Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame Profile: Gareth Rees

In honour of the upcoming Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame 2014 Induction Celebrations presented by Canadian Tire on October 22, OLM will be featuring inductees—recent and historic—in a weekly Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame Profile piece.

Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame aims to share the stories and achievements of Honoured Members to inspire Canadians in all aspects of life.

Gareth Rees: Rugby

Ruck, scrum, maul. These terms may all seem odd out of context, but for a rugby fan, they are words to live and breathe by.

Gareth Rees is one man who knows them well. Since early childhood, Rees could handle a rugby ball with ease. He developed speed, ball handling and precision kicking, and began to dominate the game. Rees has played countless Rugby World Cup games, worn captain titles, secured major winning titles and became the only North American to be inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame in 2011. With all of this success, it is no wonder Rees is often called the Wayne Gretzky of Canadian rugby.

But it doesn’t stop there. Since retirement, Rees has done anything but slow down. The former fly-half and fullback is currently the National Program Manager at Rugby Canada. In this position, he has been part of the team to bring rugby back to the Olympics! Rees is a proud past player and an even prouder Canadian. He is known as a gentleman on and off the field who believes strongly in the value of sports and sportsmanship. Rees constantly shows terrific examples of the personal qualities that make sport such a vital part of nation-building and a credit to his country. He also works as an advocate for rugby—sharing the stories of passion behind every player.

Today, Rees is still ranked in the top 10 all-time point scorers in the Rugby World Cup. But stats do not mean as much to him as the enthusiasm driven from the game. Being inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame on October 22 will help Rees show other Canadians how great of a sport rugby is for everyone!