Around the Touchline Feature:

 
 
Tom Kaijaks was best known in Pembrokeshire Sport as an excellent prop with Narberth and also outside the area with Felinfoel, Llanelli and Bridgend Ravens, and but in January 2022 he took the decision to gain more experience abroad - and since then has been ensconced in Vancouver, on the west coast of Canada, playing for a club with the unusual name of the UBC Old Boy Ravens.
 
Perhaps understandably, they are known simply as ‘The Ravens’, who started up in 1970 after former students of Vancouver University wanted to play the oval-ball game - and now play on their complex at Jericho Beach, which has a stadium with two pitches, a training facility and a number of teams for men and women which is overlooked by huge mountains and the nearby bay.
 
“I had been playing for Narberth in 2019 and went over to Australia to play, and loved it there - but Covid descended on us and so we had no choice but to leave,” explained Tom.
 

Vancouver-bound and loving it there!

 
But he still had that travelling itch that needed scratching and he looked at rugby in Canada and discovered there were two main centres; one in Vancouver, which has the same playing season as here and the other option was an area between Montreal and Toronto, where there’s often feet of snow at that time and so they play in what we would regard as summer months.
 
“I fancied having the chance to avoid too-harsh winters and I could still do a bit of skiing and snowboarding in Vancouver outside the rugby season on the West Coast of the country, living just above Seattle on the West Coast of the USA.
 
“I almost feel that when I found the Vancouver area it found me because after looking on You Tube, I was contacted by The Ravens as they reached out to me so my partner Grace and I needed little persuasion to give it a go and become a part-time professional with them.
 

A cosmopolitan club playing at a high level

 
“I found a role in finance for my other work and I have been made very welcome at what is a cosmopolitan club because we also have players from New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, France, the UK, a few from Canada and two Kenyans who were previously in their national sevens’ squad on the IRB Circuit and are very quick indeed!
 
“We have also had Fijians and Samoans in our club and we play in the top section of the five that are included in the British Columbia Premier League set-up and it is regarded as the strongest of the regions that play in Canada - since the representative side hasn’t lost for almost a decade.
 
‘Our club also represented the Region in a 2022 international competition in Colorado where we played Penarol (Uruguay), American Raptors (the home team) and the Jaguares from Argentina in front of sizeable crowds in a carnival atmosphere.
 
“We easily beat Penarol to make a good start and then won comfortably against The Raptors but were smashed 60-10 by the Argentinians as we were almost chasing shadows - and later discovered that no fewer than TEN of their players were important members of Argentina’s World Cup squad!”
 
“Matches are often streamed and so it was great that my family could watch some of the games live on television!”
 

A nasty injury – but back in action now

 
The only downside for Tom came last season when he was playing well until it was brought to a sudden halt when he was carrying the ball well but was caught by two tacklers at the same time,
but at different angles, and knew straight away that he had broken his leg because when he looked down it was almost pointing the wrong way!
 
“It was agony and I was soon on my way to hospital, where I had a metal plate inserted in my leg, which was anchored by a sizeable screw near my ankle, which was a bit nerve-wracking, but the club was brilliant with my treatment and especially physiotherapy as I was out of action from April to October.
 
“I’m delighted that I am now back in action and so far we have won five of our first six games but lost narrowly to our near neighbours and closest rivals, The Meralcomas, whose ground is situated less than two miles from us - and we are due to play them again in the New Year and at the moment both teams are likely to make it to the section final at the end of the campaign.




 

Started at Bierspool and gained experience across South Wales

 
All this action seems a long way away from his start in the game when he was a nipper at Pembroke Dock Harlequins and after school he attended Coleg Sir Gar and played age-range rugby with them and The Scarlets Youth.
 
“Then I played for Felinfoel and Llanelli for four seasons alongside Ryan Conbeer (Narberth) and Rhys Fawcett (Pembroke) alongside my work in finance for the NHS.
 
“I really enjoyed my time at Narberth with a great bunch of players, coaches and supporters but then moved to work in Cardiff, where I played for Bridgend Ravens so I had a fair bit of experience before Grace and I departed to Canada.




 

Total family support – and nice to come home for a Christmas visit

 
“Throughout the planning for our adventure we had total support from my parents Debbie and Colin, who in his younger days was heavily involved in cricket at Pembroke and Swansea - and came out to see us in the summer. My brother Jamie has also been a good rugby player as another prop and my dad refereed for a while. Our family is completed by my sister Emily, who is the brains of the Kaijaks’ kids and is a gifted musician.”
 
“Grace’s dad, Mark Brindley and his brother Alan, played for one of the best football teams of their era with New Hedges and so there is a lot of sport from the fellers in our families!”
 

Ready to resume his rugby career

 
Back home to see them all over the festive season, Tom enjoyed watching The Otters smash Tata Steel just before Christmas and on the 5th of January he and Grace will be jetting back to Vancouver so he can resume his rugby with The Ravens.
 
“We have superb facilities and we will be training two nights a week on the grass training pitch, as well as up to three times a week in the weights’ facilities, two of which are compulsory and the other optional.
 
“We are actually a mixture of amateurs, part timers like me and a handful of professionals and we have recently received the good news that we have been granted permanent residency status - but I wouldn’t dismiss another move after a few years to somewhere like Australia or Europe (perhaps Spain or Italy), or even back to Wales to round off my playing days.”
 
Tom Kaijaks has certainly enjoyed his rugby career and it is good to report that he still as enthusiastic as ever and we at PembrokeshireSport.co.uk wish him continued enjoyment and success because he is a great flag bearer for Pembrokeshire and Wales in his rugby involvement!