CSUMB’s Rugby Team Gets Ready For A New Year!

Rugby is a sport that is played with brutal strength and speed. To win, a team must use those traits to push the ball down the field to score, and whichever team has the most points accumulated, they will bring home the win. Our very own California State University, Monterey Bay’s (CSUMB) Rugby team is charging down the field to the new season, to bring home the win for us Otters.

With a club sport, anyone is allowed to join and anyone is welcome to. There are about 15 players that have played a full rugby season on the team and who are willing to help the ones that are somewhat new to the sport. Ryan Scott, captain of the CSUMB Rugby team stated, “The game takes a little while to get used, but once you understand it, you fall in love with it,” the team’s captain, Ryan Scott, said.

Last year, CSUMB’s team competed against a team from Scotland in a friendly match. The Otters may have lost to the Scottish team, but they did not lose their rugby spirit.

This year the team has a roster of just fewer than 50 players that are eager to play. The practices are normally held on Monday and Wednesday evenings on Schooner Road and Wainwright Road, at East Campus, where about 30 to 40 players come out and hone their skills. Every Friday a “fun” little touch-rugby game is held in the main quad from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m.

CSUMB Rugby’s season doesn’t actually start until January and ends around mid-April, but on Oct. 29, CSUMB Rugby will be competing in the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) Slugfest. The tournament is hosted by UCSC, and teams come from all over California and Nevada to participate.

The next chance for the team to prove their brawn and speediness before the season starts, is against Fresno State on November 19 at Preston Park.

The Rugby team will sponsor a movie event on Oct. 7. The team will show the film Invictus in the Tanimura and Antle Library in room 1188.