University rugby players are used to hard knocks — broken bones, torn anterior cruciate ligaments, stitches and other horrors — but the men and women’s teams have also battled for playing space and to dispel a campus stigma that they are just looking to party.
After successful seasons for both the men and women’s clubs, university rugby is hitting its stride. The men were 9-6 in their most recent season and won a high-profile tournament in March. They will receive $12,000 from the Student Government Association this coming school year, which is $4,000 more than last year.
The women’s club, which began competitive play in 2002, were Potomac Rugby Union champions this season. Both clubs will benefit from a new multipurpose field that will be built on the current Engineering fields.
The string of successes is artillery against stereotypes for rugby clubs. There is a belief that rugby players just “go to get drunk on weekends,” rising junior co-captain Ryan Shore said.
Christopher Chippa, a rising junior and president of the men’s team, said students underestimate the dedication of rugby training.
“I think people should come out and play with us and see how physical we are,” Chippa said. Men’s rugby has 30 core players, but there are 70 total on the team.
The new field, expected to be completed in December, is a blessing, players said. The men and women’s squads currently play on Fraternity Row, where space and time are limited.
“I’m tired of playing on broken glass and aluminum,” Shore said. Players also said the field is hard and slopes.
Catherine Corso, a senior English major on the women’s team, said the new field will allow rugby teams to practice when they want to and avoid Greek life mayhem.
“After homecoming, I went to set up our field and I was picking up T-shirts, stuffed cows, cowbells — the most ridiculous things,” Corso said.
The teams used to play on a field where Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center now stands, which was reportedly the best field in the league, said Pat Sullivan, a rising sophomore and the squad’s social chair. Rugby was bumped to the northeast corner of the campus, but that field became a parking lot for Comcast Center.
But despite their lack of a permanent field, both teams have been gathering steam. The men won a high-profile St. Patrick’s Day tournament in Savannah, Ga., last March. Teams came from a number of states, including Texas, Ohio, Florida, New York and Pennsylvania, Sullivan said.
The women’s squad defeated Georgetown, St. Mary’s and George Washington, making them undefeated in competitive conference play, Corso said. The team went on to take third in the Mid-Atlantic region during playoffs.
People are often surprised that females play such a rough game, Corso said. She has seen one female player break her leg in two places and another girl get bitten during play and taken to the hospital.
Breaking into the game just takes game time experience, players said. Players must build endurance for the non-stop sport.
“It’s definitely a grueling sport,” Shore said. “You’ll get bruises and cuts, but you just deal with them.”
Aggressive play is the name of the game, Shore added.
“There’s a thing with rugby players, where during the game we’re trying to kill each other, but off the field we’re the best of friends,” he said.
Friendships off the field develop bonds that translate on the field. Players end up sacrificing their bodies for the team, Sullivan said.
“I might have terrible arthritis in 20 years and not be able to move,” he said. “I tore my rotator cuff in practice once, but I just kept going.”
