Conventional wisdom, or in its absence whatever wisdom was at hand at the time, has always held that Wasps RFC was founded some winter afternoon, 1964-65, in the bar of the Cambridge Hotel. The story usually related maintains that the founders (and the list can include any variation of about a dozen names) were thrashing about for a name for their new club when they opened the most recent sports page from overseas. The paper included results from recent English club matches. Scanning the list, they discovered that the Wasps FC of London had posted the largest margin of victory that previous Saturday, and hence, adopted the name.
The tale has maintained considerable appeal, because it has allowed many club members to claim that they were merely defending a sacred trust by spending their evenings at the venerable "Bridge" (Cambridge Hotel). Unfortunately, the tale is largely untrue. According to founding member Ian Williams, the late Derrick Morgan, (who sadly, passed away in Seattle in 1989) co-opted him into the embryonic Wasps in spring 1965. Here then, in Williams' own words is the tale of the club's founding.
"I came to Winnipeg in November 1964 and got to know Derrick and Marge Morgan socially through that winter. In the spring we heard that Winnipeg RFC were running out at River Heights Jr. High field. We went along one evening and sure enough a half dozen characters, like Derry Newton and John Walton were kicking a rugby ball around and Derrick and myself joined in.
Some short time afterward, Derrick called me and said he and (the other guy's name was Evans, I can't recall his first name as he never actually played), in any case, Derrik and the other guy had this idea of forming a club separate from the Winnipeg club, suggested the name be the Winnipeg Wasps (Derrick was a Londoner) and asked me if I would be the first Captain.
One of the first things I did was to put an ad in the Free Press and Tribune calling on anyone interested in playing rugby union to join us. The response was excellent and to the best of my recollection we soon had: Iain McDougal, Ian Wallace, Iain Macrae, Ian Gordon, Ian McMillan, Geoff Heppple, Alan Jones, Lynn Thomas, and others I can't recall the names of, running with us. Shortly afterwards we were training in the park on the river bank by Churchill Heights and a bunch of the lads who had been exposed to the game while at Churchill High joined us, Rod Katchiluk, the Evans brothers, etc. Also, Iain McMillan's connection at the then United College brought in others like Tom Mercer, Gary Filmon and our par excellence social organizer Fred Saunders."
Other first year members included Peter Little, Dennis Cane, Dave Chalcroft, Dan Williams, and Bob Reiner. Terry Dann, new in town and looking for a club, was supplied with the phone numbers for both Derry Newton and derrick Morgan. Fortunately for Wasps, Newton's phone was busy and Dann went on to succeed Williams as club Captain in 1969.
Originally, the club trained at Churchill Drive but soon moved to Assinboine Park, where games were played by the steam locomotive replica. Success was somewhat hard to come by with the Winnipeg Rugby Club thrashing their new opposition for three straight years. The club's first victory, however, may well have come on the road during the inaugural Edmonton Tour in 1967. That trip was a turning point however, for from 1968 on, Wasps could consistently defeat the Winnipeg club.
The club, about two-thirds ex-patriate Britishers (most of whom were named Ian) soon began to attract more young Canadian blood. Don Innes, Bob Constable, Pierre Compte and others joined while still attending school at Westwood High. They were later joined by schoolmate Guy McKim. Around the same (1968), Jim Platt and Rod Katchiluk departed with a group of Churchill grads to form Assassins. Even then, though, Wasps were established as the largest club in the Union, which included Wasps, Wanderers, (originally Winnipeg), Assassins and Saracens.
The early seventies were a period of considerable change for the club. During that period, which opened with the club's first championship season in 1970, the majority of the original members retired or moved away, and membership became predominately Canadian. Key figures to arrive included Peter Gadauskas and Jim Feasby (who were co-opted by fellow River Heights teachers George Tanner and Andy Krentz), John Lake, and the Hicks brothers Ralph and Lyle. They were later joined by people like Riley Barkman, Garry Nicholson, Kirk Gorham, Rob St. Germain, Hans Jannusson, Ted Paterson, Jim Martens and Derek Reid.
