Powell River Fire Rescue firefighter wins bronze in rugby sevens

Powell River Fire Rescue firefighter Kevin Cote recently won a bronze medal at the 2023 World Police and Fire Games in Winnipeg in rugby sevens.

Cote, an ardent rugger since the age of 15 with Otago Rugby Club, played for the 1697s Rugby Club based out of Prince George in the world games. The team was made up of 13 first responders from Prince George, Quesnel, Burns Lake, Fort St. John, Kelowna, Vancouver, Winnipeg and of course, Powell River. More than 70 nations took part in the games.

Cote said he was recruited for the games, held July 28 to August 6, through a friend of a friend.

“As firefighters, we tend to talk together,” said Cote. “Jacob Hanson [a qathet region firefighter] put me in touch with his buddies in Prince George, we all got talking and lo and behold, we put a team together. We’re from everywhere with a mix of firefighters and police.”

Cote, who has been playing rugby for more than 25 years, was in Winnipeg from July 30 to August 3. He played in five games, with three on the first day and two on the second day, which were the playoffs.

“We lost to Australia on the second day and played Hong Kong for the bronze, which we won,” said Cote. “It was very good competition; it was absolutely high-level rugby.”

Cote said his games were in the second division of the rugby competition. There was also a first division, and he believes there were seven teams in that division.

Cote, who usually plays rugby 15s with Otago, said the rugby sevens format of the world games was intense. As opposed to rugby 15s, which is 40-minute for each half, rugby sevens features seven-minute halfs, or 14-minute games.

“It’s high speed because the field doesn’t get any smaller,” said Cote. “You have fewer people on a large playing surface, which makes for a lot of running.”

A rugby sevens team is comprised of three players in the scrum, a scrum half, which is the position Cote plays, and three players in the back line.

“I loved playing scrum half,” said Cote. “That’s my position on the field in 15s and I was more than happy to play it in sevens.”

Cote said the 1697s team really bonded in its short time together. He said there was also some great bonding with the players from other parts of the world.

“It was a fantastic group of guys and I can’t say enough about what a wonderful experience it was to have met these people in person,” said Cote.

Plans for attending the games were put together in November of last year. Cote said his small tree company, Bottom Up Tree Services, sponsored jerseys for the players.

“The company bought the kit for the guys,” said Cote.

Players had to pay for transportation to the games and for accommodation.

Happy with host

Cote said Winnipeg was a good host for the games. The sports facilities were also good, he added, and field conditions were great for the competition.

Cote said a storm came through on the playoff day, which slowed things up, but the sun came out and everyone had fun for the second day of competition.

“The social end of things took off afterward,” said Cote. “All the first responders really meshed well, between the police, fire, coast guard, and there were some emergency responders there too, but mostly police and fire.”

Adam Gordon, a firefighter from Prince George and coach of the 1697s Rugby Club that went to the world games, said about four years ago he was prompted by his wife to try and put together a rugby team with the goal of going to something like the World Police and Fire Games. He said at the time, there were only a handful of rugby players in the Prince George fire department, so he had to branch out to talking to RCMP members, and he started putting out feelers to other fire departments.

He said he was in touch with Hanson, who connected him with Cote.

“I got hold of Kevin and had good conversations,” said Gordon. “I believe Kevin was the first member of the team to commit to the world games.

“He was very passionate and one of the main sponsors of the team. I loved the uniforms and we got a lot of compliments.”

Gordon said Cote had a fantastic tournament.

“It was quite a joy to see the team come together, having no idea what anybody’s skill or experience was,” said Gordon. “Kevin is such a hard-nosed player and he’s really savvy. He played his heart out and I enjoyed watching him play.”

Gordon said he’d like to take another team to the next world games.

“Being able to win a bronze medal for the first time around is something I’ll never forget,” he added.

~ With files from Prince George Citizen