Caledon Cavaliers Rugby Football Club celebrates the 25th anniversary 

By Jim Stewart 

Liz Coulter has seen all the manifestations of the Caledon Cavaliers Rugby Football Club over the last 25 years.

The organization's administrator played on the Cavs' first team in 2001, saw the franchise rise in the rankings until it disbanded in 2008, and witnessed its resurrection under the leadership of Michele Iacovelli in 2020 whose team of volunteers have restored the local rugby program to its former prominence.

Coulter described the origins and early successes of the program: “I was on the original girls' team in 2001. Our roots were at Humberview and most of us wanted a place to play after we graduated. We went into the Toronto Rugby Union—Todd Russell came up from Toronto and stepped in to coach us—and in 2003, we won the TRU B League championship. We beat teams that had been around forever—the Nomads, the Irish—and we kept the team going and achieved two perfect seasons in 2005 and 2006.  Unfortunately, the team disbanded in 2008 as many of players started having families, and, unfortunately, the organization fell onto hard times. Mike started the resurgence of the program in 2020 and jumpstarted the Cavaliers with the Rookie Rugby program.”

The current Cavs' registrar and Board member credited Iacovelli's vision for the organization's rise in popularity and success: “Mike motivated and empowered aspiring coaches and referees in the Cavaliers program. As well, he created a big team of volunteers. The club under Mike's leadership is now engrossed in supporting our teams on the field. We're encouraging the players' educational pathways to get them to the next level while supporting the community of Caledon that have given so much to us including improvements to our facility in Palgrave.”

The Cavaliers' annual junior tournament has become so popular over the last three years that the event outgrew the rustic facilities at Palgrave Park and had to be moved to Johnson Sports Park in June 2026.

Coulter acknowledged the surge in rugby's popularity in the Town and surrounding areas: “We're sitting at 100 players registered as an organization ranging from one Senior Women's team to over 100 kids running around the fields and enjoying the game. We had phenomenal Junior Girls and Junior Boys results in 2025 and we're proud of our Youth Program's accomplishments over such a short period of time. Based on the growth of the organization and our success on the field, we received a special distinction award from Rugby Ontario in 2025.”

In addition to the Cavaliers organization and its teams succeeding on and off the pitch, Coulter also foregrounded individual achievements as a source of communal pride: “Luca Iacovelli—who's also won the Rugby Ontario Junior Referee of the Year in 2024—earned a full tuition scholarship to play rugby with the McMaster Marauders and study engineering. The Schulich Leader Scholarship is a prestigious award valued at $120,000 and Luca, who's a graduate of Humberview, just finished his second year at Mac. It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy—an upstanding young man. He's the Director of our referees at the age of 19. Another noteworthy achievement on the pitch was Cristian Iacovelli being selected to play for the Toronto Rugby Reds in the Fall. His U15 West squad captured the bronze medal at the Belwether 7's tournament in Brantford.”

As part of the club's celebrations to mark its start 25 years ago, Coulter noted “the Caledon Cavaliers Minor Rugby Festival at the Johnson Sports Park will bring in hundreds of youth rugby players” and encouraged “registration in rugby for the Fall 7's season. Registration will run til August.  The 7's season runs from August to October with tournaments in September and October. Training and games will take place at our home field at Palgrave Park. Until the Park is ready for us this Spring, we'll be running our practices at Humberview's turf field.”

Go to www.caledoncavaliersrugby.ca to register for these Fall Rugby programs.