Posted by Neil on November 18, 2008 at 20:29:42:
In Reply to: nice posted by SaUnite on November 15, 2008 at 14:36:08:
I stopped playing college football in 1989 after a severe knee injury - And started playing rugby while rehabbing with local Tongans from my gym.
Almost twenty years later - I'm in my second year as an IRB-sanctioned referee (have already ref'd an international with Tonga's U'20's), and a tournament.
My oldest daughter starts her first season of high school rugby with the U19 Sacramento Amazons in December - A likely favorite to reach the U.S.. national championship..
While I have little or no contact with my American football college teammates - Northern California's rugby community - Especially the Tongan families who I've played and coached with - Are a permanent and constant part of our lives. My teammates and co-coaches and our families worship together, celebrate life and deaths together, and I have NEVER been part of a sport where the team is so thoroughly emphasized over the individual.
Will rugby ever rival American football's popularity and cash flow in the U.S.? Probably not - And that's one of the reasons I love it; Rugby is NOT about the money; Those of us who truly love this game will play or watch it despite cost, injury or practicality of any kind. Somebody in Sacramento griped about the cost of tickets to the USA Sevens; To see ANY kind of high-quality internationals like this in California - I would pay $100 a head in the middle of the night in a cow pasture to see Manu Samoa, Fiji, the All Blacks, Argentina, England, Kenya and the Springboks in the same venue..
As for inner-city kids - My former South Sacramento rugby players have gone on to GRADUATE from Oregon State, Kansas State, Boise State, UC Davis, Washington, Idaho, Cal, and Sac State. THAT is how I measure the success of my involvement with U19 rugby.
PIC: Some of my teammates from the Hayward Old Boys; For anyone over 40 in Northern California - There will be Old Boys rugby on Saturday, February 7 at the Sacramento Valley Kickoff Tournament. Grizzled veterans playing include the Hayward Old Boys (pictured), Bald Eagles, San Jose Silverhawks, and S.O.B.'s (Sacramento Old Boys)...