Cape Breton students are showing their support for a rugby player who was injured during a game, and also for the sport, as its future remains uncertain in Nova Scotia high schools.

Friends, family, teammates, and even rival players, gathered Monday at Sydney Academy to show their support for Diego Kuri.

The international exchange student was injured during a rugby game between the Glace Bay Panthers and Sydney Academy Wildcats on Wednesday.

The 16-year-old Sydney Academy student was airlifted to hospital in Halifax, but has since been released, and is back in Cape Breton.

“I was running and a kid … he hit me in the chin … and then I fell and hit my head on the ground,” recalled Kuri of the incident.

He said he suffered a concussion and was knocked unconscious. He doesn’t remember much after being hit.

“I think it was scary for the rest of the people because I don’t remember anything,” said Kuri.

Minutes after he was loaded into an ambulance, his family was contacted in Mexico and on the next flight out to Halifax.

“I feel very sad, and all my family sad, because Diego is so far away from Mexico, so it’s more hard,” said his brother, Gabriel Kuri.

Less than 24 hours after the game, the Nova Scotia School Athletic Federation decided to ban rugby in all Nova Scotia high schools, citing safety and liability concerns.

The decision was met with backlash from players, politicians, Rugby Nova Scotia, and Rugby Canada, and Nova Scotia Education Minister Zach Churchill has called on the NSSAF to reinstate the sport.

Students at Sydney Academy said they’re disappointed by the decision.

“Everyone here is just one big family. We all care for one another,” said Isaiah MacNeil, Kuri’s friend and teammate.

“What happened to Diego was a complete accident and it was no fault of anyone else, but we are all here to show our support for Diego and his family.”

Kuri and MacNeil said Monday’s rally wasn’t meant to be a protest, but to show how the sport has brought many students together.

“We are just like brothers. You know, we do everything together all the time,” said Kuri.

“Football and rugby combined has created a bond between us, but the time we spend off the field, in school, and doing extra activities between the two of us has created an even stronger bond that I don’t think we’ll ever forget,” said MacNeil.

Kuri said he plans on playing rugby again, and hopes the high school sport will return to Sydney Academy.

 

Future of high school rugby uncertain

Meanwhile, the future of rugby in Nova Scotia high schools remains uncertain.

Nova Scotia Education Minister Zach Churchill has told the NSSAF to allow rugby to resume, saying the federation had contravened a governing funding agreement with the province, and its decision to ban the sport came without appropriate consultation.

However, Stephen MacNeil, chair of the board of governors for the federation, said in a memo that his organization met with deputy minister Cathy Montreuil on March 29 to discuss any issues that could potentially come from the decision and "she offered no objections."

"The justification for the (government) decision was that the NSSAF breached the funding agreement with the department because the department was not informed of the proposed changes," MacNeil wrote.

"The NSSAF Board of Governors disagrees that the funding agreement was breached."

The Education Department said later Monday that one staff person attended the board's meeting last week, but in a non-voting capacity.

It said the federation issued its directive to schools on the same day with "no heads up to the department, no consultation with school communities."

"The NSSAF raised the stats around rugby with the deputy in March with no indication that rugby would be cancelled in the middle of the season, and certainly, not cancelled on May 2 at noon," the department said.

The NSSAF and Department of Education are meeting Tuesday to discuss the situation.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Kyle Moore and The Canadian Press