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Printer-Friendly ModeAfter-match socials all part of the fun for club rugby
RUGBY
October 5, 2009 —
Usually in sports, teams compete against each other and then go their separate ways after the competition. In SVSU club rugby, that isn’t the case.
In what sophomore prop Andrew Clements describes as one of his favorite parts about being a member of the club rugby team, the two teams get together after a match and take part in what is called a social.
“The home team has to put on a social after the match,” Clements explained. “There’s food, music, it’s kind of like a celebration. No matter how tough the match was, we all come together and have fun.”
Although the teams get together after the match, don’t take that as a sign of a lack of a desire to do whatever it takes to win.
“There are a lot of athletes on the team that played different sports in high school, so everyone has a competitive will to win,” Clements said.
The team was founded in the fall of 2007, with the team seeing an increase in interest by students every year. During the spring, the team looks for competition from any team that is willing to play, although no records are kept.
“The spring season is basically just scrimmages against other teams. The fall is when the real season takes place,” Clements said.
The team is exploring ways in which to make money to put toward traveling and other expenses.
“We have to carpool to all of our matches. Some of them take place out of state so gas can become expensive sometimes,” Clements said. “We want to get some type of fundraising going later on in the year, although nothing is set in stone yet.”
The team of 25 players is all playerrun, with no coach in place. While only one or two players had any prior rugby experience, learning the game together is a way in which the team develops camaraderie.
“One of my main goals is to better understand the game after this season,” Clements said. “For the most part, everyone on the team is in the same situation as me so it is fun to be able to learn new things from each other.”
The team practices every Tuesday and Thursday from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
“Even though we’re a club team, everyone is expected to be at practice if they don’t have class,” Clements said.
“We all want to go out and win, so it is important that we all put in an effort at practice.”