Local high school rugby club forming

A few local rugby aficionados are trying to introduce the sport to high school students in Sheboygan County.

Ty Wade, a Michigan native who now lives in Cedar Grove, is trying to recruit kids from every corner of the county for his newly formed "Chargers" boys rugby club. The team currently has about a dozen athletes, but Wade said he'd like to at least double that number.

He's helping start the team with Niel Mattek, another longtime rugby player in the area who's wanted to start a high school program for years.

"We're starting from scratch," said Wade, the club's president. He first played the game at Western Michigan University in the early 1990s before playing briefly in Australia. "It's brand new."

Wade said the team is running under the purview of the Wisconsin Rugby Football Union and aims to draw athletes from any high school in the county. Practices are already up and running Sunday evenings at Sheboygan Falls High School. The club is aiming to play in a scrimmage at the end of March, with matches running in April and May.

"We've been wanting to do it for a long time," said Mattek, who started playing the sport about 20 years ago and was one of the founding members of the former Sheboygan Sharks adult men's rugby team. That team has since dissolved.

Pushback from parents and coaches in the area concerned about injuries has for years prevented the men from launching the high school club, Mattek said. But he noted he believes rugby is a "very safe game."

"Until you learn the rules and know all the rules, all you see on TV is the big highlight, light-'em-up hits," Mattek said. "Those are actually very few and far between in the actual game of rugby."

Involvement in the sport has been on the rise the last few years, said Kurt Weaver, the youth and high school director for USA Rugby, the game's national governing organization. The number of athletes in youth and high school programs affiliated with the national organization has roughly doubled since 2006-07, he said.

"You pretty much just need a ball and a field," Weaver said, noting the sport's relative low cost compared to games like football help make rugby attractive for some schools.

Weaver added the sport is "inclusive" — both boys and girls can play — which might also add to its attractiveness and popularity. And increasing exposure of the game on TV and in the sports world in general — the Olympics will reintroduce rugby in the 2016 games in Brazil — are also helping spur growth in youth involvement, he said.

Wade said the team now is only for boys, but said he'd like to expand in the future to also include girls.

"First minute I was out there, the adrenaline rush and the nerves — there was nothing like it," said Mattek, who played rugby for the first time in Oshkosh while he was attending a nearby college. "And these kids will find it out too once they start playing. It will become their favorite sport.

"I'm very encouraged," he said of the kids who have already gotten involved. "We've had a couple practices and the kids are, they're loving it. They're absolutely loving it."

The rundown

What:

Sheboygan County high school rugby club team

When:

Practices run 5-7:30 p.m. Sundays. Matches will be Mondays,Wednesdays or Fridays in April and May.

Where:

Home matches will be in Cedar Grove. Practices currently are at Sheboygan Falls High School

Synopsis:

The club is open to male students at Sheboygan County high schools. No previous rugby experience is required to join the club.

Contact:

For information, call club president Ty Wade at 262-388-1057