The Scrum Bunch

How Hofstra's ragtag team of ruby players made the grade

by: Steven Conley

Most of them had never played before. They had hopes of playing other sports, like football or baseball. Never did they imagine playing rugby, a game most people in the U.S. don’t know or understand.

If you’ve ever passed by the intramural field, which is located next to the baseball field and opposite the soccer stadium, you may have seen them. They are the Hofstra University Men’s Rugby Football Club. It’s a game they knew little about when first joining, but have now grown to love.

“I never thought I would be playing rugby at Hofstra,” said Jonathan Shell, a third-year player on the team who spent one of his freshman semesters on the baseball team.

“I came here to play baseball, but when that didn’t work out I decided to see what rugby was all about, even though I had never played before,” he said.

Like Shell, most of the players who join the team have never played before. This explains the team’s struggles during the Fall 2003 season, when they lost every game while playing with a roster that barely allowed them to field a team.

“We get several new players each semester, but not many of them stick around for too long,” said Marc Miller, a second-year player from Roslyn , N.Y.

After last year’s disappointing season, a rebuilding process began which quickly turned things around for the team.

“We started to actively recruit guys to play, and the Student Government Association gave us $5,000 to help us with expenses such as uniforms and team travel,” said Paul Bambinelli, a second-year player from Farmingdale , N.Y.

This past fall, the team, which is part of the Metropolitan Rugby Union, posted a perfect 6-0 record in the regular season and went on to capture the New York State Division Championship—a remarkable turnaround for a team that barely had enough bodies to put on the field a year ago.

“We love to play and get along great,” said Michael Pomerantz, a second-year player from Westchester , N.Y. “There is a very strong bond here, and that was a big reason for the success we had.”

While that bond has been instrumental to the team’s success, there are many traditions in rugby that have allowed the team to grow and mature together over the past year.

“When a rookie scores for the first time, the tradition is that after the game he has to run a lap around the field naked, while the other players douse him with beer,” Pomerantz said.

Many of the veterans of the team have been through this experience, and hope to keep the tradition alive.

“I didn’t know how I was going to feel about it at first, but it was a fun experience,” David Litvack said. “The girls seem to love it.”

The game has a rich culture, and during rituals, players bond with each other as well as the opposing team. Before the game, players join in singing rugby songs to get themselves into the spirit of playing.  After a game, both teams gather and drink, sometimes as much as a keg per team.

“The drinking after the game, it’s kind of a way to bond and show your respect for the guys you just spent all afternoon beating up,” Pomerantz said.

While the team enjoyed a great deal of success last fall, there is still plenty of work to do as they prepare for the spring season, which includes non-league games and tournament play. They also took a trip to Washington , D.C. last spring.

“The spring is a time to improve the team, recruit new players and teach the new guys the ins and outs of the game,” Bambinelli said.

Hofstra plays in Division-III, but is trying to move up to Division-II. Its recent State Championship is the biggest bargaining tool in that effort.

“Right now, we are stuck in Division-III, even though we feel we are better than many teams in the other two leagues,” Bambinelli said. “The collapse the program went through last year is one of the main reasons we have not been able to move up a Division.”

The team was also without a coach until last fall, when Niall Frawley agreed to take the
job. Frawley, who manages a bar in Massapequa, came to the U.S. in 1996 from Limerick City , Ireland .

“We met Niall last year at the bar he runs, told him we played rugby and we could use a coach, and he was more than happy to do it,” Pomerantz said.

Frawley, who speaks with a heavy brogue, played rugby in Ireland and was excited to take the team under his wing.

“When the boys came to me and asked me if I’d do it, I said, ‘Sure no problem,’” Frawley said. “I played in Ireland but haven’t been involved in the game in the last few years, and I’m happy to have gotten back into it.”

With a new coach and a highly successful season under its belt, the team is poised to continue its winning ways this spring and into the fall. The players also hope to be taken more seriously by the University.

“Right now, we are only looked at as a club sport,” Bambinelli said. “We feel with the way we have been performing, we should be treated like a regular sport.”

Since rugby is not an NCAA sanctioned sport, it can only be considered a club sport, and due to insurance reasons, the team can only travel within the five boroughs to compete.

“This is another restriction that is keeping us from moving up to Division-II,” Bambinelli said.

The team has come a long way since last fall, and plans to continue its success this spring and into next year. The ingredients are there, and the team hopes people will take notice.