‘Rugby for Community Safety’ initiative kicks off to support Montreal youth and prevent violence

A new initiative in Montreal is using rugby to empower youth, prevent violence, and bring community together.

Thursday marked the launch of Rugby for Community Safety, a program led by the Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations (CRARR), the Jamaica Association of Montreal (JAM), and McGill’s Rugby Football Club, at McGill Sports Complex.

“It makes it even more exciting, because that’s not a program  that many black can get involved in,” said Yvonne Sam, Chair, Rights and Freedom Committee at Black Community Resource Centre.

A reception brought together leaders, youth, public safety officials—and of course rugby players—before guests headed to Percival Molson Stadium for McGill’s season opener against Carleton.

“We have the support from McGill, and we also working closely with the Montreal Police and others with the City of Montreal because you know in the city in recent months we have seen a lot of youth violence, either youth who are victims of armed violence or youth who are perpetrators of violence,” said Fo Niemi, Executive Director, Center for Research-Action on Race Relations (CRARR). “So this is one way for us to contribute to the prevention of this violence problem, so that challenge will be an element of success, because there is not a lot of blacks involved in that.”

“When Fo brought this to my attention, right away I said yes, I want to be part of this, I want to be part of anything that would better my community as a whole,” said Sam.

This initiative builds on CRARR-JAM’s Together Against Violence project, launched in 2023, and draws inspiration from a program developed by the Greater Manchester Police Force in the U.K.

The second phase of Rugby for Community Safety will take place on Friday, October 4, 2025, from 9:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. at McGill’s Forbes Field. The event will feature interactive rugby workshops and youth empowerment activities for Montreal youth.

“We as a rugby team will be coaching on October 4th any and all children who are available to come,” said a fourth-year McGill student in psychology and philosophy, and a member of the rugby team.

“What we want to do is give them an introduction into the game, show them the ropes, show them how everything works, and then hopefully encourage them to either continue with the sport.”

“There are about almost 30 community organizations east, west, north, south of Montreal who have been involved with us through basketball,” said Fo. “Now we want to get them involved in rugby. Next year, we’re looking  at using martial arts, karate, and kung fu schools as a way also to get youth involved, because a lot of youth, particularly young women, will need to know about self-defense.”