New Sport is Alternative Activity for Teen-agers
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Growing Sport: Rugby is new to the youth of the area, but Brody Shuck says it is beating out soccer in growth.
By Francis Skalicky
The News Leader February 1994
Brody Shuck has an alternative sport for teen-agers looking for an activity: Rugby.
“It’s the fastest-growing amateur sport in the world. It’s even beating soccer right now,” said the 19-year-old Shuck, a student at Southwest Missouri State and a member of the Springfield Rugby Club.
Shuck who feels the sport also has an Ozarks following, is organizing a local high school team.
The team, which has 15 players on the roster and is sponsored by Past Express in Springfield, opens its season March 5 at home against Lawrence, KS.
“So far, it’s basically a Glendale team with a few guys from Kickapoo and a few kids from Greenwood,” said Shuck, himself a Glendale graduate.
“But we’re looking for more all the time.”
Although it may be new here, Shuck said rugby is part of the athletic teen scene in other cities.
“If anything, we’re behind,” he said “I know of six teams in Kansas City and two in St. Louis alone.”
Shuck and Springfield Rugby Club coach Colin Jones think rugby has a good potential in the Ozarks.
“There are lots of kids who are looking for an athletic activity that blends the contact, the running and the rest of the skills that rugby involves,” Jones said.
“I think we’re going to get all sorts of kids. It does seem like there’s a number of individuals that have been left out of high school sports.”
Shuck said a bad rap on rugby has been its rough image, which he said was an incorrect one.
“That’s something we’re trying to get rid of,” he said. “It’s rough, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not just blood and gore.”
But, the sport is something of a secret locally, even though Springfield has had a club since the early 1980’s.
“It’s amazing how many people have heard that we never existed,” Jones said of his club. Not only does it exist but it’s thriving, Shuck said.
“There are several opportunities to play at a higher level. I play for Springfield, but I play for other sides, too, “he said, using the rugby term for “team.”
“When these guys get to college and want to play rugby, they have a jump-start on everybody else,” Shuck said. ‘The younger they start, the better they’ll be.”