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Interview | Mark Janzen
Photographs | Mark Janzen

Caleb Gerth views rugby through a pretty simple lens.

"Hit people. Smile. Hit people. Smile. Talk to them afterwards and tell them about how much you love Jesus. That's pretty much it."

The 19-year-old captain of Trinity Western University's fledgling men's rugby program embodies exactly what it means to be a Spartan. 

Gerth is the first captain of the Spartans latest iteration of varsity rugby – one that relaunched in 2019 after a 15-year hiatus – and, as men's coach Andrew Evans tells it, the product of Langley, B.C. was the perfect cornerstone. 

"When I read the Bible, I just think Jesus was tough as nails, but just so loving as well," Evans says. "He could stand up to the Pharisees when they were being critical of someone he wanted to have compassion on. I see that same heart with Caleb. He's very passionate and he's very strong in his faith. He looks intimidating and he is intimidating, but he has a great heart that God has given him as well."

The first men's rugby home game for the Spartans this past year was played amidst monsoon conditions on a late-January evening. The unrelenting downpour didn't bother Gerth. He was in his element. 

The chiseled No. 8 scored a try on a hard-charging first-half run and his physicality was a constant force in the Spartans 24-0 win over Western Washington University. As always, Gerth was busy doing the hard work. It was yet another example of the reason he fell in love with rugby in the first place. 

Gerth played all the other sports first – it was soccer for a while, karate for a year, basketball for a time and even a little bit of volleyball – but it was in Grade 8, after picking up a rugby ball, when he found his calling.

"A lot of people didn't like doing what I like to do," Gerth says. "I like running into people. I like doing all that gritty work close to the ruck. I loved it and I was good at it."

With his extended family owning farms and Gerth regularly helping with chores as a child, he soon developed his now ever-present ethos of hard work. He was perfectly suited for the scrum. He dabbled on the wing for a brief time as a youngster, but that was, in his own words, "a disaster." Nah, the 6-foot-2 product of Brookswood Secondary, who has played club ball with both the Langley Rugby Club and the Surrey Beavers, was built to be in the thick of things. 

"He's a very physical player," Evans says. "The opposition typically doesn't like playing against him. He isn't afraid to go to the dark areas of the rugby pitch. He commands a lot of respect."
 
Following in the sporting footsteps of his older brother Spencer Gerth, who enjoyed a three-year career in the Western Hockey League before joining TWU's men's hockey team, Caleb quickly rose the ranks within the rugby world. 

"There are a lot of jobs on a rugby pitch and a lot of people are not willing to do the tough ones. I found I had a willingness to do jobs other people didn't want to do. And I soon had a goal to be great at rugby." 

Within a year of starting the sport, Gerth made Team BC as a 14-year-old. By the time he as 17 years old, he made Canada's U18 roster for a series with the USA High School All-Americans in late December 2017. And that, in itself, is a story. 

Gerth had been invited to the U18 tryout camp in November. With physicality at a punishing level and competition peaking in every session, Gerth dislocated shoulder and then popped it back in and then dislocated his shoulder and popped it back in and then dislocated … okay, you get it. It kept happening and he kept playing. He was determined to make the squad.  

"Eventually, I was just trying to hit people with my other side," Gerth recalls. 

He showed enough to earn a trip with Canada to play the USA in Arizona. 

Upon reconvening with the national side in the post-Christmas event, Gerth continued be Gerth. His shoulder popped out twice in training and four times in the game. Of course, he kept playing. Eventually, after the series was over, Gerth was decided to get an MRI. The doctor told him to get surgery or stop playing rugby. 

On Sept. 7, 2018, after graduating from Brookswood the previous June and with plans to join the University of Victoria Vikes in January, he had surgery. 

That's when his life started to change. 

For the better part of a year, the recovery process didn't allow Gerth to do the things he normally loves – training, playing rugby and crushing people. 

"I was going really crazy. I'm a really competitive person. I'm always trying to lift heavier or run a faster bronco or be more of a nuisance on the field than everyone else. 

"Not training killed me." 

In those moments, Gerth found a new perspective. 

"For a long time, rugby was a main focus in my life. From a faith standpoint, (that year) made me take a step back and think. I found a better perspective on what was really important and for me that was still God being in my life and being my No. 1 thing. 

"I grew in my faith a lot – the most I've ever grown."

With Spencer nudging his brother to contact Evans, Caleb, who was rehabilitating in Victoria, decided to see what the Spartans were all about. Caleb and Evans met for lunch.

"Anyone who has ever met Andy knows that he really makes you believe in what he's doing and when he says something, you know he's going to go through with it," Caleb says. "I felt that he was going to really work hard for this program to be great. That's the kind of people I like and respect. And there was also the whole perspective around God being the focus and rugby being part of that."

During the spring of 2019, Gerth decided to transfer to TWU.
 
That fall, Evans named him captain and Gerth began building the culture of Spartans men's rugby. 

"He has strong convictions and he's unapologetic for what he believes in," Evans says. "He's a very passionate young man and he's a very good rugby player. He's someone whose actions and words you can follow. He's exactly what you're looking for in a rugby player." 

With Evans putting together an entirely new roster for the re-launch of rugby at TWU, Gerth was tasked with leading the squad. 

He arrived with a simple approach and a pretty basic pregame prayer. 

"God, we're going to praise you if we win and we're going to praise you if we lose, but please help us smoke these guys."

Then, he'd look at his teammates.

"Let's show these people that we can absolutely destroy them on the field and then after we'll be super friendly and super up front about what we're about. We're just here to bring God onto the rugby field."

Now, only a year into his Spartans career, Gerth is already envisioning his legacy at TWU. 

For sure, he would love to suit up for Canada once again – he was part of Canada's U20 training camp in the fall of 2019 – and perhaps a professional career could become a reality, but that's not what he's all about. His big dreams come with a different perspective.

"I want to help rugby to really grow here at home in Langley, and Trinity Western has given me that opportunity. I'd love to play for Canada. That'd be an amazing dream come true, but it's more important for me to see that rugby becomes an important thing in Langley and that Trinity Western has a strong and respectable team. 

"I'd love to have my kids come and play for Trinity one day or have super solid rugby to watch. People at Trinity are going to love rugby and people are going to want to come and play for the Spartans and be part of a program that is centred on Jesus. 

"At the end of the day, I want people to aspire to play at Trinity Western." 

This piece is part of an extensive series, detailing the people and the stories that make up Spartan Athletics. 

Print copies of the SPARTA magazine are available for purchase. All proceeds go to Spartan families in need.

Previously Posted Stories from SPARTA
Being Tessa Ratzlaff | Interview by Mark Janzen
Being Teammates | by Mark Janzen
Being Mowa Adeleye | by Mark Janzen
Being Joel Waterman | by Mark Janzen
Being Eric Loeppky | by Mark Janzen
Being Aaron Paetkau | by Mark Janzen
Being Jean Laforest | by Bailey Broadbent 
Being Servants | by Mark Janzen
Being Isaac Labelle | by Bailey Broadbent
Being a Spartan | by Michaella Crema