Following a distinguished career as a player in England (he is the oldest surviving Club Captain of the Gosport RFC in Hampshire) and a very short playing career with the Wasps RFC in Winnipeg, Peter Press turned his energies to helping build the sport of rugby in Manitoba.
In 1967 he helped create a team at the University of Winnipeg, eventually merging it with a dormant River Heights team to form the basis of the Saracens RFC. Peter was the Saracens’ first coach, leading the Club to Provincial championships in its first 2 years of operation.
In 1968 Peter was elected as President of the fledgling Manitoba Rugby Union, now a league of four teams, a position he held for the next two critically formative years. During his tenure, the MRU created a constitution which still forms the basis for the current version; helped set up what is now the Manitoba Association of Rugby Referees as an independent, self-sufficient organization; laid the groundwork for the introduction of a second, development division; created a formal set of rules for competition; introduced the concept of a Discipline Committee; initiated the annual publication of a year-book and generally became established as an effective, cohesive organization.
Also under his leadership, the MRU was admitted in to the Canadian Rugby Union as a full partner and formal, CRU sanctioned inter-provincial games were arranged with Alberta, UBC and touring teams from other countries. For three years Peter was the official representative for all three Prairie Provinces on the CRU Board which he used to good effect by arranging for the first ever CRU sponsored national referees’ clinic to be held here in Winnipeg.
In late 1970 Peter stepped down from the MRU because of a serious game-induced medical condition. Confident that the MRU was now on a firm footing and in capable hands he set out to do something new, creating a rugby team from his students at St. John’s High School. Other schools were taking similar initiatives and by 1973 the Manitoba High Schools Rugby Union had been formed. Peter was appointed as the first President of this new MHSRU and developed it into a mature, lasting and stable organization.
Peter continued to coach various teams and occasionally to referee well into the 1980s. Perhaps the zenith of this phase of his career was when he organized a tour of his hometown of Gosport by a St. John’s High School team in 1977. The team acquitted itself admirably against some of the better teams in the area.
Though Peter may rightly argue that others share the credit for many of these accomplishments, his enthusiasm, foresight and organizational skills helped them happen more quickly and effectively. He was largely responsible for creating the institutional basis for Rugby in Manitoba as we know it today. He is an Honorary Life-Member of the Saracens RFC and is still revered at St John’s High School. His legacy endures through his players and students, many of whom continue to be active in Manitoba Rugby.
In 1967 he helped create a team at the University of Winnipeg, eventually merging it with a dormant River Heights team to form the basis of the Saracens RFC. Peter was the Saracens’ first coach, leading the Club to Provincial championships in its first 2 years of operation.
In 1968 Peter was elected as President of the fledgling Manitoba Rugby Union, now a league of four teams, a position he held for the next two critically formative years. During his tenure, the MRU created a constitution which still forms the basis for the current version; helped set up what is now the Manitoba Association of Rugby Referees as an independent, self-sufficient organization; laid the groundwork for the introduction of a second, development division; created a formal set of rules for competition; introduced the concept of a Discipline Committee; initiated the annual publication of a year-book and generally became established as an effective, cohesive organization.
Also under his leadership, the MRU was admitted in to the Canadian Rugby Union as a full partner and formal, CRU sanctioned inter-provincial games were arranged with Alberta, UBC and touring teams from other countries. For three years Peter was the official representative for all three Prairie Provinces on the CRU Board which he used to good effect by arranging for the first ever CRU sponsored national referees’ clinic to be held here in Winnipeg.
In late 1970 Peter stepped down from the MRU because of a serious game-induced medical condition. Confident that the MRU was now on a firm footing and in capable hands he set out to do something new, creating a rugby team from his students at St. John’s High School. Other schools were taking similar initiatives and by 1973 the Manitoba High Schools Rugby Union had been formed. Peter was appointed as the first President of this new MHSRU and developed it into a mature, lasting and stable organization.
Peter continued to coach various teams and occasionally to referee well into the 1980s. Perhaps the zenith of this phase of his career was when he organized a tour of his hometown of Gosport by a St. John’s High School team in 1977. The team acquitted itself admirably against some of the better teams in the area.
Though Peter may rightly argue that others share the credit for many of these accomplishments, his enthusiasm, foresight and organizational skills helped them happen more quickly and effectively. He was largely responsible for creating the institutional basis for Rugby in Manitoba as we know it today. He is an Honorary Life-Member of the Saracens RFC and is still revered at St John’s High School. His legacy endures through his players and students, many of whom continue to be active in Manitoba Rugby.