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Sunday, April 18, 2004
Blood & Guts Game
Copyright © 2004 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc. | ||||
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Staff Writer The Colby College women's rugby team stands in the rain, listening to coach Tony Fletcher. "What's you game plan for Saturday?" Fletcher asks. The Mules are preparing for the Beast of the East tournament this weekend in Portsmouth, R.I. It's the biggest college rugby tournament of the year, and the team knows what it wants to do. "Kick (butt)!" somebody in the middle of the huddle shouts. "Okay... what else?" Fletcher says. "Play good defense and we attack from there," says Jackie Dao, a junior and one of the team's captains. Two hours later, after a practice heavy on tackling and fundamentals, collisions and running, the Colby women's rugby team walks off the practice field. They are tired, they are wet, and most are wearing a small coat of mud. They are all smiling. It's a good practice. "My first game, I'd been on the field for about five minutes, and this girl tackles me. She tackled me high and her head hit mine, and she broke the orbital bone around her eye. They had to stop the game for about half an hour. I felt kind of initiated onto the team." -- Beth Foxwell, Colby sophomore Most Americans know rugby as the sport that evolved into American football in the late 1800s on college campuses in the Northeast. In much of the rest of the world, rugby is an incredibly popular sport. Since 1987, a World Cup tournament has been held every four years, with England claiming the title last fall over Australia. In the United States, rugby's popularity is growing, most noticeably on the collegiate level. In Maine, men's club teams exist at six schools, while women's club team's compete on five campuses. USA Rugby, the sport's national governing body, sponsors national championships in the sport, and on its web site, usarugby.com, calls the game "one of the most popular club sports on hundreds of college campuses across the nation," with hundreds of club teams at colleges across the country. At Colby, the men's and women's clubs each boast membership in the 30s, and clubs thrive at the University of Maine at Farmington as well, with approximately two dozen players on both teams. "When I was in school 25 years ago, we were excited that we were starting a club," says Bobbie Hanstein, who coaches the University of Maine at Farmington's women's team. "We thought it was really something that was going to take off. Now you're starting to see (rugby) at some high schools." Veterans can explain the game to newcomers all day, but say the best way to learn is to go out and play. In many collegiate matches, with so many inexperienced players, officials are known to stop play, explain a rule to a participant and how they just broke it, then restart play as if nothing had happened. "The only way you learn is to actually play it," Dao says. "It looks crazy and chaotic, but it's really organized." "If you've never seen rugby, it looks like little kids playing soccer. Everyone's following the ball," Brittany Kuerth, a Colby senior, says. "That's what you're supposed to do." Unlike other sports played by both men and women, the rules of rugby are the same for both. In women's ice hockey and lacrosse, hitting has been removed. In women's rugby, as it is in men's, hitting is encouraged. "Anyone will say their first tackle was their greatest experience," Colby's Melissa Landau says. "I cracked my tibia once. I went to kick the ball, and this girl was there in the way, and I drove my shin into her knee. I was bruised and black from my knee to my toes." -- Leslie Hayes, University of Maine at Farmington senior. Most college rugby players are neophytes to the sport when they join their school's club. Very few, like Colby freshmen Nick Simon and Brennan Moore, even played the sport in high school. "I knew I'd have a opportunity to contribute," says Moore, who played at Fairfield Prep in Connecticut. "My school has one of the best programs in the country." "The program started at my high school (in Cincinnati) my junior year," says Simon, who also plays football at Colby. "It was a way for me to play a sport in the spring." A majority of college rugby players were high school athletes who arrived on campus eager to stay active. "I played a sport every season in high school," Hayes, a Bridgton native, says. "Rugby is an aggressive sport. You feel like you're physically doing something." "My dad played when he was in college (at Dartmouth)," Colby's John Wheelock says. "He suggested that it would be fun." Colby's Alanna Balboni also plays on the women's basketball team, and wanted something to do in the spring. Dao arrived at Colby hoping to make the tennis team. When she was cut, she was determined to join a club sport. "It was going to be crew or rugby," Dao says. "Rugby looked