Thursday, November 14, 2013

Rugby Is A Hooligan's Sport, Played By Gentleman

Rugby Is a Hooligan’s Sport, Played By Gentlemen

Before there was rugby.
Before Webb Ellis
Before Shrovetide

Natural Human Reaction
Sports were used as a training measure to simulate competition other than combat. All but the Spartans thought sports were a useful time to train warriors. Men picked up objects and competed by running to a destination without being brought to the ground and capture. For man and animals it is only nature to practice this action like Cheetah’s hunting prey. Rugby just makes a game out of it. Unfortunately rugby perceives to be more physical and violet than a game of “Capture The Flag.” In reality though rugby is rough to play but it is controlled and safe. The public just does not know how to play. There by rugby is perceive as men hitting other men over a ball.

Rugby History Lesson
In books are documentations of men playing “smear the queer” type game for thousands of years. Laws and religions discouraged the practice of this game to be played or seen in public. Even the Olympics were shut down for centuries because authority powers saw it as an assembly of strong people. Kingdoms discouraged patrons to gather in large crowds. For many old kingdoms a competitive fight over a ball use to be the past time game. Unfortunately to the public eye this appears as a violet act.

Shrovetide
The tradition in Ashbourne in Derbyshire in England holds the game of Shrovetide. This game was discouraged by the religious cardinals in the United Kingdom. Shrovetide is the annual town people’s game which gathers thousands of people in the middle of the town to fight over a single oversized ball. Mass craze of people running wildly in the streets rioting the ball to two opposing end goals 3 miles apart.

School Yard Game
Webb Ellis and his playground friends overcame this discouragement in 1823 by playing Shrovetide in confined boundaries of a school yard. The school accepted such play because it was controlled and limited to an individual could run with boundaries.

What was meant to be a school yard game became competitive sport in surrounding rivalry schools. When rugby reached into universities in America in 1872 the game was short lived. An average of 9 deaths and 170 serious injuries per year in America’s college rugby organization. In 1906 safety regulations were applied and created a collegiate organization of football.

Rugby became one of the first international sports as it was the preferred sport military personal shared with other countries on their military peace keeping tours in late 1800s. England credited for shared its rugby interest during tours and mission with Australia and New Zealand, becoming the best rugby countries known today.

As rugby was trending international it was accept as an Olympic Game in 1900, 1908, 1920 and 1924. 
Unfortunately the Olympic committee no longer included rugby as an Olympic Game since 1924 when USA won gold over France. France was the host of the 1924 Olympic Games and were out raged of the loss to USA. French spectators attacked the Americans players on the field after the end of the match. The Americans rugby players returned home with shame after winning gold because of the reaction French in causing an unpeaceful relationship.

Rugby will be back in the Olympics in 2016 for the first time since the violet fight in the French stadium.

Game For Hooligans, Played By Gentlemen
Rugby made a popular return in the 1970s after men returned home from wars and a free attitude. Commonly known today as a contact sport that involves beer drinking and hooligan shenanigans. With America’s bravest and finest people from the military and college athletes that played the game. Rugby was a gateway for aggressive behavior on and off the field for the best people in the community.

How Has Olympic Rugby Impacted The Rugby Community?
The campaign of promoting rugby, the 3rd largest sport internationally today, to the Olympic committee was challenging. The perceived aggressive and foul mouth sport contact sport was not easy to present to the International Olympic Committee based on its reputations. The International Rugby Board knew a change would have to happen for rugby to be and stay an Olympic game.

Rugby has to clean its act.

Little Traditions
Rugby off the field actions has grown weak. Traditionally after a friendly match the hosting team hosts a social gathering for the opposing team and their fans. Beer, food and laughs are shared with the opposing team after any outcome of the game. Nothing can settle a grievance especially after a tough rugby match then a pint with the enemy. Rugby songs of untasteful and offensive lyrics bring together a bond of collaboration among the two teams singing the same words together. Other shenanigans of drinking game and team bonding rituals bring a personality to the club. As long as it is four walls, it is okay to carry on tradition.

Social Responsibility
Rugby participation across Midwest teams have plateaued. At one time every city had a local rugby club in the Midwest. Local clubs fade in membership numbers and fold out of league competition. Tradition of reckless behavior and health conflict shortens an individual’s rugby career. Today the traditional rugby behavior is not acceptable in society. Rugby’s behavior effecting club members and company sponsors hurts the social responsibility a nonprofit organization is supposed to reflect to a community. The clubs that are surviving in the society change are teams that give back to the community. The clubs that have the better reputation around the community are still in operation.

Out With The Bad, In With The Good
Social clubs are teams that are low caliber in performance. These are the teams that may lose the game, but will not lose the boat race drinking game. These are the teams that hold strong traditions.

Teams that hold traditions are like sports bars that have cheap beer prices, they eventually bring in the wrong crowd of people and ruin the business.

Rugby society sees this behavior and are attempted to eliminate these noncontributing social clubs that are dead weight to the rugby community.

Cutting the “dead weight social clubs” from the bottom will effect a quarter of the 700 senior clubs across the country. Effecting over 100 senior level clubs across the nation to clean up their act or leave. USA Rugby makes roughly $50 per year for every member on team. A club registration cost of $150 per year. USA Rugby is missing out on dues from the loss of these teams and members. But it is worth the loss of money in the future growth from a new emerging profitable market of younger peole.

The Future Of Rugby
Youth rugby programs have been expanding in popularity inside schools actually out numbering senior level players 2 to 1. USA rugby runs a greater risk if a senior club’s bad behavior to ruin the reputation that it has been strongly won back from society. With over 1,200 High School rugby teams and 400 youth teams are now a market to think about the children and how it will take over.

How To Eliminate A Social Club
Social clubs do not contribute much effort or funds into their program. Increasing registration cost for club dues can cut into clubs funds. A performance level club raises over $10,000 annually through charitable events and public recognition. A low performance social clubs can barely scape up the team dues from unfavorable club member. Team dues of $150 with only 10 paying members puts an equaling total of $1500 in the bank. $150 for USA rugby registration and $500 for Local Union dues puts only $850 to work with in a given year. That’s enough for 1 home game and 1 tournament cost a year.

Midwest Union for example approved of opening its territory of competition. A new division of low performance play called the Division 4 or D pool level of play. Commonly a place for a D1 club’s B side level of play that can afford the expenses. Creating another division of play increases travel costs and travel time. This clears out a clubs bank account and cannot afford a season long of embarrassment. If only clubs can afford a team bus will it make sense for teams to make engage in this league of play.

Youth is the future and growth of a club’s success. A rugby player’s career of play has high deviations. From age 18-60 rugby players can all ways enjoy a game at any age of life. But clubs need young replacements when a member’s career is over. Creating a barrier from the social clubs and the youth programs eliminates the market of new members to join. Making sure the bad traditions are not passed down from local social clubs to the new generation will benefit the youth programs and senior level to increase better rugby overall. 

Twitter: @hawkeyerugby
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