How rugby culture is changing on P.E.I.

More than two months after Brodie McCarthy died from a head injury during a high school rugby match, passion for the sport on P.E.I. remains high.

So, too, is the emphasis on safety.

More than 100 players of all ages gathered in Charlottetown on Saturday for a rugby jamboree. Organizer and veteran player Justin Ellis said the culture of rugby has been shifting over the past 20 years to become safer, but McCarthy's death made the community stop and reflect.

"That was a super unfortunate incident and everybody here was involved in it as coaches and refs during the game and it really kind brought the community together," he said.

"It really took a lot of the air out of everyone's sails and the enthusiasm, because we really have been growing every year and this just kind of brought everything to a grinding halt and made everyone reflect on what we were doing."

Sylvain Duguay, a coach and player, said kids are taking safety more seriously on the rugby field.

'More aware of safety'

"When I was playing in high school, you just ran out there and you just tried to hit someone as hard as you could," he said.

"Nowadays, I think kids are more aware of safety and I think it's a good direction for the sport because I think with fewer injuries, people get more into and parents are more comfortable with their kids if they know that safety is taken seriously."

When I was playing in high school, you just ran out there and you just tried to hit someone as hard as you could.- Sylvain Duguay

Ellis said part of teaching safety is teaching skills at a young age as they were doing at the jamboree.

"When you teach the kids younger, they learn that evasion is just as important as strong physical contact, so it's just like changing the culture," he said.

"There's always that element of contact so the risk is always going to be there but it's a matter of teaching them to respect the contact and know how to do it safely."

Ellis said the "bravado" in rugby isn't as common today as it was when he started playing several years ago, and concussion awareness is higher than it's ever been.

"There's no being too tough for a concussion. You just have to sit down and let your brain heal," he said.

Died from head injury

McCarthy, 18, was just weeks away from graduating from Montague Regional High School in May when he was injured in what the school's principal Seana Evans-Renaud called "a normal rugby play" during a tournament in Summerside.

She said McCarthy called for a substitute and walked off the field, and the coach checked him over. He was coherent and sat on the sidelines, where he then collapsed and an ambulance was called, said Evans-Renaud.

He was taken to the hospital and later transported to Moncton for surgery, but never recovered.

A review found no fault with the event, said officials with the Department of Education last week.

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