Since 2007 the Howlers have been involved in raising over $350,000 for various worthwhile endeavours which you can read more about on the web page or facebook page . The latest are:
 
May 22, 2012 - The Dog River Howlers, Rugby Canada and Balmy Beach Rugby Club teamed up to help Kerry Singh (Huggy) raise funds for his new wheelchair-accessible van. Better known to former teammates and friends as Huggy, was a member of the Balmy Beach RFC of Toronto in 1993 when he suffered a spinal cord injury while playing rugby.  The injury resulted in quadriplegia and in 1994 the Balmy Beach Rugby Club, friends and family helped Huggy raise money to purchase a van that could be modified for him to drive.  This helped him improve his quality of life and allowed him to enjoy his independence of mobility, but the van is over 15 years old now and in need of being replaced. To date this endeavour has reased some $36,000 of a targeted $50,000.http://donate.rugbycanada.ca/e/huggy

May 23, 2012 - The Howlers donated $250 towards the "ONE STOP KID SHOP INC" which is a child  care program established at Cochrane High School in Regina. Cochrane is a vocational school serving approximately 450 students, many with a myriad of learning challenges. Cochrane offers a holistic program that prepares students to be successful in life. Most Cochrane students who become parents leave school mainly due to the lack of available child care for their babies. To help meet this need, the school has donated space for a day care centre. The centre will allow these young parents an opportunity to complete high school and offers support services including parenting classes and a parent support group. Parents, grandparents and elders will be involved in programming in the day care.

Karl Fix - president of the Dog River Howlers Rugby Club where "it's more than a game, it's a way of life"  - www.dogriverhowlers.com   and Facebook  - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dog-River-Howlers-Rugby-Club/171358302913109  -  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cq2CLUdzri8  

TV TIMES TO WATCH ULTRA 7'S RUGBY

Ultra Sevens Rugby’s (http://www.ultrasevensrugby.com/) (http://www.facebook.com/Ultra7sRugby) inaugural match between Saskatchewan provincial rivals the Prairie Fire and the Wolverines will be broadcast on television by Regina’s Access7 on Saturday, May 19 at 1 p.m., with that TV broadcast to be repeated Wednesday, May 23 at 8 p.m. The online broadcast via the SportsCanada.TV website (www.sportscanada.tv) begins at 8 p.m. ET on Friday, May 25 and can be watched from anywhere in Canada or around the world.
Broadcast times around the world:
BC,- 7:00 pm
Los Angeles, California - 7:00 pm
Phoenix, Arizona - 7:00 pm
Alberta - 8:00 pm
Manitoba - 9:00 pm
Dallas/Houston, Texas - 9:00 pm
Mexico City - 9:00 pm
Lima, Peru - 9:00 pm
Caracas ,Venezuela - 9:30 pm
Ontario - 10:00 pm
Quebec - 10:00 pm
Washington DC - 10:00 pm
Havana, Cuba - 10:00 pm
Trinidad and Tobago - 10:00 pm
Maritimes - 11:00 pm
Newfoundland - 11:30 pm
England/Ireland/Scotland/Wales - 3:00 am Saturday May, 26
Germany - 4:00 am Saturday May, 26
Rwanda - 4:00 am Saturday May, 26
Port Elizabeth, South Africa - 4:00 am Saturday May, 26
Uganda - 5:00 am Saturday May, 26
Sydney, Australia - 12:00 noon Saturday May, 26
New Zealand - 2:00 pm Saturday May,26
Fiji - 2:00 pm Saturday May, 26

Some pictures from the event -http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150784421036254.388968.514726253&&l=aad9b3cda0

The game of rugby - in one form or another - is one of only a handful of team sports that is played nearly the whole world over.

But despite the game's status across the globe, rugby - the de facto national sport of New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Wales - pales in comparison in terms of popularity to baseball, basketball, football and hockey in North America.

Rugby's lack of popularity across the continent isn't lost on Karl Fix, who has been involved with the sport in some capacity for nearly 40 years.

"(Rugby's popularity in North America is) very limited," admitted Fix, a cofounder of the Prairie Fire Rugby Football Club and also the president of the Dog River Howlers rugby club.

"You go out to games here (and) there's 50 or 100 people ... When Canada plays an international game, we're very lucky if we get 10,000 fans; that would be a good one. It has changed a little bit, but when South Africa plays or when England plays, there's 80,000 or 100,000 fans."

Fix recently set his sights on adapting rugby sevens - a relatively simple form of the game - to what he called the "North American sports psyche" to help drive up interest in rugby across the continent.

"Having been involved with rugby for a long time, I saw that it wasn't growing - the fan base was not growing," Fix noted. "There was very limited growth ... The motivation was strictly to make it attractive to the North American audience, the viewing audience and also the people who come into the game."

Taking a lead from the game of football, Fix changed the format of rugby sevens from two seven-minute halves to four 15-minute quarters with an extended halftime period. As opposed to the traditional game, in which substitutions are few and far between, Fix's game - which boasts larger rosters than the traditional format - relies heavily on frequent strategic substitutions.

Additionally, instead of the two-day tournament format that is generally utilized in the traditional game, Fix views ultra sevens rugby as someday being played in a league format.

After some deliberation, Fix's new style of the sport was dubbed "ultra sevens rugby."

Although Fix's alterations to rugby - a sport he calls the "last bastion of British colonialism" - are quite radical in nature, he insisted that the reception he has so far gotten from the rugby community has been mostly positive.

Robin MacDowell, who is involved in 15 different rugby programs in Saskatchewan, emphasized that he and others have been enthralled by Fix's ultra sevens concept from the very beginning.

"I was thrilled (when Fix explained his idea), to be honest - I was really thrilled ...," MacDowell noted. "Everybody is very interested."

