Toquaht Nation member Phil Mack will be honoured this coming weekend for his distinguished rugby career.
Mack is one of eight new inductees this year into the Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame.
Induction ceremonies will be held on Saturday, Nov. 7 at a ceremony at the Delta Hotels by Marriott Victoria Ocean Pointe Resort.
Mack was a member of the Canadian senior men’s rugby team between 2009 through 2020. He appeared in 59 international matches and represented the country at the World Cup in both 2015 and 2019.
Mack also suited up for the national men’s sevens program, participating in 52 games. He helped Canada win gold medals at the 2011 and 2015 Pan American Games.
As a pro, Mack served as a player/coach with the Seattle Seawolves, who captured back-to-back Major League Rugby championships in 2018 and ’19.
Mack also coached with Thunder Rugby, an Indigenous program he helped launch in 2014. Plus, he had coaching positions with Pacific Pride, Rugby Canada’s development academy, as well as with the national men’s team.
He’s being inducted into the hall of fame via both the player and coach categories.
“It's always kind of uncomfortable for me to receive these types of awards,” Mack admitted. “But I really want to stress the importance of Indigenous youth participating in sport. As uncomfortable as it is for me, I think it's really important that the youth see that it is possible.”
Mack said he knows “the athletic ability within our Indigenous communities is immense.”
He added that at times Indigenous athletes simply try to convince themselves they are not capable of achieving sporting greatness, but he hopes his achievements can be an inspiration to others.
“My reserve is Toquaht and we have about 250 members,” he said. “We're tiny. And what’s stopping anyone? I was pretty stubborn. I went through a (lot) of injuries but just kept going, kept going, kept going. I think it’s important that there’s a reason for kids to say, ‘Why not me?’”
Chris Graham, the chair of the induction nomination committee for the Victoria hall of fame, said Mack is indeed a worthy inductee.
“Phil Mack is one of the most accomplished rugby players to emerge from Greater Victoria, having had an extraordinary career at the national and international levels,” Graham said. “Phil is very deserving of his induction to the Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame not only for his accomplishments as an athlete but also for his success as a coach and leadership roles with Rugby Canada and within the Indigenous community.”
The Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame has been in existence since 1991. But it does not have its own building.
Instead, hall displays are located inside the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre, located on Blanshard Street in Victoria. Members of the public can visit the hall for free.
Graham said the number of nominations the hall annually receives varies.
“We track nominations and keep a running list of people we are aware of who would meet our eligibility requirements,” he said.
A maximum of eight inductees are chosen each year. They can be inducted via the following categories: athlete, coach, official, teams, builder and media.
Mack was nominated by his high school soccer coach Rich Fast, a man he met when he attended Oak Bay High School in Victoria.
“He's a super incredible coach, super good guy,” Mack said of Fast.
Mack added he played multiple sports while growing up.
“I played almost everything,” he said, adding soccer was the main sport he competed in. “And then when I went to Oak Bay, that was my first introduction to rugby in about Grade 10.”
Mack, who is 41, has had some recent conversations regarding pro coaching positions.
“Any full-time professional coaching role would require leaving Victoria and going elsewhere,” he said. “And that's just not something I'm really willing to do.”
As for his upcoming induction, Mack admits that despite his lengthy list of accomplishments in the sport, he said there were some “personal milestones” he did not meet.
“You look back on your career and there's like certain milestones that you always wanted to hit and certain goals you wanted to accomplish,” he said. “And maybe it's like the perfectionist side of elite sport, but I just kind of wanted more from the career that I had.
“And so, it's hard for me to kind of like pat myself on the back knowing there's a bunch of unaccomplished goals.”
But now that he reminisces upon his time in the sport, Mack considers himself fortunate.
“The further you get from the career, you look back on it and there's all these amazing memories and friendships and relationships that you build along the way,” he said.
Mack said his mother, sister, brother-in-law and various childhood friends will be among those joining him for Saturday’s induction ceremony.
The other athletes who will be inducted this year are former National Hockey League goaltender Ron Grahame, diver Riley McCormick, professional triathlete/mountain biker Melanie McQuaid and soccer’s Bruce Twamley, who like Mack is also getting inducted as a coach as well.
Meanwhile, Peter Vizsolyi is being inducted via the coach and builder categories for his efforts in swimming. The Royal Victoria Yacht Club is being inducted through the builder category. And Keith Newell is entering the hall as an official and builder for his work in athletics (track and field).
