In early 2004 two alumni of River City Rugby here in Mason City, Iowa sent out an email to our Club's current and former players over the age of 35 to see how many would be interested in forming a team to attend World Golden Oldies Rugby Festivals. They then set about gathering all the information needed to enter us into the 2005 Festival in San Diego. The Olde' Barking Dogs first team was eleven former River City Rugby players, and an additional nine players from other Clubs around the US, and a couple from Canada. Several wives and girlfriends also made the trip with us.
In 2008, The Dogs set off for Edinburgh, Scotland for the 17th World Golden Oldies Rugby Festival. Nine players from the San Diego Festival made up the core of this team, with an additional eleven players attending their first Festival with us. The Dogs welcomed our first female player to the team in Edinburgh when Megan, the daughter of one of our team members kitted up with us and did an excellent job as a back line player in our three matches.
The 2010 Sydney team will have seven Dogs attending their 3rd Festival, and two more attending their second Festival as Dogs. We will welcome to our ranks several new team members who will don our colors in Sydney to howl with us!
It goes without saying that our 2012 team for Fukuoka, Japan will once again change, but we are hoping to keep our core group of players together, and add to our roster several new members who want to travel to the 19th Festival and see what being a "Dog" is all about. If you are interested in traveling with The Olde' Barking Dogs to Japan in 2012 just let me know and I'll make sure you get forwarded all the details when our tour managers have them available.
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