This season, we are hoping to build a greater sense of community in our club. To allow players from all our teams to put names to faces, we're interviewing a few individual players and publishing a short article about them. This week we profile Greg Kurtz, newly appointed captain of the senior men!

Name: Greg Kurtz
Position: 8 man, flanker

Greg's rugby career started at Centre Wellington District High School in Fergus, when he was in the 9th grade. His sister's boyfriend told him that he had no choice but to join him on the field. The club would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to the young man who urged Greg to try something new!

Since that time, Greg joined the Highland Rugby Club in 2008 and quickly became a leader on and off the field. He recently returned from Portugal, having captained the men's team during the clubs first ever overseas tour for a senior team! He believes this experience has brought the team together, and set a lofty standard for the season ahead. The players and coaches have high expectations for this team, given this glimpse of what the team is capable of. The NRU men's A division should be an exciting one this year!

Greg graduated from Queens University in 2008 with a degree in biology. He regrets not playing rugby during his university years, having instead elected to play hockey. Greg loves to be active, also playing hockey and baseball. He's recently become involved with coaching youth rugby, hoping to pass on some of the skill and wisdom he has accumulated over the years.

Off the field, Greg works as an Investment Advisor for BMO Nesbitt Burns. Greg's clients must sometimes wonder how the man who manages their finances has acquired the various scrapes and bruises that follow every Saturday in the summer months.

Greg's most memorable moment on the rugby field took place last summer, in a heated battle against the rival Hamilton Hornets. He is proud that he managed to cross the try line to score, as shown in the picture above, in the only game that his dad could make it to that summer. Sadly, Greg's father later succumbed to his battle with cancer.

Another, less personal highlight of his rugby career, was the senior mens team's Portugal tour in March of 2015. Greg relished the opportunity to be exposed to a new culture, while playing the game he loves most, with the lads he leads into battle every week.

Greg feels that his involvement with the Highland Rugby Club has been incredibly rewarding, saying, "its about being part of something bigger, like a second family". This club is fortunate to have family like Greg!

Greg's goal for 2015 is to win the NRU title. He feels this team has the talent and drive to win the league, and he plans to do everything he can to make sure that happens! He would like to encourage all players from Highland to continue to work hard and have fun, and enjoy all the opportunities this club can offer.

Thanks for being such a valuable part of this great club Greg!

We will continue this player profile series throughout the summer, rotating through all of our teams. If you have someone you think should be interviewed for this feature, please send a quick note to explain why. Click here to email the webmaster and nominate someone to be profiled.