The
RMC Paladins are the athletic teams that represent
Royal
Military College of Canada
in Kingston, Ontario
, Canada
. Team
colours are red and white. Its main home is Kingston Military
Community Sport Centre (KMCSC) and Navy Bay fields.
The Paladins compete in eight sports in the
Ontario University Athletics
Ontario Universities Association (OUA):
Varsity Sports Program
RMC has a long-standing tradition of competing in a multitude of
sports, often with great success, especially
given the small size of the institution (1200 students). In 2002
however, the then commandant of the college, RAdm Morse, made the
very controversial decision to greatly scale back the Varsity
sports program. This was done with the stated goal of increasing
the competitiveness of the remaining sports by consolidating the
skilled
athletes. Also stated was a
desire to encourage
teamwork and
leadership that would be necessary for cadets
once they left the college.
This move was wildly unpopular within the student body of the
college, and amonst ex-Cadets, as it left many students who were
very competitive in a sport of their choice without a means to
participate. Among the teams cut were Men's and Women's
Rugby union,
Track
and Field,
Swimming,
Rowing,
Biathlon and
Karate; while the college kept the
Hockey,
Soccer,
Volleyball,
Basketball,
Taekwondo
and
Fencing teams.
In 2004, the College revisited their decision, and after a great
deal of
lobbying on the part of RMC
alumnists, and an enormous show of support
from the student body, they brought back the Men's Rugby team at
the Varsity level.
RMC Coaching
The Director of Athletics, Darren Cates, oversees
Physical Education,
Recreation,
Intramurals and the
varsity program and has 26 full time employees.
“At a civilian university you must justify why physical activity is
important. Here you don’t have to do that,” says Darren. “At RMC it
is accepted that physical activity and sports are valuable and
needed. We’re held in the same regard as academics and second
language training.”
Although the RMC does not give out Athletic Financial Awards
(AFAs), students have a subsidized education through the
Canadian Forces. Unlike many civilian
universities, the RMC only employs full-time
coach who can spend all of their time focusing
on their teams and their recruiting efforts.
RMC “Student - Athlete Suspects”
RMC “Student - Athlete Suspects” should meet at least seven of the
10 criteria:
- Plays RMC sport at an “elite” level during his / her high
school years;
- History of being a responsible person;
- Potentially motivated towards RMC & Canadian Forces;
- History of being involved in community / school / church /
activities (2 out of 3);
- Demonstrated good work ethic in full / part-time/ volunteer
positions;
- Dynamic and steadfast;
- Thrives on challenges;
- Potentially academically solid;
- Excellent time-management skills; and
- Has what it takes to be a potential “leader”.
History
Royal Military College of Canada
Cadets perform human pyramid in 1901
This photo
of Royal Military College of Canada cadets doing a gymnastics routine, taken in 1901 in Kingston is part of
the Canada Patent and Copyright Office collection. The
cadets are performing
human pyramids,
where the students work on
balance,
strength, cooperation, and teamwork. In this stunt, participants
form pyramids of layers of persons, each standing on two others one
level lower, one half a position to the right and the other to the
left.
Redmen to Paladins
Once RMC re-opened after
World War II,
varsity athletes representing RMC were proud to call themselves the
Redmen in competition. It represented one of the most prevalent
facets of RMC tradition, the wearing of the scarlet uniform on
formal parades. Gentlemen cadets first took on the name because it
was an all-male institution at the time and due to the red uniform,
hence red-men, informally "Reddies". In 1996, women had been
studying as RMC cadets for sixteen years so college authorities
thought it was necessary to change the varsity title to
somethingthat was representative of the whole cadet wing.
Furthermore, the college was receiving some criticism that Redmen
was a derogatory name for Canada’s Aboriginal People.
With the
closure of Royal Roads Military College
(RRMC) and College
militaire royal de St-Jean
(CMR) in 1995, RMC saw two more student bodies join
the college. Because of a large induction of
francophone students from CMR, RMC was
transformed into a
bilingual university.
General Charles Emond, the commandant at the time, decided that the
Redmen was not a fit name for this bilingual and
coeducational institution. Therefore he
invited the
officer cadets to choose
a new name.
Gen Emond set out very specific criteria for the Redmen’s
replacement. He decreed that the new name had to be representative
of the profession of arms; it had to be identified in two
languages; it also had to be unisex and original. Furthermore, the
name needed to be representative of a
person,
people or
animal rather than an inanimate
object. The
logo associated with the name had
to be simple and easily identifiable for the public. The new name
should also be easily incorporated into college
chants and
songs.
