The Sarnia Saints Rugby Club is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year.
The organization was founded in 1958 by Ron Stott and Keith Etherington, who came to Sarnia from northern England.
President Chris Groombridge says the Saints had 15 players in the inaugural year.
In the 60s and 70s, a lot of people came to the area from Europe, New Zealand, and Austrailia because of the construction boom and the opening of Lambton College.
"As with everything, there are cycles," says Groombridge. "Not every year is an overwhelming success, and sometimes there are struggles. I think the reason that people stay with our rugby club is because they make friends and because they have fun. They know that when the game is on, you play with all of your heart and when the game is done the game is done.
In rugby, there's a place for every shape and size. Over the past few years in Ontario, girl's rugby has just exploded. We in our club have enough girls and women to form teams. Our biggest challenge is finding teams to play against."
Today, the Saints have almost 200 players, competing on nine youth, junior and adult teams.
Saturday features a whole day of rugby at Norm Perry Park.
The old-timers game will be played in the morning, the women host Bruce County at noon, and the men face Hamilton at 1:30pm for the B Side match and at 3pm for the A side contest.
The men's teams will be wearing special jerseys that will be auctioned off after the game, with proceeds benefiting the Point Edward Optimists.
