Sports can鈥檛 take their Olympic status for granted, as wrestling, baseball and softball can attest.
On the winter side, women鈥檚 ice hockey was put on notice by the IOC at Vancouver 2010.
Through all this agenda turmoil, rugby鈥檚 star continues to rise.
鈥淎dding your sport to the Olympic program provides a level of exposure that鈥檚 virtually unparalleled in the sport universe,鈥� said Chris Overholt, CEO and secretary-general of the Canadian Olympic Committee, on Saturday in addressing the Rugby sa国际传媒 annual-general meeting taking place at Bear Mountain.
Rugby sevens makes its Olympic debut at the 2016 Rio Summer Games.
鈥淭he IOC has to be pleased with what it sees in the Sevens World Series. There have been five different winning countries in the seven men鈥檚 tournaments so far this year and five different finalists in the three women鈥檚 tournaments so far in 2013,鈥� noted Mike Chu, general-manager of rugby operations and high performance for Rugby sa国际传媒, whose Centre of Excellence is located in Langford.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a wide-open competition.鈥�
That can鈥檛 be said for women鈥檚 ice hockey, which invariably features only sa国际传媒-U.S. finals.
Meanwhile, sa国际传媒 Ferries received a good workout in sa国际传媒 Premier League action.
On Saturday afternoon, Tyler Ardron and John Moonlight were in the wet and mud-stained kit of James Bay Athletic Association (9-4) in a 71-12 rout of Bayside (2-11) in South Surrey.
Then they were back at Bear Mountain in suit and tie Saturday night to receive some serious hardware at the Rugby sa国际传媒 AGM banquet as Ardron was named men鈥檚 Canadian XVs player of the year and Moonlight the Canadian sevens player of the year.
Ardron and Moonlight have Rio 2016 in their sights, with the versatile Ardron also being groomed for the 2015 World Cup in XVs.
The Castaway Wanderers (6-6-1) were a 23-16 winner Saturday at Windsor Park in Oak Bay over a previously torrid Burnaby Lake squad (9-4) that had won eight consecutive games.
The result meant fifth-place CW can slide into the fourth and final playoff slot with a victory with bonus points next week in the regular-season curtain-dropper against fourth-place Meralomas.
The UVic Vikes (5-7-1) were eliminated from the playoff race after yesterday鈥檚 46-35 track-meet loss against host Capilano (9-4).
First place in the Premiership comes down to the final weekend and is now wide open between James Bay, Burnaby Lake and Capilano.
Meanwhile, Hubert Buydens was voted Rugby sa国际传媒 Player鈥檚 Player of the year Saturday by his fellow Canuck players. World Cup-veteran Buydens, whose domestic club is CW, is playing pro in New Zealand.
Jen Kish of Edmonton was named top women鈥檚 Canadian sevens player of 2012 and Maria Samson of Calgary XVs player of the year at the Rugby sa国际传媒 awards banquet at Bear Mountain.
Lucas Hammond of CW was named Rugby sa国际传媒 men鈥檚 young player of the year and Bianca Farella of Montreal top women鈥檚 young player, with both expected to provide considerable international impact in the years ahead.
