Rugby hits UK campus
March 4, 2011
Just two years ago, the UK rugby club was struggling to compete at the Division III level. Now, in spring 2011, the team is thriving, having grown exponentially in size and ability. They now compete in the Division II Ohio Union and are preparing to move up into the newly formed Division I Southeastern Conference for rugby next year.
“As of next year we will be a (Division I) SEC team competing with all 11 other members of the SEC,” Allan Roof, a senior captain on the club team, said. “We will be traveling all around the country.”
The perception of rugby in the United States has been changing over the last five years, and as the sport has grown nationally, UK’s program has done the same.
Beginning in 2012, Rugby will be a new event in the Summer Olympics, providing fans of the sport with new exposure and a big opportunity to promote the sport and teach it to Americans who may otherwise have never given it a chance.
Many who are unfamiliar with the sport view it as a brutal and violent free-for-all on grass with no padding. But many players on UK’s team claim that the sport is about much more than hard hitting. As a sport that applies aspects of both football and soccer, many players on the team defend the skill and teamwork that are required to be successful at rugby.
“Rugby is an outstandingly good sport,” first-year head coach Tony Vince said. “It’s physical but it’s not violent. It’s disciplined and its structured. I always compare it to chess, and everybody always laughs at me when I say that because they see the big hits and they think it’s violent. But it’s not violent. It’s physical, but it’s also a very cerebral game and you have to think your way through it.”
This semester, the team will play a six or seven game schedule. In their first game of the season, the team defeated the University of Miami (Oh.) by a score of 62-12. This Saturday the team will travel to Louisville to take on the rival University of Louisville Cardinals.
The rest of their schedule will feature visits to fellow SEC schools Auburn and Tennessee, a home matchup with Vanderbilt on March 26 and an alumni game in Lexington.
Club president Robert Williams, a junior economics major, discussed his goals for this season.
“First and foremost, our goal is to go beat Louisville,” Williams said. “Second is to beat UT, and third is to be a legitimate standing force in the newly formed SEC rugby conference.”
The UK Rugby club is always accepting new members to compete with the team. There are no tryouts to be on the team and no experienced required to participate.
“Rugby is not just a sport, it’s a culture that builds people’s confidence, skill and athleticism,” Williams said. “Not only that, it makes them a better person.”
To get more information, visit the “University of Kentucky Rugby” page on Facebook.