If the Semiahmoo Peninsula knows how to produce one thing, it is highly skilled rugby players.
With four Earl Marriott Secondary School alumni currently members on Canada鈥檚 Men鈥檚 Rugby Team, they are coming home this week as Canada prepares to face off against Japan on Sunday (Aug. 25) as part of the Pacific Nations Cup.
Calixto Martinez (grad 2015), Izzak Kelly (grad 2018) and identical twin brothers Takoda and Talon McMullin (grad 2020) are proud grads and former rugby players with the South Surrey school, and they're all looking forward to Sunday, where Team Canada will compete in the cross-regional tournament between Canada, Japan, the United States, Fiji, Tonga and Samoa.
After a 35-22 win over Romania in Ottawa from the men鈥檚 team earlier this summer, and the historic medal at the Olympics for the women鈥檚 sevens team, some might say rugby fever has been spreading across the country.
But EMS teacher and rugby coach Adam Roberts 鈥� who says rugby is a sport everyone would love to play, but "they just don鈥檛 know it until they actually try it" 鈥� said that the Semiahmoo Peninsula has been producing high-level rugby players ever since Paul Horne at Semiahmoo Secondary cultivated the rugby culture in the area in the early '80s, with Bayside Rugby Club doing an excellent job of continuing to grow the sport's stronghold.
"White Rock has produced so many international players... Michael Smith, who鈥檚 now at med school, who was playing the men鈥檚 team 鈥� he's from Earl Marriott. His sister Rachel, she plays on the women鈥檚 team, the development pathway," Roberts said. "There are so many super talented rugby players from this area. ... It鈥檚 just a really neat tribute to all the people who鈥檝e put a ton of time into the sport. It's a proud moment for the Peninsula."
Remembering Martinez as a tough, gritty player who was "just an absolute menace but happiest, most genuine character," Roberts also recalled seeing Kelly for the first time in Grade 8 gym class.
"He was a giant in Grade 8... I said, 'You've got to try rugby," he said, and added the McMullin twins are all-around, "highly talented athletes" who also won the provincial title in volleyball three years in a row.
Roberts remembers the McMullin twins when they were "five years old running around the rugby field when their oldest brother was playing," and admitted EMS rugby has a long history with the McMullin family.
Takoda McMullin credits Roberts with getting his eldest brother 鈥� and the rest of his siblings, including him and his twin 鈥� into rugby, when Roberts first saw the elder sibling (11 years older) in gym class and asked him if he'd ever thought about playing rugby.
"My mom, who knew nothing about the sport, was worried he was going to get hurt. Adam said, 'Let him play one game see how it goes,' and then he went out to play," McMullin recalled. "Then my mom was like, 'Oh, I was worrying about the wrong kid 鈥� he鈥檚 going to hurt other people.'"
From then on, all of the McMullin siblings have played, and he and his twin, who also play with the Vancouver Highlanders, grew up going to their games.
"When we got to high school, it was already kind of written that we would play," he said.
The Sunday game has given his family another reason to gather for a family reunion, he noted, as they haven't all been able to get together for nearly five years now, and he's looking forward to the match.
"Obviously we want to win 鈥� you always want to get a win, but (I hope to) just to get on the field and do everything I can to help this team get the win," he said. "Japan will be a challenge. ... They鈥檙e a bit smaller, but they make a lot of that up with their fitness and their intensity. They play a very fast, direct game where they try to capitalize on the other team falling asleep, so we are definitely going to try to not let that happen."
Teammate Calixto Martinez, who also plays for the MLR's Old Glory DC team, is now a forestry consultant, but used to fight fires in remote areas, and compared rugby with fighting fires.
"I find it very similar to firefighting, in that you鈥檙e away from home, you鈥檙e with a group of people with a common goal, and you have to work as a team to reach your objectives," he said. "You try to always keep a positive attitude and manage yourself correctly, and just keep fighting on."
He and McMullin both enjoy the camaraderie and lifelong friends they've made while playing rugby, as well as the travel and new opportunities it has allowed them to experience, and they're both looking forward to all the family and friends they'll see on Sunday.
Sunday's game starts at 2 p.m. at BC Place. Tickets are available for purchase at