On Saturday, the inaugural ultra sevens rugby match is to be contested between the Regina Prairie Fire, which is to be coached by MacDowell, and the North Saskatchewan Wolverines. The contest, with the Thompson Cup at stake, is to be played at the Regina Rugby Union clubhouse.

Tickets to the event, which is to also feature several other traditional rugby matches, are to be available at the door.

Looking past the inaugural ultra sevens match on the weekend, Fix hopes to put on another contest - perhaps a women's match - in Canada in 2013. But before that, he intends on further marketing his game to the greater rugby community.

MacDowell, who has played in nearly 100 matches at the international level in his career, emphasized that he feels the future is bright for Fix's brand of rugby.

"I think it could spread like wildfire through the country, really," MacDowell offered. "The concept is very unique in that it's a one-hour sevens game."

Fix isn't certain what the future holds for his new style of rugby, but he is hopeful moving forward.

"(How much the sport can grow is) the million-dollar question," Fix said with a laugh. "Obviously, I think it's a great concept - a lot of other people do - but we'll see. Time will tell.

"You want to be optimistic, but also realistic. This is the first game and, like they say, 'One step at a time, sweet Jesus.' "

© Copyright (c) The Regina Leader-Post

Read more: http://www.leaderpost.com/take+game/6603464/story.html#ixzz1ursG9n75

The Ultra Sevens Rugby organizers have announced that Most Valuable Players awards will be presented in association with the Ultra Sevens Rugby game on Saturday.

The committee has chosen to name the awards after individuals that have tirelessly volunteered their time to the game of rugby in Saskatchewan. The following awards will be presented:

Dale Matthews Wolverines MVP Award
Leo Lane Prairie Fire MVP Award
Richard Cornish Junior Prairie Fire MVP Award
Doug Branchflower Notre Dame MVP Award

"We wanted to recognize the impact player from each side during the High School All Star game and the Ultra Sevens Rugby Game," said Karl Fix, lead organizer of Ultra Sevens Rugby. "Naming the awards after individuals that have selflessly committed their time to the game of rugby in Saskatchewan is a small way of recognizing the effort these people have made to our great game," he added.

The inaugural match of Ultra Sevens Rugby will take place on Saturday, May 12, 2012 at the Regina Rugby Club (4025 25 Ave.) when the Prairie Fire will host the Wolverines. Kick off is 4:30 PM. The High School All Star game will take place during halftime of the Ultra Sevens Rugby - http://www.ultrasevensrugby.com/

At the completion of the SRU Junior Rugby Festival on Saturday, May 12, 2012, all participants and teams will be winners. The goal behind the event is to provide a great day of rugby for kids.

The Dog River Howlers (www.dogriverhowlers.com), who espouse the view that rugby is more than a game, it's a way of life, and the SRU will present the Arnie Maier Award to the team that most exemplifies the spirit of rugby.

Arnie Maier has given countless hours to the game of rugby, particularly to high school and junior programs. Arnie played rugby for over 25 years for the Campion Grads and was the long time coordinator and coach at Thom Collegiate, a highly successful rugby program in Regina.

"Arnie Maier exemplifies the kind of spirit and enthusiasm that makes rugby great," said Karl Fix, President of the Dog River Howlers. "He has truly had a positive impact on many young rugby players in Saskatchewan. This award is a great way to recognize the work that Arnie has done over the years," added Fix.

Only 2 uncapped Howlers are being brought unto the squad for the Stampede 7's in Calgary on July 6 and 7. New Howlers Pat Fraser and Connor Mc Cann are currently both playing with James Bay AA with Connor returning to his professional club Top 14 ASM Clermont Auvergne (France) shortly after this tournament.

Ian Shoults, James Buchanan, Dave Poettcker and Chase Sereda will all be earning their 10th Howlers caps with Peni Lutu and Robin Mac Dowell their 8th and 9th respectively.

This squad has a good mix of youth ( Canadian U-20 players Pat Fraser and Pat Kay) and high level international experience with 6 of the players ( Buchanan, Hassler,Mc Cann, Mac Dowell, Mercier and Shoults) having earned Canadian 7's caps.

Recent graduating University of Alberta gridiron star Matt Jarvis and cagy veteran Fijian/Canadian Peni Lutu (nick named the "real Serevi") complete a well rounded squad coached by long term Canadian National Team stalwart Ryan Smith who hope to defend their Stampede 7's championship .

1. # * James Buchanan - Calgary Hornets RFC
2. # Pat Fraser - James Bay AA( Victoria BC)/Cowachin RFC (Vancouver Island BC)
3. # * Jeff Hassler - James Bay AA (Victoria BC)
4. # Matt Jarvis - Burnaby RFC/St. Albert Rugby RFC (Alberta)
5. # Pat Kay - University of Victoria Vikings RFC/Cowachin RFC (Vancouver Island)
6. # Peni Lutu - Regina Campion Grads RFC
7. * Connor McCann - James AA ( Victoria, BC) /ASM Clermont Auvergne (France)
8. # * Robin Mac Dowell - Regina Rogues Rugby Club
9. # * Shawn Mercier - Vancouver Meraloma Athletic Club
10. # David Poettcker - UBC Old Boys RFC (Vancouver BC)
11. # Chase Sereda - Bayside RFC ( White Rock, BC)
12. # * Ian Shoults - Calgary Irish AA# - Howlers cap
* - Canadian cap

Coach - # * Ryan Smith - Calgary Irish
Manager - # Graeme Moffat -Calgary Hornets

The Howlers women's and U-18 men's team will be announced in due course.

Karl Fix - president of the Dog River Howlers Rugby Club where "it's more than a game, it's a way of life" - www.dogriverhowlers.com and Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dog-River-Howlers-Rugby-Club/171358302913109