Our History
The club was first founded in 1972 when a group of graduates from York University decided to continue their playing career by forming a club that would play in the Ontario Rugby Union. These gentlemen, Bob Ross, Larry Nancekevill, and Mike Dinning, along with others were the core of the club which ran its first International tour in 1973 to play clubs in Europe. The club was then known as the York Yeomen. The club continued to grow and prosper as more members continued to join. The membership was not just limited to the York University graduates but the community at large.
In just ten short years, the club advanced to its first Ontario Finals in 1982 then called the Carling Cup. The game was a hotly contested battle between rivals Ottawa Irish and the York Yeomen. Ottawa Irish won the game 9-3 in overtime in dreadful conditions. The York Yeomen returned to the Carling Cup finals in 1983 again only to come up short to the Ottawa Irish. The club would finish the 1980 decade by qualifying for the 1988 McCormick Cup final.
In 1992, the club moved from York University to the Huntington Golf and Country Club. It was at this time that we dropped the York from our title. The relationship at Huntington was interesting as the Golf and Rugby Club co-existed on the same property. In 1997 we moved to our home at Claireville Conservation. During this time the club enjoyed tremendous success winning both the league championship and McCormick Cups in 1993, 1994, and 1995 as well as being finalists in 1991, 1996 and 1997. The Yeomen are still the only club in Ontario Rugby history to win the triple-double (League and Cup Champions 3 years in a row!). The Yeomen were also league champions in 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, and 1998. Under the leadership of then-coach Bruce Smith, the team enjoyed a tremendous amount of success naming players like Bill Handson, Slatko Cvitak, John Hutchison, and Joe Pagano to the Canadian National team. Bill Handson played in the first-ever World Cup in Australia in 1987, John Hutchison played in the World Cup in 1995 in South Africa and again in 1999 in England, while Joe Pagano played in the 1999 World Cup in England.
In 2002, the Yeomen celebrated 30 years of “rucking rugby”. The Yeomen celebrated the club’s anniversary by becoming McCormick Cup Finalists in 2000 and winning the provincial cup in 2001 under coaches Demech Kokkinakis and Carlos Moniz. During this period, players like Steve Staffieri, Robert and Mike Barbieri began to make their mark on the international scene. Robert and Mike went on to pursue professional contracts in Italy with Robert Barbieri also named to wear the Italian National jersey at the World Cup in France in 2011. The club also experienced massive success with their junior program becoming the Ontario U18 Champions in 2007, coached by Domenic Scuglia, Steve Staffieri and Frank Ienna.
In total, the Club has made twelve McCormick/Carling Cup appearances, including playing in/competing in 8 McCormick Cup Championship games in 10 years (93,94,95,95,97,2000, 2001, 2002) – The Yeomen also won 5 Ontario League Championships (93, 94, 95, 97, 98). The club is now operating as the Vaughan Yeomen Rugby Club, a community-sponsored organization. With an influx of new players, alongside seasoned veterans, the rugby club has experienced great success in restoring its reputation.
