Rugby is an old game. In 1823, so the story goes, a student at the Rugby School named William Webb Ellis created rugby when he picked up the football (soccer ball) and ran with it. While this story is probably apocryphal, the Rugby World Cup trophy is called the Webb Ellis Cup to this day as a result of it.

Even in the United States, the game goes back a ways. The first recorded rugby match in the US was in May of 1874. In the 1920s, the USA won the only two Olympic gold medals in rugby 15s history.

Yet, the average American has little to no rugby exposure. The union code is consigned to the odd specialty section of youth sports. Maybe you played it if one of your parents played it. Or maybe you pick it up in college because you hear there are good parties. But for most Americans, the oval ball is out of sight and out of mind.

All that may be changing.

Aladdin Schirmer (Eagle #489) is a sign of the times. As a kid in Seattle, he played American football. A search for ways to stay in shape in the offseason brought him, by chance or fate, to a game of touch rugby. From there, an incredible ride began that saw Aladdin wearing his country colors in both 7s and 15s. And, most recently, that ride saw him hoisting the first ever MLR championship shield for his hometown Seattle Seawolves.

We in the American rugby community are always watching as the game grow and change here in the states. But few have the perspective of Aladdin Schirmer, who has become the type of public figure in Seattle that never existed for him as a kid: a domestic professional rugby player. A champion.

Aladdin was kind enough to sit down with me and discuss his rugby story. I had to apologize to him, as the interview lasted far longer than I had originally requested. But Aladdin’s story speaks to all Americans who have found themselves rooting for the success of this thing called rugby union here on our shores. I share that story with you.

Craig Gridelli: How were you first introduced to rugby?

Aladdin Schirmer: I was born and raised here in Seattle. I came up playing all sorts of sports. Coming into high school, I was pretty much football dominant with my best friend, my cousin. We’d train pretty much full time trying to make that Division 1 scholarship run, like any high school football player is trying to do. In the offseason, we liked to pick up extra sports. We did wrestling in the winter and we hated it. Wrestling is one of the most mentally tough sports I’ve ever been a part of.

Come springtime, Aladdin and his cousin were still searching for that offseason cross training. After wrestling, their next idea was lacrosse. The physicality and intensity of lacrosse attracted them. But, they would never make it onto the lacrosse field.

AS: The day we were going to go out to lacrosse, some kid ran down the hall and said “Hey we’re going to go play rugby down the street. Do you guys want to come?” We went out and played touch for two, two-and-a-half hours. The rest is history. I just fell in love with the sport. I knew nothing of it, I just knew that the way the game was played, the way the people were paying on the field, I just fell in love with it. I ran with it from there.

CG: Back then, how prevalent was rugby in Washington state high school athletics?

AS: It was still growing at the time. I had known there was a rugby team around the greater east side of Washington. When I finally made my way out, I realized that it may be a small little group, but a very enthusiastic group. That was something I fell in love with. I wanted to slot my way in and help grow the sport.

So Aladdin began playing with the Eastside Lions in Bellevue, Washington. He learned to play 15s rugby his junior and senior years of high school and his potential was already beginning to shine through.

Then, during his senior year, he added 7s to the resume. It is perhaps an odd state of affairs that, as rugby grows in popularity at home, the 7s game is growing in popularity globally. America is one of a handful of nations where it could be argued that their best rugby players play as much 7s as they do 15s.

Old Puget Sound Beach 7s recruited Aladdin from Eastside Lions to contribute to their national championship 7s program. He played with the men’s team, though he was only in high school.

But Eastside didn’t have a high school 7s team. Aladdin approached his coach and got permission to form a 7s program. Thus, the Eastside Lions 7s were born, with Aladdin often serving as player-coach. Though it was a brand new program, they won the state championship that first year.

Aladdin continued to learn the 7s brand of the game, playing with the Old Puget Sound Beach men’s team one night and then bringing those drills and lessons to his high school team the next, even if he didn’t always understand why it was done.

CG: You obviously had tremendous personal success in college as well, but this was before the days of [Major League Rugby]. What was the process like to get noticed by the Team USA program? How do you start getting involved in that?

AS: I was fortunate enough to have been seen by Central Washington. Bob Ford and Kenny Panchenko were coaches at the time, and they were scouting certain players out of the Washington area. I was fairly new to rugby. I got in with them and then it wasn’t until my freshman year at Central that they saw I might have a future in this.

With his coaches already intertwined with the collegiate All-Americans and the USA age grade system, they sought to get Aladdin playing with the USA U20s.

Aladdin is very thankful for the start that those coaches gave him. While today there are academies sprouting up and development teams and the pipeline to an Eagles jersey is developing quickly, back then it was all a bit more ad hoc. You had to know the right people and get noticed by the right people. It could be costly, and it was a big ask for young athletes.

