Why Rugby?

• Rugby is a game played worldwide, a team sport that delivers significant social and health benefits. There is a shortage of adult sports programs in Northern Michigan (post high school) that can offer men and women a competitive sport in which to be involved. The activity helps to grow self-confidence, team skills, communication skills, and self-discipline. With the recent influx of the new virus Covid-19, there’s never been a stronger need for health and physical fitness. It might save your life.

• Rugby is a sport for all body types. There are positions on the team for everyone. From tall and thin to short or stocky. You don’t necessarily even need to be dexterous. What you need is a good attitude and a willingness to be part of a team. Even if you are overweight, rugby has a position for you. And the sport will help a person become fit – both physically and mentally.

• There is very little gear required to play rugby, and therefore economical for participants. For adults, only cleats and mouth guard are required. For youth, only a pair of gym shoes (mouth guard optional).

• Rugby is a sport with an honorable code of ethics. In rugby, there is no dramatizing, no playacting, no showboating. It’s about respect for your own team and the other team you are competing against.

• Rugby is a confidence booster, for kids and adults alike. Even the most unlikely individual, who hasn’t had a history of sport engagement, will find their place with rugby. Because the sport is not as well-known as others in the U.S., there is no stigma attached. The adult or child does not feel like they have to live up to any sort of standards. Most are in the same boat: learning a new sport and getting fit.

• Rugby is great for communication skills. There is constant calling and talking on the pitch. And unlike many other sports, the coach is not in charge once play begins. Once the game starts, it’s up to the players to put in place what they have learned, to work together for a common goal, and to get there, they need to talk to each other, support each other, call out to each other.

• Rugby is a great social network, especially for children who want to be a part of something but don’t feel like they belong. Rugby is not attached to any school. The club supports a large area of northern Michigan and will bring together children, and adults, from all over. In every sense of the word, your rugby team will become your second family.

• Rugby is about effort and resilience. It’s not an easy sport to play, but it’s worth the while for the satisfaction a player feels afterward.

• Rugby is the fastest growing sport in America for both men AND women. Women find rugby liberating in the type of play and expectations of female athletes. Rugby requires no less from any competitor.

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