A high school rugby team in British Columbia that played Montague High School during a rugby exchange on P.E.I. last year raised money in honour of Brodie McCarthy over the Victoria Day weekend.

Twenty-seven players from Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary School in Cloverdale, B.C., near Surrey, wore their P.E.I.-B.C. jerseys and sold parking spaces for $5 each at a local rodeo and country fair.

"Rugby's a pretty tight community," said Jamie Overgaard, the coach of the Grade 11 team. "The ethos of that sport is you give your absolute best effort out there and it's very very physical, but when it's all said and done after the final whistle it's kind of a celebration of that camaraderie, that spirit."

McCarthy, 18, died after he sustained head injuries in a "freak accident" during a rugby game earlier this month in Summerside, P.E.I.

Rugby teams at Lord Tweedsmuir held a moment of silence honouring McCarthy before a game last week. (Submitted by Jamie Overgaard)

The B.C. team did several exchanges with P.E.I. teams over the years through a YMCA Youth Exchanges Canada program and after a game last year was hosted by Montague for a pizza lunch, the players got to know one another. Their coach recalls it as "one of the best days they ever had."

'Part of a larger thing'

"Although it was a brief encounter with Brodie and with that school, it was part of a larger thing that really had a very big impact on our players," Overgaard said. "They had an amazing time in Prince Edward Island and they left with some really long-standing friendships."

Some of the B.C. rugby players met McCarthy after they played Montague High School last summer during an exchange. (Submitted by Montague Regional High School)

When their friends in P.E.I.'s rugby community told them about McCarthy's death, they wanted to do something to help.

"They organized it on their own," their coach said.

They quickly organized the fundraiser selling parking spaces, and were even contacted by some donors who wished to give money privately.

The team is still tallying what they raised but Overgaard estimates it's about $2,000.

Overgaard isn't sure yet where the money will go — he's reaching out to people in the P.E.I. rugby community to find out where it's most needed.

The team also plans to send a framed jersey from the exchange trip to Montague High School — it has emblems of P.E.I. on one sleeve and B.C. on the other.

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