It turned out that Aladdin had the skill and the commitment to capitalize on the opportunity he was given. In February of 2016, Aladdin got his first cap with the USA Eagles XV.

CG: What is it like to wear that USA jersey?

AS: Oh man. I had this chat with Phil Mack, and I told him that USA wanted to know my availability and we had a [Seawolves] game that weekend. He turned to me and said that there is nothing better than representing your country. He said I had to go. Unfortunately I got injured, but either way he understood it. When you pull that jersey on, it’s not just colors, it’s not just a number, it’s the people that came before you that put you into this place. It’s the culmination of all of your hard work, all of the hard work of all the people that have helped you, all the support, the family, the friends; it’s a very emotional feeling to be gifted with a jersey. I’m a very emotional player and when it comes down to playing, I love to have a “why” every time I put a jersey on. Why do I do this? I re-evaluate. I encourage other players to do that as well. Why do you do this? Why is it so important to you? You can break it down so many ways, but at the end of the day, putting that jersey on… there’s nothing better. Not in rugby. In an international sport where you’re grinding every single day to earn just one 80-minute performance, or even a 20-minute performance, but you hop on and you feel so obligated to work for the guy on your left side and the guy on your right side –it’s another level.

CG: How did you first get approached by the Seawolves? How did that relationship start?

AS: I stayed in Seattle to play for the [Seattle] Saracens after Central Washington. There were rumors that a professional team was coming and that a professional league was going to kick off, but there was nothing solidified. For the longest time I was actually pursuing going overseas to continue my career, but something held me back. A lot of people around here [impacted my decision], Kevin Flynn, the president of Seattle Saracens, being one of them and probably the most pivotal character here in Seattle behind the scenes. That guy has been responsible for the success of Seattle rugby for the last 10 years or so.

Kevin Flynn could make no promises, but he let Aladdin know that there was a good chance that a professional team was coming and that he would have a chance to compete for a spot on that team. Aladdin cast his lot with his hometown.

He went with the USA Selects to Uruguay that year, where he excelled. While abroad, the newly formed Seattle Seawolves reached out to him and expressed their interest.

Going into the final game of the tour, Aladdin was convinced that this was his moment. This was his shot to be a professional rugby player and wear his hometown jersey. He scored two tries in that match against a good Uruguay side and came home to join the Seawolves.

CG: So, Washington, growing up in the rugby community there. Now you have an MLR champion in Seattle. Have you noticed a difference in the average person’s perception/awareness/understanding of rugby? Has it grown even in that short window?

AS: Now I can walk down the street with a Seawolves shirt on and some random guy will yell at me “Go Seawolves!” Or they’ll yell “We love rugby!” Someone even yelled “Booa!” at me the other day. I’m not Fijian but I appreciated it. It’s insane that the city is behind us so well. Seattle loves their sports. For us to be able to be here when they wanted a basketball team for so long, and this is a real thing, they wanted the Sonics back for so long, they’re just dying for more sports. There are some serious sports fans out here. Rugby was announced and it’s still fairly new, but our fan base is growing every single day. For me to go to a bar after hours with a couple of friends, and the bar having Seawolves flags up, it’s insane. I literally walk down the street to a bar two weeks ago with my roommates for dinner, and there was a Seawolves flag above the TV. It was pretty cool, man.

CG: Tell me about playing at Starfire, that also has to be an amazing experience.

AS: Let me tell you, you know a lot people from each individual team, and when you’re at the post-match with them every single one of them has the same thing to say. “Man, I don’t know what it is, but you guys have it here.” As soon as that whistle blows, even warming up, they’re daunted by what is going on with our crowd. It’s a lively bunch, very supportive, very spirited. I will say it’s a hard place to play an away game at. Being the home team and coming out against San Diego that first night, even that night was… wow. It was pretty crazy for us. We just had to pretend we were used to it.

They surprised a lot of people that night. Seattle hadn’t been getting much respect in preseason polls and San Diego was a championship contender. Conventional wisdom expected a San Diego win. Seattle begged to differ. A dominant performance from the Seawolves’ pack led to a convincing win to start the season. From day one, everyone on the Seattle roster expected to win the championship.

Of course, it wouldn’t be the last time Seattle and San Diego clashed in 2018. They met again in the semifinal match. Fast forward to the playoffs and Seattle was no longer anyone’s underdog. But this time, San Diego proved more troublesome.