In 1971, the club ran its first Sevens tourney. In 1972, a momentous development came with Ian Williams' purchase of a house on Alexander St., which he then rented to various club members like Terry Dann, Ken Beddie, Al Hosey, Jim Martens, and Steve McCormick, yet another member of the River Heights school staff. The house was quickly dubbed the Hive and soon became the headquarters of the club.
Previously, Wasps had bounced around various bars, including the original home of the Winnipeg Rugby Club, the Cambridge, the Pembina, the Curtis and the St. James, (usually after training in Assinboine Park). Other training sites included (briefly) Elmwood High, and River Heights. Matches were played variously at River Heights, Hubec Park, Frank Whyte, and Lipsett Hall.
With so many teachers on the club, it was natural for Wasps to be involved on the ground floor of the Schools Rugby Union, first initiated in 1973. Besides the five staff member of River Heights, other Wasps involved with schools included Rob St. Germain, Guy McKim, Terry Dann, Ken Pearn and Bob Moffat.
Defections, however, continued with Des Walton leaving to assist the newly formed University of Manitoba RFC, and Bob Moffat and Hans Janusson departing to found St. Vital Buccaneers. Despite the losses, Wasps continued to expand. A second side, originally called the Hornets, was added to the Union's new second division in 1974.
Wasps celebrated their 10th Anniversary with new coach Syd Lateron leading the club on a ground breaking tour of Hawaii in 1975. This period of the club's history was no doubt dominated by overseas trekking, with other tours coming in 1976, 1978 and 1979.
Around this time too, the club was beginning to become more firmly established in the South-Central part of Winnipeg. In 1975-76, the club moved training to Viscount Alexander School, post training sessions at the Cambridge Hotel having been re established in 1974 after the demise of the Hive. Match venues were still somewhat unsettled, changing from Lansdowne (1977) and River Heights (1978), before hitting upon Vincent Massey, Viscount and Massey remained the club's home until the late eighties.
Wasps' involvement with the schools continued to grow, and soon the club was Winnipeg's leading source of coaches. These included Nicholson (Kelvin), Feasby/Gadauskas (River Heights), Barkman/Hicks (Vincent Massey), Dann (Acadia), St. Germain (Fort Richmond), and McKim (Viscount). The first wave of graduates from these programs joined the club around 1977 and included Kelvin's Doug Schon, Jim Rutledge and Fred Bulock, Vincent Massey's Dave Steadman and Fort Richmond's Cam Forrester, Barry Hisco and Rob Bracken.
Besides high school grads, other players were coming into the club at record pace. Ex-patriates like Geoff Oliver, Bernie Harold and Ian Murray supplied excellent touring contacts. Locals, too were signing up and they included names like Lloyd Dawes, Dan Hotel, Dan Corley, Ken Campbell, Paul Huntington, Wayne Guenther, and Jon Jenkins.
On the field, the club finally began to match its success of the 1970 season. The club's second side became a dominant force in this year, taking provincial titles in '76, 78, and 79. In 1978, the club ran its first Third side, a rare collection of again out-of-shape veterans and gangly youths who had outgrown their strength. The quintessential version of the Thirds took the Second Division Championship in 1979.
The big prize however, was 1977's First Division Championship, captained by Riley Barkman. That year saw the MRU's first foray into a play off structure, previous championships having been awarded to the first place team in the league.
The seventies ended on a somewhat ambivalent note for the club. In 1979 saw the Seconds, successfully defend their title after starting the year 0-6, the Thirds finished first in Second division only to lose in the semifinals, and the First lost a double overtime heartbreaker to Saracens in the final. The year also closed the first chapter of the club's remarkable touring history with a very successful trip to Hawaii.
The above information was copied from the 25th anniversary yearbook written by Jon Jenkins. The Wasps have established themselves as the premier club in Manitoba. The 80's and 90's have seen our club continue to grow and mature. The Wasps along with the Assassins were the founding members of Maple Grove Rugby Park. Over the years in addition to the other clubs mentioned above former Wasps have founded the Brandon Barbarians and Portage La Prairie Wolves. The Wasps have established themselves as the premier touring side of Manitoba.
In the past 30 years the Wasps have been innovators and leaders in rugby. As we approach the 21st century I am sure we will continue on the same path.