by Greg Wyshynski The Springfield Connection August 10-16, 2000
Reprinted with permission of the publisher.
Give blood. Play rugby.
"I had always seen those bumper stickers," said Veronica Bennett of Clifton, whose children have participated in a variety of sports for the Southwestern Youth Association (SYA) over 12 years.
"I thought it’d be a pretty rough game."
Jeff Rupp has played that "rough game" for more than 16 years. Seizing on the explosion of youth sports participation in Northern Virginia, he wanted to be a coach who could bring the sport to a new generation of players.
Minus the blood, of course.
"The [Springfield Youth Club (SYC)] board was skeptical when I first presented it," said Rupp, of his pitch for noncontact youth rugby.
"Mostly, ’no-tackle rugby, what’s the point?’ That came from the football coach," he said.
Rupp and SYA counterpart Eric Pittelkau were able to convince their associations that one of the world’s most physically grueling competitions could be tailored to the 15-and-under crowd. There would be no tackling, with two-hand-touch tags in its place.
As a first-year sport that lacked a built-in player base like youth soccer or football, an even tougher sell would face both coaches: co-ed teams.
"I think in SYA, all the other sports are segregated by gender," said Pittelkau.
Rupp initially found resistance to the co-ed format.
"The other side of the coin was, ’I’m not letting my girl run around and play rugby with a bunch of boys.’"
Eventually, community interest grew intense enough that rugby joined the ranks of youth sports programs. This season, the SYC Screaming Eagles and the SYA Cardinals were born.
All Ages Show
The teams faced each other at E. C. Lawrence Park in Centreville on July 29. It was their fourth meeting of the season, as the new-born program has only around a dozen teams in the D.C. Metro area.
Although there is a lack of competition in opponents, both coaches reveled in the fact that there is also little competition within their organizations.
"The reason that we do it in the summer is that there is less conflict with other sports," said Rupp. "It was intentional, so the kids that do play other sports had a chance to play rugby."
The summer season, running from late June to late August, also gives rugby a greater chance at securing field space, which is typically monopolized by football and lacrosse during the spring and fall.
"This makes for a nice, short, compact season," said Pittelkau, "and if I do say myself, a bigger crowd than you’ll see at most soccer games."
Parents and teammates crammed the sideline at E. C. Lawrence that day, watching the U-11 and U-15 teams in a double-header.
Among the spectators was Alynn Nathanson of Oakton, who watched her son, Gareth Willat, 10, and daughter, Mallary Willatt, 14, in their respective games for the SYC Screaming Eagles.
"Everybody can play. You don’t have to be a big guy to play. There are some little guys that are great players," she said.
Nathanson had seen a notice in the paper requesting players for youth rugby. Her children had already tried their hand at the sport overseas, and the family had been searching for a chance to play stateside.
"We’re a long way from Springfield, but it’s worth the extra driving," she said.
The teams feature a wide range of ages, as high as 14 and as young as 6 1/2.
"I enjoy it a lot," said Michelle Brener of SYC, who is just 9. "I like scoring tries, even though I never scored one."
Rupp said that having younger players in the two-hand-touch noncontact game is actually a tactical advantage.
"Some of these little kids are fast," he said. "We saw in this game where that little guy was going everywhere because none of the big kids could get him."
Players of all ages and sizes can coexist, thanks to the noncontact aspect of the game, something that is fine by Nathanson.
"Any game where you play and run the whole game and you don’t need any padding is a great game."
Will there soon be the addition of "rugby moms" to the "soccer mom" phenomena?
"I certainly hope so," said Nathanson. "It’s a great game and I’m glad to see it beginning to be played in Northern Virginia."
Anyone Can Play
The basic rules and scoring system of regulation rugby remain intact for the youth teams.
Gone are tackles and violent scrums for possession of the ball. In their place are two-hand tags and controlled, noncontact battles for the ball.
Teaching this altered style wasn’t a problem for Rupp or Pittelkau. Both coaches still play organized rugby and said that their adult league practices are typically noncontact scrimmages.
The game the younger players were learning wasn’t a variation on what they already knew, but rather a whole new ballgame.
"They seem to do just fine," said Pittelkau, a 25-year rugby veteran. "There’s a saying that if there was somebody that was a reasonable athlete, they could pick up the game in a matter of three weeks. Same held true here."
Planting the Seed
Both coaches expected to face many more issues than actually arose during this inaugural season.
"I’ve had more fun this summer than I thought I would," said Pittelkau.
Rupp said that initial concerns by parents quickly disappeared.
"The parents have been really receptive and supportive," he said.
"I’ve got a lot of parents asking me if we’re going to have rugby in the fall."
Pittelkau said he plans on running once-a-month, Sunday, free clinics during the fall to give even more players exposure to the sport and to hone the skills of current players.
Rupp said clinics and youth programs will go a long way to helping sustain rugby in America.
"The only way we’ll do better internationally is to get the next generation playing," he said, adding that he expects more adult enthusiasts to get involved on the youth level.
"Even as our playing days wind down, we stay with the game for the next generation."
"That’s your playing days wind down," Pittelkau said.
