Royal Military College Paladins

Template:Infobox canadian college athletics 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):

• Basketball (M/W)
• Fencing (M/W)
• Hockey (M)
• Rugby union (M)
• Soccer (M/W)
• Taekwondo (M/W)
• Volleyball (M/W)
• Running (M/W)

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 coaches 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 something that 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 (Gen) 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 criterion 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 crown and arm 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 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 hockey today by Royal Military College of Kingston, Ontario. The Canadian cadets excelled the Army men 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 cleanest fought 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 a 21-18-1 advantage. Throughout the 70's and 80's the teams played fairly closely. In 1986 the record 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 in 2002 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 time since 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.

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

For the third year in a row, RMC won the 2007 Sandhurst Competition. 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
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

List of Royal Military College of Canada people Canadian Interuniversity Sport.

External links

• Royal Military College of Canada athletics
• Unofficial RMC Paladins Varsity Hockey Program