AS: Going into that second bout, we knew their strengths. San Diego has one of the most elite backlines, not even in the country but probably North and South America. Those guys are dangerous. Ryan Matyas, Nate Augspurger. When you can put Nate Augspurger on the wing and still have a USA level scrum half in Nick Boyer, that’s a pretty heavy backline to have to deal with. We went into that game thinking we were going to be forward dominant. And they had picked up a couple of good forwards throughout the season. Tony Lamborn ended up down there. We just thought, you know what, tight five we’re going to have to play a very dominant forward game here.

And so they did. Seattle’s pack was second-to-none last year, and they wore down San Diego over the course of 80 minutes to take a 10-10 halftime score to a 38-24 full-time win.

But that still left Glendale in the finals. Glendale, who had twice beaten the Seawolves already.

CG: Going into the championship, you had lost twice to Glendale. What did you do to prepare? Anything different, or did you just stick with your recipe and know that eventually you’d get through?

AS: Honestly, I think it was a big mental switch with us. Not much of a game plan switch. I think you just get sick and tired of being sick and tired. The entire team that entire week, the mental prep, the physical prep, every single rep that we did, there was a meaning behind it. We were tired of being losers. We didn’t want to lose again to these guys. We’d already come this far, we’d worked this hard, we’d been in so much pain this far through the season. We needed to finish it out. I think the mental switch with that 23 who hopped onto the field, that’s what really solidified that win for us. We came out and hit them in the mouth, and we hit them in the mouth again, and when they hit back we didn’t back up. We stayed in the fight, whereas in the first two games, the first game for sure, we took a hit to the mouth and we got shocked. Glendale is such a well oiled machine. Those guys have been together for a minute. Hats off to them for those first two, but I’m proud to say my team was able to put it together and really switch on for that third one.

That’s putting it mildly. Seattle did what they could not do in the regular season. They beat Glendale when it mattered most and brought home the first ever MLR championship. And Aladdin Schirmer, Seattle kid, got to be Aladdin Schirmer, professional rugby national champion. And he got to do it on behalf of the same place that once taught him the game.

CG: What in your mind was the single biggest factor in your championship?

AS: Honestly I’d probably have to say adversity. Last season was not easy by any means. You can put it down that we have a great front row. You can put it down that we have a great pair of centers, and at the end of the day that may be true, but leading into it we came across a lot of adversity as a team and an organization. It’s a start up, as any start up it has its troubles, but I think that adversity really bound the team together. The entire roster just became a brotherhood. It just became more to us. It meant so much more to step onto the field and put on an 80, 82 minute performance if needed, for the guy wearing the jersey in front of you and the guy wearing the jersey behind you. I told you a little earlier that pulling on the USA jersey, there’s nothing like it. Well let me tell you, there’s something that is second to it right now, and it’s putting on a Seawolves jersey.

CG: 2019, you’re now the defending champion. No one is going to overlook you or under rank you this year. What are you doing to prepare? Anything different, or are you sticking with what worked?

AS: As you know we were player-coached last year. That’s a huge difference. This year we have Anton Moolman stepping in as head coach, and to go from a player-coached team to an actual coached team is a huge shift. It’s very different, but at the same time, we’ve kept our core group together. We’re going to be able to grind the way we do. I think Anton is a very special coach in that he’s not here to change the way we do things, he’s here to compliment them. And that’s something I really do appreciate. I’m looking forward to continue working with him a little early in the season.

Seattle has kept its core group together, but it’s also made some key additions. Ben Cima, USA Eagle fly half joined the roster. So too did Stephan Coetzee, formerly of Super Rugby and the PRO14. Combined with the existing championship roster, Seattle should only be more confident as MLR’s second season approaches.

Seattle starts the second season with a Glendale rematch. Both teams enter that contest with something to prove. But perhaps there is something larger at stake. Perhaps there is something bigger already being proved.

When Starfire sells out, how many of those seats are filled with children? How many of them will have an Aladdin Schirmer, or a Phil Mack, or a Hanco Gemishuys, or a Paul Lasike, or a Harley Davidson to watch and admire?

How many kids will remember the excitement of seeing their team win the MLR championship match, and imagine themselves on the pitch, part of the celebration? Maybe not many. Not as many as a World Series or a Super Bowl. Heck, not even as many as a Major League Soccer championship today. But whatever the number, it was an experience entirely unavailable previously.

And it will be available to my son.

Thanks to people like Aladdin Schirmer, and Kevin Flynn, and all the people working to build something that lasts in our country, it will be available to my son.

With Aladdin, when a random kid came down his high school hallway and asked him to play touch rugby, a Seawolf was born. Even though no one knew it yet.

What is being born now that no one yet knows?

I leave you with what Aladdin said about the 2019 season.

AS: Stay tuned and prepare to be wowed. It’s going to be a good season for Seattle

It’s going to be a good season for rugby union in the USA.