In the past, attending a Fresno State rugby game would require traveling 10-15 minutes around town to a local park. But now that new sod has been laid on the Kinesiology Field, the men’s and women’s rugby clubs will finally be able to host their home games on campus.
Marques “Quezzy” Watkins, the men’s rugby club social chair, joined the team four years ago when a few of his friends told him to come out to a practice. He’d never played before college, but said he liked how extremely athletic the sport was.
“At first, I thought the sport is kinda rough, and I didn’t know the rules too well,” Watkins said. “I was just trying to do as well as I could.”
Watkins said his coaches pulled him aside throughout the season to help him catch up to the group. The coaches are volunteers who once played rugby in the Central Valley.
“The coaches believe this is the next step for kids after high school who want to play rugby,” Watkins said. “They don’t have to go up and down California to play rugby because Fresno State has a home for them.”
The men’s and women’s league season doesn’t begin until spring semester, but Watkins said rugby is a year-round sport.
“There is never really a break from it, and we play in tournaments all year round,” Watkins said. “If you really want to be in rugby and be the best player you can be, you have opportunities to play all year.”
Since club sports are not funded by the athletic department at Fresno State, both men’s and women’s rugby fundraise to afford their traveling expenses, equipment and uniforms.
“Having to fundraise and get your own money is hard,” Watkins said.
The men’s team has ongoing fundraisers with MB2 Raceway and No Surrender Laser Tag, and the women’s team partners with ASI and Panda Express. Even with fundraisers, Watkins said, the club still requires members to pay club dues in order to afford everything the team needs.
Fundraising isn’t the only challenge of being a club sport. Watkins said campus recognition is not easy to come by.
“Nobody really knows rugby,” Watkins said. “When I tell people I play rugby, I can’t expect them to know what I’m talking about.”
Kacey Jones, vice president of the women’s rugby club, has played on the team for three years. Jones found out about rugby when she approached the rugby club booth on campus, but said they are always recruiting.
“The cool thing about a club sport is that anyone can play,” Jones said. “Our coaches don’t recruit for us: we do it ourselves. If someone looks athletic, we’ll approach them and ask them to play.”
Jones said they currently have 25 potential new members attending practice to see if they like it.
“Now that people have seen it in the Olympics, more girls have asked us about joining,” Jones said. “The more people know about rugby the better.
Jones said there are a lot of benefits of being on a club team rather than a Division I sports team.
“There aren’t as many practices, so it’s not as intense,” Jones said. “You can still be competitive without the pressure of being an NCAA team.”