Hampden Sydney College - Kaleidoscope Yearbook (Hampden Sydney, VA)

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Rugby: Barbarity for Gentlemen VL'liatever would compel a person to do something like play rugby? one might ask while attending a match and witnessing the brutal exchange. flood qtlestiun. lt's fun, most of the players wotild agree. iVlt1sI ot' them, Sure, rugby is violent. lt is as vio- lent as any contact sport can be. Vvlien asked what to expect. the vet- eran players tell the new guys, l'ain. H The players play hard, appar- ently without consideration for their own well-being, and they endure the conditions ol' the game: no protective pads. no forward passes, and no block- ing. The tast-paced, continuous action often leaves the spectators question- ing the existence ol-rules. Sometimes the players, too. Rugby demonstrates competitive respect as well as any other sport. The spectator may not be able to see that through the puinmelling ol. bodies. but the opposition is never held in contempt as long as the play is kept clean. Both teams play hard, as hard as they can, as well as they can. There can he nothing in that to hold in con- tempt. Everything from the chants ot' praise toward the other team after the game to the home-team-sponsored party in honor ofthe visitors indicates that both teams are indeed proud to have had a chance to knock heads with each other. Respect. For the llampden-Sydney Rugby Club, games are few. Five games make up a good-sized season. But to schedule many more games than that would be perhaps needlessly incon- siderate to the body. Five is about enough. The administrative portion-all clubs have thein-has been handled by President Skip Alligood, Secretary!- Treasurer Andrew Brannan, and Match Secretary Lee Grubb. These three have handled more than enough club emergencies: misunderstandings with the Virginia Rugby Union, mis- appropriation of liunds let-t over from a previous rugby administration. and other headaches that really don't ap- pear to have anything to do with the essence ol' the game. Until the spring semester when Major Nalley ol' the Longwood! Hampden-Sydney ROTC program was asked by the team to step in. the team had been completely student- run. 'I'hat's okay, but Ma-ior Nalley has been more than willing to push the students farther rl an they had been willing to push themselves. He fieels that physical fitness can win games. The participants ot- this organized cruelty are attracted to the game by something, surely not the cruelty itself. Surely. But whatever the attrac- tion, it's catching on. Membership over the past year hasjumped, as well as the dedication ofthe players which keeps the membership number high. These guys don't need a winning season to keep their enthusiasm high. That's been proven. They only need the practices to add something special to their weeks. a few games, and the fellowship ot- the other players. Nt I I 515 .J A Q o . A .- .- - - - . v-.4