The History of the Westshore Velox RFC Totem Pole; by Jon Hume
Jon Hume played from 1972 -1993, Team Captain from1979-1981. Coaching and Managing numerous teams over the last 20+ years.
“The pole comes by way of the south pacific and his name Hapo Manu was a worrier god the natives pray to , to protect them from injury when they go into battle . Hapo Manu was carved and given to the club at the grand opening by my brother Tim Hume. He spent some time in the south pacific and brought the legend home and engrained it with west coast first nation culture in the carving of the pole. It is believed that striking Hapo Manu with an open palm before going onto the field of battle his sprit will protect you from harm. The bottom character of the pole is a bear and represents the forwards with the strength to carry the whole team on his back the top figure is the fox and represents the backs ears up, alert, agility, ready to attack the small faces in-between the bear and fox represents the opposition and when the forwards and backs come together they are crushed between the two. Tradition is the game ball is held in Hapo Manu’s feet, from which the team captain comes out the tunnel strikes Hapo Manu with his open palm and retrieves the match ball from his feet followed by the team, who all in turn ask Hapo Manu with their open palm to protect them in their upcoming battle.”
The club started with the original Velox family- The Hume family, as the totem used to sit on what was once Hume family land at the old location at Gordon Head Rd. It has made the transition to Westshore when the club moved in 2015 and was re-mounted outside of our home teams changing room. And so the tradition continues, all players are reminded before every game in the huddle to slap Hapu Manu for good luck upon running out of the changing room onto the field for battle…