Try @ TXST

Giselle Kowalski:
Hi everyone. My name is Giselle Kowalski and I'm the digital content producer here at Texas State University. You're listening to Try @ Texas State, and today's episode is about rugby.

Speaker 2:
[inaudible 00:00:24].

Giselle Kowalski:
When I used to imagine the game of rugby, I thought of immensely large guys barreling through one another, creating a human hill to protect a ball. But there's an element to rugby that I think we Americans have yet to understand. Rugby players exude a feeling of belonging with whoever joins their team on or off the field. There's an unspoken air of kindness when you walk onto the pitch between not only the players but their opponents, referees, and fans. I sat down with the president of Texas State's rugby team to learn a little bit more about the game and to get insight as to why these sportsmen are so kind in a game that's seemingly brutal.

Speaker 3:
Make sure you're always bound [inaudible 00:01:04].

Giselle Kowalski:
So to begin all of this, just tell us your name and what you do with the rugby team.

Kyle Campbell:
My name's Kyle Campbell, I'm the president of the rugby team. My major is animal science pre-veterinary.

Giselle Kowalski:
OK. And so before we started the recording, you were telling me that this is your first year here at Texas State, right?

Kyle Campbell:
Yes, it is. It's my first year.

Giselle Kowalski:
OK, so did you transfer?

Kyle Campbell:
I transferred from Northeast Lakeview Community College. I was a sophomore this year, so I'm a junior this upcoming year.

Giselle Kowalski:
So let's get into the game of rugby. So say I've never watched a rugby game before and I have no idea what I'm looking at. How would you describe the game and the rules to me?

Kyle Campbell:
So the way I describe the game is it's more soccer-based. We always say people, it's like soccer and football combined.

Giselle Kowalski:
So how many players are on a rugby team?

Kyle Campbell:
Oh, yeah. So there's 15 people on the field each time for each team. So your number is kind what you are, your position on the field, so your number translates with your position. So usually your bigger guys are numbers one through eight, and then nine through 15 are smaller guys. They call them forwards are the first eight and then backs are the last seven. So that's how we do it.
And then the coolest part about rugby I'd say is, I don't know if you remember from the video, whatever, the lineouts, and then we did the scrums on that machine, like a knock-on. So a knock-on is if someone drops the ball and then you want to get possession of the other team, you can't just restart it. So the way they do it is a scrum. There's eight people that combine and fight over possession of the ball kind of in a little circle per se. And then lineouts are if the ball is kicked out of bounds. So it's the same thing in soccer as a throw-in, but instead in rugby you kind of lift the guy. In soccer, you could just throw it wherever. So that's the only difference there really.

Giselle Kowalski:
Yeah. You guys lifted Niles, one of our interns, and you grabbed him by his shorts and then you lift him in the air almost like in a dance, you just launch him up into the air and he catches the ball like that.

Kyle Campbell:
Yeah, no, that's exactly what you want to do, though the taller the guy, the better in that aspect. So you can just throw the ball as high as you can, and then if that guy's taller than the other guy, it's kind of easy for him to win possession. So usually the guys are a lot bigger that you're lifting. But Niles was great at it. He was pretty good.

Giselle Kowalski:
Yeah, that's awesome. So I wanted to talk a little bit about the Texas State rugby team as a whole. And so I know that you guys were called the Renegades before, correct?

Kyle Campbell:
Yes, ma'am. So we still use the Renegades name. So the origin of rugby was back in the ’80s, some guys started the club.

Giselle Kowalski:
The renegades officially began in 1983 when two students, Alan "Lizard" Noel and Phil "Phur" McKown brought the game to the university after having played in Midland, Texas. Since the club was not originally affiliated with the university, the club did not take on the school mascot, nor did they incorporate the traditional school colors of maroon and gold. Now I'm going to read straight from the Texas State's Rugby website to give you a full scope of how the team has evolved.
Although they achieved club sports status through the university, thus establishing the Southwest Texas State Renegade Rugby Football Club, they continued to compete in the club side level in the Texas Rugby Union. That first season was extremely difficult and failed to produce a win. The first major on-field success came in the spring of 1985 when the club defeated the University of Texas to win the collegiate division of the Austin Rugby Tournament. Remarkably, the club took third place in the open division of the Austin Rugby Tournament that spring. Success became more common in both tournament and match play, including summer sevens by the end of the third season. And the original members were proud to say they had defeated every team they had lost in the first two years.