really fun, and I ended up falling in love with the sport." The typical first game goes something like this: Player takes the field, player runs around with no real idea of what is happening, after a few games player has epiphany and realizes "This ain't so hard." "You feel like you're in a whirlwind at first," Hayes says. "After each game, it gets easier." "You see a lot of light bulbs going on," Hanstein says. An overwhelming number of players come to the game with absolutely no idea what rugby is about. Coaching the proper way to play is important, and both Colby and UMF are lucky that the coaches are experienced. "We start with the absolute basics," Tony Fletcher, one of Colby's coaches, says. Fletcher, the state dam inspector, is originally from South Africa and grew up around the game. He started coaching at Colby five years ago. "I was playing squash here one day, and one of the men's players came in and said they were having trouble with their scrum," Fletcher recalls. "I've been here since." Bobbie Hanstein saw a men's game as a student at the University of Idaho, and she and her friends immediately decided to form a women's team. Her husband, Woody, coaches the men's team at UMF and learned the game while living in France. "We've been to several coaching clinics," Bobbie says. "You don't send somebody off into a game to tackle somebody without any sort of training. We're very careful that everybody knows the right way to play." Tackling is something the guys, many of whom had played football, are used to. For the women, tackling is unique to rugby. There's not a rugby player in the world who doesn't love a good tackle. "You stay behind the runner and pull them down by the legs," says Nate Mylrea, captain of the Colby men's team. "Like wrestling a calf down to the ground in a rodeo." "A good tackle, it's so satisfying," Colby's Rachael Sheinbaum says. "Like eating a big piece of chocolate cake in three bites." "I knocked a girl unconscious. I tackled her and she didn't get up. I felt bad after, but the hit felt so good." -- Nani Phillips, Colby sophomore As with any contact sport, safety is a major issue, especially at the US collegiate level where so many participants are newcomers to the sport. With proper coaching of the fundamentals of tackling -- hit low, don't lead with your head -- injuries can be limited, Fletcher and Hanstein say. "The problem in coaching rugby is always safety," Fletcher says. "It's a contact sport, and we're careful to make sure everyone knows what they're doing." "If we see somebody doing something the wrong way, we'll pull them aside and make sure they correct it," Hanstein says. "It's a violent contact sport. Overall, most people come out of it exuberant, healthy, and happy." Because rugby is so different than any sport they've ever tried, players shrug off the risk as part of the game. "My first game I was at wing, and I was running and was tackled," Dao says. "I got up, thought 'I'm not hurt. This is awesome.' If rugby is played correctly, injuries are minimal." Still, there was a match last year that Dao left with a concussion. Her teammate, Jen Coliflores, was taken off the field in an ambulance during a match with Bates College last season. Coliflores' parents were there, and they were horrified. "They said 'You're not playing rugby anymore,'' Coliflores says, "but here I am." For men who have played American football, it's best to forget how they learned to tackle. "In football, you're taught to drive into the opponents chest with your body," Mylrea says. "If you do that playing rugby, you're going to hurt... well, everything." "It takes two or three weeks to figure out what you're doing, but once you do, it's the best game there is." -- John Wheelock, Colby sophomore College rugby clubs play in the fall and spring. In the fall, individual matches fill out the schedule. In the spring, each weekend brings a different tournament. The teams at both Colby and UMF have enjoyed success in recent years. The Colby men finished third in the Northeast last fall and were in the top 24 in the nation in Division II, while the Colby women were the 2003 Maine champions. The UMF women won the 2003 East Conference in Division III and are slated to join Colby, Bates, Bowdoin and UMaine in Division II. The UMF men are currently in England , honing their skills against clubs there. To the players, the camaraderie of the team is as important as victories. "You put as much time as want to put in. There's no pressure," Landau says. Both Colby clubs will be in Rhode Island this weekend for the Beast of the East tournament. It's the biggest college tournament around, so they practice in rain and wind and cold. "Once you get tackled," Dao says, "it's all-out adrenaline and you're into it." They are all smiling. It's a good game. Travis Lazarczyk Ð 861-9242 tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com |
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