Rugby tournament draws teams from across the Midwest
This weekend’s tournament, at the Jayhawks’ Westwick Rugby Complex, pitted the collegiate team in a pick-up game against Oklahoma and the club team against the St. Louis Bombers.
By Jason Baker (Contact)
Monday, September 29th, 2008
The Kansas Jayhawks’ Rugby Football Club played host to a tournament this weekend that brought different rugby clubs from across the Midwest to Lawrence.
Collegiate teams from the University of Nebraska, the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University and Truman State University and club teams like the Omaha Goats and the St. Louis Bombers traveled to Kansas to play at the Westwick Rugby Complex.
The Kansas City Blues ran the tournament, but the Rugby Football Club provided the facility, prepared the field and worked concessions and parking throughout the weekend as a fundraiser.
Team members also got the chance to play in the tournament. The collegiate team played in a pick-up game against Oklahoma, and the club team competed against the St. Louis Bombers. The Jayhawks defeated the Bombers 24-17.
Team captain Jack Vogt, Appleton, Wis., senior, liked the idea of the tournament.
“It’s good to have all these teams out here to bring people together,” he said. “It’s a good way to socialize with people of other demographics around the Midwest to play a sport that we love.”
Vogt worked as a touch judge for some of the events, whose job is to let the referee know when the player is out of bounds.
Both the collegiate team and the club team participated in the tournament. Team match secretary Jared Cook, Lenexa senior, said there was a difference between the two teams.
“For the college team, you have to be a student at KU taking 12 credit hours; also, we get support through KU,” Cook said. “Whereas the club is for anyone and is self-sufficient through fundraisers.”
Cook said the two teams practice together, but they are two separate teams with separate schedules. It is his responsibility as match secretary to coordinate the teams’ schedules.
Last year, the collegiate team went undefeated and won the Heart of America title, a Division II conference that they compete in. Currently the team is 2-0 in the merit table standings and is 2-1 overall. Cook explained that merit table games go toward the standings and league play and they determine post-season schedules.
Though competition is fierce during the game, Cook said that when the game ends, so does the competition.
“Everything is left on the field,” he said. “Afterwards, we socialize with the opposing team without worrying about the score of the game or any incidents that happened during the game.”
The collegiate team’s next match is a home match at Westwick Rugby Complex against Benedictine College on Oct. 4.
— Edited by Rachel Burchfield
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