Kyle Campbell:
It wasn't affiliated at the beginning with Texas State, so they were called the Bobcats or just the Renegades. So we use both now. So it's like we have a big alumni group, so those guys are awesome. So we like to keep everything traditional and keep the name and stuff. So we use both. They're both great.

Giselle Kowalski:
Yeah, they're interchangeable.

Kyle Campbell:
Yeah.

Giselle Kowalski:
Cool. So Rugby's really violent in the way that we watch it, but is it as violent as it appears?

Kyle Campbell:
Yes and no. I think, I don't like the stigma of people that are like, you're going to get injured playing rugby. And so that's our biggest problem with recruiting and everything like that. I've seen one injury in my four years of playing, so one concussion in my four years of playing. So people kind of think you're going to hit your head all the time. But the rules are really strict against tackling high, so you have to be chest and below. So if you do tackle high, it's an automatic yellow card, or even depending on how bad it is, it's a red card, so you're really losing your team the game. So it takes a guy off the field. So that kind of stuff just doesn't fly. And so everything is about safety, especially with the Texas referees and stuff like that. Everything is about safety, so that's the most important part. Unlike football and stuff where you're just going head-to-head every time, it's not like that. So I think that's the biggest stipulation I try to get out of people's mouths and stuff.

Giselle Kowalski:
Yeah. So you mentioned already Texas referees versus any other state, correct? Or...

Kyle Campbell:
So there's different unions for each state. So there's Texas and then Kansas and all those. All the other states, they're all the same, but Texas is kind of more serious about rugby than a lot of other states. We have a big rugby culture here. There's a lot of men's teams like the Austin Huns and the Austin Blacks and all that stuff that we all hang out with and do other games with, and they teach us how to play at a higher level than anywhere else. So it's a lot of fun.

Giselle Kowalski:
And so how does the Texas rugby culture differentiate from the international culture?

Kyle Campbell:
I'd say international culture is a bit bigger over, because it is an English game, so it is overseas a lot bigger than here in the United States. There's this thing, a league called MLR, which is Major League Rugby. They're trying to bring rugby here to the United States and make it a bigger thing because it is a really interesting sport. I think internationally though, like England and Scotland and New Zealand, South Africa, Ireland, all those teams are huge into rugby. Actually, some of our teammates just went down to Argentina for a All-Star tour. So they played in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Giselle Kowalski:
Wow.

Kyle Campbell:
So yeah, they played some guys there, which were, I think the biggest difference really is they kind of start young. Everywhere else, they kind of start really young. We don't really have that here, which is like to the youth because, again, parents are scared, which I'd be scared to put my kid in football too so it makes sense. So I think the youth part is the biggest difference for sure.

Giselle Kowalski:
So when we came out to film the Try at Texas State video with y'all, you guys had such a camaraderie about you and the team was just very friendly and welcoming, and I wanted to know what makes the Texas State team unique in that sense? Why are y'all such a family? What about it?

Kyle Campbell:
Yeah, I think we all hang out outside of practice. It's not like just we're on the field doing business. It's like we're all hanging out, we're going to get pizza together. We're watching football games or soccer games, whatever. Just I think really hanging out. And then rugby culture is very much about keeping people involved and keeping people staying with your club. So that's the hardest part that we have is retention. So I think just being that friendly face, and I always say this to guys, it's hard to make friends in college. It really is. So we want to be those guys that you can make friends with and just have a group of guy friends. It really is. I didn't make a single friend before I joined rugby. It's hard to meet people in class.

Giselle Kowalski:
I flew out to New Orleans one time and on my flight was a whole team of the Austin Gilgronis.

Kyle Campbell:
Oh yeah, yeah.

Giselle Kowalski:
And everyone was so kind, and I was thinking about it, and I don't understand what it is about y'all in comparison to other sports that makes rugby players so kind.

