'avoir pu faire carrière dans ce sport. Gareth parle de sa fierté de représenter le Canada, de promouvoir le rugby dans ce pays et de présenter l'équipe de rugby canadienne comme une équipe sérieuse sur la scène internationale. Gareth décrit l'honneur d'être intronisé au Temple de la renommée du rugby international et d'être le premier joueur de rugby à être intronisé au Panthéon des sports canadiens. Gareth souligne l'importance de l'esprit sportif et explique que jouer au rugby signifie jouer avec des valeurs particulières, notamment travailler dur, être honnête avec soi-même et jouer avec honneur. Gareth parle de la manière dont il continue à promouvoir ces valeurs dans son travail en tant que gestionnaire du programme national chez Rugby Canada. |
Scope & Content |
Gareth Rees interview, 22 October 2014. Born digital MP4, viewing time 00:18:36. 00:13Childhood - how did you get involved in the sport: came from a family of two physical education teachers so sport was year round when he was growing up; family is from Britain, he is first generation born Canadian; played at the Castaways Sport Club, family played rugby, soccer and field hockey (his Mom) and that's where his extended family was 00:40Why and how rugby: it was a sport he chose, he played all different sports growing up in Victoria; it is a big part of who he was as an athlete because he did not specialize; it is a big concern of his that kids play lots of sports and have different experiences; rugby came at age 16, had to decide between soccer and rugby, his father had played at a high level, he loved the game and the camaraderie, he loved the challenge, it was the teamwork that attracted him: the different types of players and the different levels of skills they needed to have 01:29At age 19 his first big achievement was being picked to play for Canada, he learned all his rugby here and had great teachers, great coaches, a great team and great players; getting picked for Canada was huge, the recognition was nice and good for Canada and Canadian rugby; he was playing to do well for Canada and his Canadian teammates 02:01What drove you: the rest of the world did not think that we had the right accent and that Canadians had the right to be good at rugby; that drove he and his teammates; they wanted to prove to the rest of the world that they could beat them and they did it over the course of our careers and are very proud of that; for him it is a very big thing to prove to the rest of the world that Canadians could play rugby 03:14At what point did you think you had made it: going to a world championship and earning his living from playing the game professionally; talks about training by himself in a stadium in England and realizing it was a dream come true from growing up in Victoria where they had no stadium 04:11Highlight of his career: putting on the Canadian jersey for the first time; beating France in Ottawa; to bring that to a Canadian audience with a great group of guys, to beat the best team in the world at that time; so much of it is about sharing with the team; that moment cannot be taken away from you 05:15On being inducted into the International Rugby HOF: it was surreal; end of a journey; felt it for the community in Victoria that produced him, who created opportunities for him, he felt it was great for them; felt it for his family who loved sport, for his Dad, for rugby, the game to be recognized, great for the guys he played with and for the current athletes 06:49Importance of family: his Dad is Welsh, his Mom British but they are very, very Canadian; sport was part of the household, a healthy part; it was not an issue if he had not been successful, it was about the value and what was behind sport and the people you meet in sport 08:03How did it affect you to make your Dad proud: he is happy for them as Canadians and adopted Canadians and first generation; they made Canada their home and raised their family here, so for Canada's Sports HOF to recognize him is incredible; his Dad is a coach but the game never got out of hand, it was about the values you got from the game - the friends you made, the need to interact with different people, how to deal with success and failure, that is why we were playing sport; to know 09:26On being the first inducted in his sport to the CHSOF: very important to him that rugby has an important place and that younger players can go and see himself and his generation go there and that there is no reason why they couldn't go out and do the same thing and that hopefully the story behind his success resonates and people use that to have their own good experience; because of the community side of rugby and that you can travel all over the world and have an immediate group of friends, is an important aspect of the sport to him; open the field it is very important that you get along with the people around you, you know what you do well and what you don't do well and ultimately you have to respect the game and the opposition 10:40Challenges: number one is not to lose that [respect for the game], we have very professional support for athletes to win medals but I wouldn't want to be that at the expense of the values that is at the centre of it; if it started to jeopardize the game that would be cause for concern and disappointment; exposure is the other challenge, to get people to the game, make sure they understand it, that it is a physical contact game and to respect it; don't stop being involved whether you are in administration or helping at a club level, that is part of the culture of rugby 12:06Impact you bring: by accepting this honour it is not about him but a group and a generation; to keep that value part of the games, even at the highest level there is a way to win and to lose and if you don't do that, that is not rugby to him and not to be tolerated; empower other people to make those tough decisions professionally, not to be afraid to call out something, that's what makes them strong 13:03His role today: he gets to deal with the best players in the country who are great ambassadors for the sport, the challenge is on the performance side, to work very hard and take responsibility very seriously; he is taking his experiences and bringing them to the table and to raise the bar and challenge athletes to be as good as they can be for Canada 13:40It was a great moment to be on the stage with his friends; the game had a great moment and achieved some profile; the character of the game will come clear 14:25Values: hard work is at the heart of it, if you don't work hard you won't have success, that goes for anything in life; the ability to communicate, to be honest with yourself when looking at performance, to look at things when you are not doing well and try to improve; ultimately it's respect for yourself, not doping, have respect for the game and that you are not going to win every match and you are going have a great experience win or lose and that rugby is special 15:26Advice to athletes: enjoy it on your way up, lots of time to get to reflect on it, enjoy even the mundane experience, never take the honour you have been given to represent your country lightly, as Canadians we don't often expect you to win but we do expect you to behave and play in a way that makes us proud; we often talk in rugby about being the custodian of the jersey 16:42He was lucky to have played as an amateur and professionally in Europe at a higher level, he was able to test himself against the best; at the end of his career he realized financial gain; now the challenge would be how much you can put into the sport without jeopardizing your career, home or family |
Date |
2014/10/22 |
Year Range from |
1986 |
Year Range to |
1999 |
People |
Rees, Gareth |
Search Terms |
Interview Gareth Rees Rugby Rugby World Cup All World Rugby XV |