Pacific Rugby Adapts to Recent Changes

posted in: Sports, Spring | 0

Pacific University’s Rugby team has been forced to adapt to less exposure and support, decreasing player turnout. 

As a club sport, the rugby team is non-affiliated with the NCAA. Instead, players register through the National Collegiate Rugby (NCR). Typically, players are required to purchase the registration fee themselves, but Pacific players have been able to compete for free this season due to fewer players competing. Along with the registration fee, the budget set aside for the club also covers any transportation costs, equipment costs, and snacks for tournaments. 

Roman Stein, a senior studying computer science and physics, joined the rugby team in 2018. Stein was also a part of Pacific’s football program, whose coaches offered a significant amount of support for the rugby team. Players were encouraged to join the rugby team once the season was over by coaches and players who had previously joined the club. However, according to Stein, encouragement to participate has changed significantly recently.

“The coach for the football program used to offer a lot of support for rugby, encouraging players to join after the football season,” said Stein. “It’s changed though recently, and our numbers have reflected that.”

Traditionally rugby is made with 15 players per team, comprising eight forwards and seven backs. Pacific’s rugby team currently only has eight players, so the team has been forced to play sevens, a faster-paced version of rugby that only requires seven players from each team to be on “the pitch” at once. As a result, the club team has played in seven vs. seven tournaments this year, from five to seven games, as the halves get shortened to seven minutes apiece. 

For Caden Almer, a senior studying environmental toxicology with a minor in chemistry and biology, the community created by rugby helped him fall in love with competing. 

“Rugby has a great community where we play games, hit each other, and get rough and bloody, but after the games, we still have a social, which is basically a party with the other team,” said Almer. 

Outside of tournaments on the weekends, the club practices two days a week for four hours. The time commitment has made the transition easy for new team member Lucas Voss, a sophomore studying business marketing. 

“Rugby is a great sport to join at Pacific because it’s both easy to join and it’s not a super big time commitment compared to other club sports on campus,” said Voss. 

The club’s next tournament will be on April 16 at Western Oregon University. The last game of the year, known as the Championship Tournament, will be held on April 23 at Reed College. The tournament’s winner would advance to a National Championship game held in New Orleans, Louisiana. 

For students interested in joining, practices are 4-6 p.m. on Tuesdays and 8-10 p.m. on Thursdays at Hanson Stadium. Team captain Roman Stein can also be reached via email stei0290@pacificu.edu. — Noah Steverson

Sponsored

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *