History

The Club was originally founded in 1975 by Kelly Wionzek, Wanda Baker, Gail Wionzek and Deb Holder in Saskatoon, Canada and operated as the Saskatoon Happy Hookers until it changed its name to the Kirin in 1986.

In the first few years competition the Hookers were restricted to inter-squad games but in 1977 the team traveled to St. Paul, Minnesota for the Jesse James Tournament. After this, the Hookers were able to compete against other Canadian teams in Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary, and Regina as the women's game increased in popularity and expanded.

The team experienced ups and downs throughout its history. In 1993 the team saw a surge of new players, and the departure of old as the team split to form the Nemesis Women's Rugby Club. Through the restructuring, the team has survived to carry on the tradition of play that those before us strived for.

The Kirin is a competitive team that has the pride and desire to succeed. Through mentoring in the junior program, the future of the Kirin is strong as new players work hard to achieve the standard that has been set for them by those of the past. This team has produced many representative players for the Saskatchewan Provincial team with some members being listed for the Canadian National team.

In 1993-1994, some members of the Kirin saw the need to recruit past the high school age, and started the University of Saskatchewan Kats Women's Rugby Club. This brought a whole new group into women's rugby giving way to other clubs starting up in Saskatoon.

Our members have always enjoyed traveling to tournaments either under the name of Ki-rin, Traveling Holsteins, or Kats. These tournaments include SNAFU - Winnipeg, Rugby fest - Edmonton, Missoula - Montana, and Arizona. Plans to travel to Australia are in the works.

Today, the membership of the Kirin is growing as the popularity of the sport is taking off. The Kirin rely on new blood to keep the traditions going, but have not forgotten about those who made it possible for this team to survive for this long. We take the experience from the past, and use it to make this team successful.