RMC Paladins

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The RMC Paladins are the athletic teams that represent Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

The Paladins compete in seven sports in the Ontario University Athletics Ontario Universities Association (OUA):

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

1 Varsity Sports Program
2 Redmen to Paladins
3 West Point Weekend
4 Other Articles
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] 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 intuition (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, Track and Field, Swimming, Rowing, Biathlon and Karate; while the college kept the Hockey, Soccer, Volleyball, Basketball, Taekwondo, Fencing and Shooting 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.

[edit] 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 (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 coed institution. Therefore he invited the 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 upkeep the old tradition.

[edit] 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 next edition of the rivalry will take place on Saturday 10 Feb, 2007 at Tate Arena in West Point, [[New York]].