The men’s rugby team is used to taking on its fair share of opponents. It’s played Cornell University, Utica College, Niagara University and even a team in Canada.
Its biggest opponent, however, is turning out to be Ithaca College itself. After several unsuccessful tries, the rugby team is still not recognized as an Ithaca College club sport, something its members say is frustrating.
“We are paying college students,” junior Mike Oliver, one of the founding members of the team, said. “We pay the same price as the football team, and other teams, and it’s kind of unfair to us.”
Ithaca Rugby was formed a year ago by several Ithaca College students disappointed by the lack of a team on campus. After generating interest and securing a coach, they submitted a proposal to the college to become a recognized organization but were rejected.
“I think they wanted to see if we’d disappear,” Oliver said.
They remained persistent, applying for recognition and getting turned down a second time. The college will review their third proposal over the summer.
Sarah Hawkins, the program coordinator for recreational sports, said the process for selecting club sports is undergoing changes, which is a big reason for the delay.
Because they’re not a collegiate organization, the team is not part of the New York State Rugby Conference, which makes it difficult to schedule games and create contacts with other rugby teams. They now scrimmage against collegiate teams such as SUNY-Binghamton, Cornell, Utica, Niagara and SUNY-Oswego, as well as Division-III rugby teams in the NYSRC. They’re also not allowed to advertise around campus, making word of mouth their strongest advertising tool.
Junior Drew Wright, another founding member, said their main obstacle is the image of rugby in the U.S. as a brutal sport played by teams that care more about drinking than rugby.
“I think there’s a lot of stigma associated with rugby,” Wright said. “There’s a lot of drinking stigma, things like that. [But] that’s just a few idiot teams making a bad name.”
The team’s coach, Mike Zettel, said the sport is beginning to change the stereotypes associated with it.
“Rugby in the United States has this tradition of being a frat boy kind of sport,” Zettel said. “But it’s really going through a transition where it’s on it’s way to becoming a legitimate sport.”
Zettel was involved with rugby at Cornell University as a graduate student and heard about the team being formed at Ithaca. He approached them to help them get started.
Ithaca’s original rugby team was disbanded about 15 years ago, according to the current players, for drinking.
The new team members are doing all they can to dispel these frat boy myths. They’ve raised money and formed a team for Relay For Life and plan on becoming involved in Habitat for Humanity.
Hawkins said the past shouldn’t affect the school’s decision.
“[The past] shouldn’t have any bearing on whether they’re accepted now,” Hawkins said. “Rugby uses a lot of resources, and there are issues like insurance and field space that have to be taken care of.”
They’re also taking steps to keep players out of trouble.
“We have pasta dinners on Friday nights,” Wright said. “This season we watched the entire “Rocky” series. We’ll eat pasta and drink Gatorade. They’re good times and it makes sure that we’re all there and not partying.”
Zettel said the team’s only goal is to play rugby, not party.
“They’re solely interested in playing rugby,” Zettel said. “The heart of it is a good group of kids that really just wants to play rugby. But we want to do so in a manner that the school’s going to support us. We want to go through all the appropriate steps so that we can play rugby for the school.”
Another factor preventing them from becoming a recognized organization is the Office of Risk Management, which deals with liability and insurance with the school. According to Wright, the team takes measures to prevent injuries and stresses the relative safety of the sport.
“People think that it’s just a bunch of guys that quit varsity sports and want to hit with nobody watching and no rules ... which is also not true at all,” Wright said. “Obviously there are injuries that occur. It’s a contact sport, [and] contact sports are unpredictable. But it’s the same with football, lacrosse, even soccer. We take a lot of care with injury prevention on this team. We hit, but we’re not idiots.”
The Office of Risk Management declined to comment on the team’s recent attempts to become a club.
Becoming a recognized school organization would create numerous opportunities for the team, including the ability to schedule games more easily and become eligible for all-star teams and compete in championships.
“We’d be able to compete for our school,” sophomore J.C. Von Holtz said. “There’d be a lot more pride involved in it, other than just for ourselves.”
Von Holtz said the team will continue to train and play, and attempt to show the school that their main goal is to play rugby.
“We train every single day, on and off the pitch, in the snow, in the rain,” Von Holtz said. “We’re all very dedicated players, and we just want to bring a good sport back to the school.”
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