Various committees, composed of cadets and staff, came up with
twenty-four new names for the varsity teams, such as the
Cavaliers or the Red’s, the two most popular names
were the
Sabers and the
Paladins. There was vote cast by the staff and
students to decide on which of the three top choices would be the
one. A committee of twenty-four people was established to advertise
each of the proposed names. The committee held an electoral
campaign of sorts where each name was given a
logo and
mascot to better relate
to the college on what they were voting for.
The whole process of finally choosing a name took two years to
complete and as a result, the college was without a sports name for
the 96/97 season. Finally in 1997 the Director of Cadets,
Lieutenant Colonel (LCol) Michaud released the new name. All RMC
representative sports teams would now be called the Paladins. The
name Paladins had won by a landslide of 70% of the votes, it was
also the only name that met the criteria demanded by Gen
Emond.
Since 1997, athletes of the Royal Military College of Canada have
been known as the
Paladins. Paladins were
knights of the
Crusades who modeled themselves as
honest,
courageous,
loyal and
chivalrous
knights who prided themselves on their skill
in
battle.
In 2002, Rear-Admiral David Morse, the commandant at the time,
decided to change the logo to the royal crown and mailed fist of
RMC.
Some of the sports teams, namely the Hockey team and the Rugby
team, still continue to call themselves 'Redmen' in unofficial
forums. Although the uniforms now say Paladins, those teams have
never accepted the name change and keep up the old tradition.
In 2001, the RMC cut their interuniversity programs from 30 down to
11.
In 2007, the RMC Running Team will once again be competing at the
OUA / CIS level.
West Point Weekend
The
West Point
series originated when the commandant of RMC, Sir Archibald
McDonnell and the superintendent of the United States
Military Academy
(West Point), Brigader General Douglas MacArthur, suggested a game of
hockey between the two schools in 1921. After two years of
exchanging ideas the first game was played on February 23, 1923 at
West Point.
The Redmen won that first game 3-0 and a New York paper stated
"Army was beaten at hockeytoday by Royal Military College of
Kingston, Ontario. The Canadian cadets excelled the Armymen all the
way, displaying the best all around form seen here in years.
Hamilton and the Carr-Harris’s were the outstanding stars of the
Canadian team. This game was one of the cleanestfought contests
staged here this winter and was marked by a fine display of
sportsmanship on both sides." In commemorate of the game, RMC
donated the "Challenge Trophy."
In 1924 the series moved to Kingston thus beginning the tradition
of rotating venues. This was Army's first away game and up until
1941 the West Point Game was the only time that Army played away
from the Academy.
From 1923-1935 RMC ran up a record of 14-0-1. The only blemish
being a 4-4 tie in 1935. 1939 saw Army win its first game 3-1. As a
result of WWII only one game was played, at 3-1 Army win in 1942,
over the next 10 years.
In the 50's and 60's Army won 15 of 20 games bringing the series
close with RMC holding a21-18-1 advantage. Throughout the 70's and
80's the teams played fairly closely. In 1986 therecord stood at
26-25-4 in favour of RMC.
Over the last 15 years Army has dominated going unbeaten from
1988-1999. RMC last won in2002 by a score of 3-0 and Army won in
2004 3-2.
The 2003 game featured a 4-0 Army win at West Point. RMC was shut
out for the first timesince 1996 while being short handed 12 times
during the game.
The 2006 game was a 3-3 tie in front of 3100 fans in Kingston.
Currently Army leads the Series 39-29-7.
The 2007 edition of the rivalry was to take place on Saturday 10
Feb, at Tate Arena in West Point, New York, but was cancelled due
to regular season scheduling conflicts.
For 2008 the teams will not play a competitive game but instead the
Paladins will travel to New York to spend 3 days practicing,
playing and socializing with the West Point cadets.
This series, conceived in 1923, is the longest running annual
international sporting event in the world.
Historic Hockey Series
The
Canadian Amateur
Hockey Association recognizes a claim that Kingston,
Ontario is the birthplace of ice
hockey from a game played between Queen's University
and the Royal Military College of Canada in
1886. This game is memorialized by the International
Hockey Hall of Fame
annual Historic Hockey Series. The Queen’s
vs. RMC rivalry dates back to 1886 and is the longest in hockey
history. Since that time the rivalry has continued to grow with
fans travelling to the cross-town rival RMC.
