By Students For Students
Sports
By Students For Students |
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Sports |
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Rugby Fun For Everyone Marissa Compas Student Life Editor In the words of Henry David Thoreau, “If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.” Mr. Thoreau could have been speaking to the hearts of rugby players everywhere. There are a lot of misconceptions about rugby both from the women who won’t play because it’s too rough to the men who think it’s not tough enough. What is the game really like? The modern game of rugby is one of the most demanding sports around in terms of the physical fitness levels needed. The game requires high levels of speed, agility, strength, power, and endurance. Fitness is very important: You may be the best technical scrimmager in a game, but you will not be as effective if collapse after the first few minutes due to fatigue. Unlike football, players do not wear any hard protective padding. There is no blocking or tackling the player without the ball. If the player with the ball is tackled, play does not stop. Rugby is a continuous sport. In a February 2002 Washington College newspaper, article, junior team president Danielle Porter explained that “Rugby combines the intelligence of chess with the brutality of alligator wrestling.” The premise of the game sounds easy: fifteen players must drive fifteen other players into the ground for possession of a ball. Once obtained, the ball must be put down in a marked area or kicked through a set of upright posts. But consider that the ball can only be thrown backward as the team careens toward its goal. And that’s only the beginning. “The game itself is so unusual that everyone starts on square one, no matter how good of an athlete you were in high school,” says Porter. “The light bulb tends to get much brighter after your first game.” Players range in age from about 18 to 50 and come from various other sports including soccer, volleyball, basketball, field hockey, football, etc. The rugby ball, somewhat like the American football, is oval. However, it is fatter and rounded at the ends and more difficult to throw, and easier to dropkick accurately. The American football was shaped like this until it was altered due to the popular forward pass. Ralph Waldo Emerson said “Whoso would be a man, must be a non-conformist,” and that could be the rugby player’s credo. A lot of people are drawn to the game because they want to try something different, something exciting and new, and something of which others may be just a bit fearful. Rugby is all about camaraderie and sportsmanship; its essence is not drawn simply from the physical competition on the pitch, but also from camaraderie that develops from sharing such an uncommon-common bond. Porter elaborated, saying “A lot of people find that the contact of the sport is great for anger management.” USA Rugby is the national governing body that represents the USA in the International rugby community. It is made up of seven Territorial Unions (TUs) and 37 local Area Unions (LAUs), and supports more than 50,000 members. USA Rugby also fields several national teams, nicknamed the Eagles. If you are interested in playing rugby on a team, St. Louis has both a men’s and a women’s team. There are no tryouts and anyone who is mildly athletic and who thrives in a team environment is welcome to join. The men’s team is called the St. Louis Hornets, and the women’s team is named the St. Louis Sabres. Visit http://www.hornetsrfc.com/ to learn more about the men’s team or http://www.stlouissabres.com/ for more information about the women’s team. Information was taken from http://elm.washcoll.edu/past/73_18ruc.html, www.dooyoo.co.uk/archive/archive/womens_rugby/, http://members.aol.com/wags40/why.html, and www.stlo |
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A Season Filled With Dreams And Heart Breaks Keelan Gillian Sports Editor The LCCC women‘s soccer team‘s quest for the national title took place in Phoenix Arizona. The Lady Trailblazers finished their season with a record of 22-2. This fantastic record places them in sixth place in the nation. The Lewis and Clark ladies entered the Division I National Championship with the record of 21-0 and ranked No. 1 in the nationGinny Hatten said, “It is a great experience for freshman and sophomores.” The Trailblazers first game was against Catonsville. Even before the game started Meghan Rooney, the coach’s daughter, was doing her pregame warm-ups when she injured her right knee during a drill and crumpled to the ground with pain. The crowd of fans who traveled to support their Blazers saw Meghan Rooney go down. After her injury, shock rolled over the crowd. The timing of the injury was not in the Trailblazers’ favor because the ladies’ soccer team had come to the tournament as number one. Catonsville came in geared up for battle. In the first period, Catonsville took an early advantage due to Trailblazer mistakes. The lady Cardinals from Catonsville handed the Lady Trailblazers their first loss. This dropped the Trailblazers out of first place. The best rank that the team could hope for now was fifth-place. The Trailblazers’ second game was against Mesa Community College, a consolation bracket game because of their loss to Catonsville. At the end of the third period, neither team had yet to score; the game went into overtime. The battle ended when the Trailblazer’s goalie, Danielle Troha, gave the soccer ball a booming kick and it landed right at RayRay Cole’s feet near midfield. She reacted by running like she was on fire toward Mesa’s goal. Cole was in stealth mode as she blew right past two of Mesa’s defenders splitting them, coasting to freedom and breezing toward Meghan Cyr, Mesa’s goalie. Cole launched the soccer ball, which slipped right through Cyr’s hands for the winning goal. The third game was played against Young Harris College of Georgia. The Trailblazers entered this game with a record of 22-1. They were set for a fifth place finish at NJCAA Women’s National Soccer Tournament. The Trailblazers still had the spark, which had carried them through the victory over Mesa. The ladies hoped the magic would happen again. The Trailblazers controlled the game with two goals. The crushing defeat came when Kelly Quinn from Young Harris College was left alone to score two quick unassisted goals. Those goals punched the air out of the Trailblazers and also any hope of a comeback. Despite this, Hatten said that sixth in the nation isn’t really that bad, once you think about it. |
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Coach Describes LCCC Men’s Basketball Team As ‘Eclectic’ Keelan Gillian Sports Editor Doug Stotler, the LCCC men’s basketball coach, talked about himself and the men’s basketball team’s identity. At the young age of age 14 or 15, Stotler knew that coaching was his calling in life. At Herculaneum High School in Missouri, Stotler was very active in sports. He played baseball, basketball, and football. When Stotler was not playing sports, he was in class. The classes that he enjoyed most were general physiology and history. He graduated from Herculaneum High School in 1980. After graduating high school, Stotler attended Maryville College in Saint Louis. At Maryville College, Stotler concentrated on History and Political Science. Stotler describes himself as a coach in one word - intense. He says that he became a coach due to inspiration he received from friends and work colleagues. When Stotler was a very young boy, he was in a situation where he had the opportunity to play for his father who coached. He also had the opportunity to work for one of best basketball coaches in Harry Statham Mckendree College history, Harry Statham. In Mr. Stotler’s mind, his father and Harry Statham influenced him the most and are the primary reasons that he became a coach. Over the years, his playing style has changed in order to adapt to the type of players. Stotler believes that it is more important to change with the player’s style than to try to make the player fit his coaching style. The 2003-2004 Lewis and Clark Boys Basketball team doesn’t have a specific player who acts as the team captain. Instead, every player has the opportunity to be the captain for at least one game. The idea is not to have one certain person. This concept is significant because it encourages the whole team to get involved. This, in turn, helps the team develop its own identity, Stotler explains. Stotler also does not use the traditional concept of offence and defense. The players are instead broken down into the categories: “shooter’s, ball handlers, and players who play their backs to the basket.” Stotler says that he’d rather his players not be called by their traditional positions. Moritz Wohlers is the tallest player on the team, coming in at 6’8". Marcus Richardson is the smallest player with a height of 5’7". The team’s slogan is “If you can pass it and catch it, then you can play this game.” Right now the team is trying to redefine their image due to injures to four players. Due to the injuries, Stotler hopes that as the season goes on, the players will continue to grow as a team as they find a common ground. Stotler describes the team as “eclectic” because of the mix of different talents that make up the group. The record for the men’s basketball team right now is 5 - 3. |