Wing Harrier Race and sports day
The annual Wing Harrier Race and
sports
day is held in the fall. During the traditional Wing Harrier
race, a 5 kilometre run around the peninsula, cadets are allowed to
wear colourful costumes to support the squadrons. The day includes
various activities such as tabloids, the
maze
challenge,
Flag football,
tug-of-war and the chain of command
relay race. The day finishes off with the award
ceremony.
Sandhurst Competition
Royal Military College of Canada
Cadets compete at Sandhurst in 2009
The college won the competition in 2005, 2006 and 2007. Following
defeat by the Sandhurst Academy team in 2008, RMC won the
Sandhurst Competition again in 2009.
The military skills competition included an equipment inspection,
boat movement,
marksmanship,
grenade throwing,
first
aid, river crossing, wall obstacle, and radio
communications.
Physical Performance
RMC students must also complete the RMC Physical Performance Test
three times each year. The test consists of five components, which
are scored separately, and the total is summed together for a final
score with a maximum of 500 points.
Student Athletes
In the 2006-07 school year, 15 RMC student-athletes earned Academic
All-Canadian status under
CIS guidelines while another
5 fencers earned the equivalent
OUA achievement.
Awards
Awards are granted to outstanding cadets:
| Award |
Description |
Honours |
| Greenwood Cup |
top female runner of the Annual Harrier Race -“for Annual
Competition by Gentlemen Cadets” until 1954. |
3252 EA “Ted” Tromanhauser (RMC ‘54) |
| Leinster Shield |
Regular Officer Training Plan (ROTP), the Reserve Entry
Training Plan (RETP) squadron amassing the most points in the
Commandant's Competition, with events involving military, athletic
and academic prowess. |
Leinster plate donated to RMC
museum |
| MacArthur Leadership Award |
cadet who demonstrates outstanding leadership performance based
on credo of Duty-Honour-Country and potential for future service in
the profession of arms. |
General Douglas
MacArthur |
| Jack C. Sargant Memorial Scholarship |
varsity athlete student who demonstrates proficiency in
academic standing, sportsmanship, leadership, and athletic
ability. |
3091 Jack J.C. Sargant (RMC 1953) |
| Pijper Cup |
overall winner of the Ex cadet vs Cadet sports challenge on ex
cadet (Reunion) weekend |
12609 Thomas A Pijper (RMC 1980) |
| Sword of Distinction for Leadership |
graduating ROTP/RETP cadet who displays outstanding leadership
through attaining the highest Cadet appointment of Cadet Wing
Senior (CWS) in their graduating year. |
|
| Sword of Honour |
graduating ROTP/RETP cadet who best combines high standards of
proficiency in each of the four components of the RMC
programme. |
|
| Victor Van der Smissen-Ridout Memorial Award |
graduating ROTP/RETP cadet deemed to stand highest morally,
intellectually, and physically at RMC. |
Captain William Henry Victor Van der Smissen (KIA 1916) and 2415 W.L. Ridout (RMC 1934)
(KIA 1934) |
| Wheatley Challenge Cup |
overall winner of the annual Harrier Run |
4252 MGen (Ret'd) Howard HR Wheatley (RRMC RMC 1958) |
| The Whitaker Cup |
awarded annually to the top Team Captain of a RMC varsity
sports team. |
Brigadier-General Denis Whitaker |
|
| The Matt Dawe Award |
awarded annually to the outstanding ROTP athlete who has
excelled in the four pillars at RMC. |
[Named in memory of Matt Dawe who was killed in Afghanistan in
2007. Inaugural winner was Matt Lorrain from Men's Volleyball in
2008.] |
| J. Douglas Young Sword of Excellence |
Cadet Squadron Senior (CSS) of the Squadron winning the
Commandant's Competition. |
2360 Major John Douglas (Doug) Young (RMC 1937) who was
KIA on D-Day |
|
Other Articles
- RMC Hockey History Digest, Eds. S125 Major (Ret) William WJ
Oliver and S134 Mrs Rolande Oliver, Red & White Books,
Kingston, 2003
See also
References
- CFPSA :: Canadian Forces Personnel Support Agency -
Corporate :: Media Centre
- Other schools review athletics - Queen's
Journal
- e-Veritas
- globesports.com: RMC-West Point game on
ice
- Crowly, R, and Guinzburg, T: "West Point: Two Centuries of
Honor and Tradition" (ISBN 0-446-53018-2), page 234. Warner Books,
2002.
- http://queenshockey.com/newsstory.php?N_ID=23
- Royal Military College of Canada
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