Kyle Campbell:
Yeah, it's just about the culture. There's no trash talking. It's a hooligans game played by gentlemen. It's all about being a sportsman and you don't talk back to the ref. You call him sir, you don't call him a ref. You're like, sir, it's all about respect and just being a good person because you don't want to be, I think that's the biggest difference between other sports is just like you're pretty much forced to be a gentleman and nice on the field and stuff like that. There's no toleration for any bad sportsmanship or anything like that. Anywhere I've ever played, it's always like if you're not a good teammate then or a sportsman, sorry, they're going to get on you.
Yeah, it's the biggest difference between, other sports I've played, you're just talking crap to the ref or something like that. And you see all the NBA Finals on right now. Everybody's complaining to the ref and stuff, and there's none of that. You can talk to the ref, you're like, hey, I think you shouldn't call this, or something like that. But yeah, that's it really.

Giselle Kowalski:
What do you wish that Texas State students knew about the Texas State rugby team?

Kyle Campbell:
I wish they knew we had a team to begin with. That's my biggest thing I'm trying to do. Me and our vice president, Tony Cooper, are really trying to bring the social media up to speed. And I think social media is the biggest aspect, just really letting people know we have a team and letting people know it's a friendly environment where everybody's welcome, doesn't matter. You're welcome.

Giselle Kowalski:
Yeah, and I can vouch for that. Y'all were the kindest sports team that I have ever met.

Kyle Campbell:
Yeah, we try to be.

Giselle Kowalski:
I really appreciated that. Are there any opportunities for women to play rugby here at Texas State?

Kyle Campbell:
Yeah, absolutely. So there is a women's rugby team. If anybody is looking to play, just the easiest way to get to both of us is looking up Texas State rugby. We have a men's page and the women have a page. So the women team, we work closely with them. They're great people. They're just as friendly. So they're awesome. They really are.

Giselle Kowalski:
When it comes to prepping for a tournament, how do you guys mentally prepare for something that's so physically exhausting?

Kyle Campbell:
I think the problem is over preparing. So when you over prepare yourself, then you're just thinking about all these other things. Rugby is like, it's not like other sports where you have set plays and stuff, if that makes sense. It's kind of like you're thinking on the fly. You kind of make stuff up on the fly, kind of like soccer, exactly like soccer. So you're just kicking the ball around, oh, shoot, a lane opens up, then I'm going here. It's kind the same thing.
So you obviously have your set pieces and stuff and plays, but a lot of it is just you see stuff on the field, the defense gives you something and you go, so you really want to keep an open mind. Rugby is like you kind of just playing. Literally just playing is the only way you're going to learn, the only way you're going to see how stuff works. So really, we prepare for a tournament, we're just out there playing, just talking about little things, but you don't really want to overcrowd your mind with a bunch of this stuff so you're thinking all the time while you're on the field. It just makes you not...

Giselle Kowalski:
Perform.

Kyle Campbell:
Yeah, perform. Yeah.

Giselle Kowalski:
So how do you guys build that trust between teammates in order to have your back when you're in those moments where you're improvising basically?

Kyle Campbell:
Again, I think it's playing, just playing with your teammate and then obviously socializing. People don't really see that as a big aspect to their game, but socializing is a very important aspect of your game. Just hanging out outside of practice, getting dinner together or something like that. You really build that trust, that outside connection because you can be connected on the field, whatever. It's not the same as having a friend, that personal connection. You know that guy's going to be there for you whenever you need him.

Giselle Kowalski:
So you guys have won three Texas divisions, I saw. And then you just told me that you guys placed ninth in the nation.

Kyle Campbell:
Yes, ma'am.

Giselle Kowalski:
What does it take to have a rugby team that is that fantastic?

Kyle Campbell:
It takes great coaching, great alumni that support us, and then guys that really care about the sport. So we have a lot of guys on our team that really care about the sport, and it's a lot of fun and just keeping it fun. And when you're too serious, it's just not. So you got to have a lot of fun. I think that's what we do. We have a lot of fun at practice. Obviously we're serious when it comes down to it, but we have a lot of fun at practice and it's just fun. Yeah.

Giselle Kowalski:
No, I get you. So if a freshman who's never even touched a rugby ball or ever even seen a practice wants to get involved in some way, is there some sort of training or is there something that they should be doing in order to be a part of the team?

Kyle Campbell:
Yeah, absolutely. So we have, last season, 90% of our guys have never touched a ball before. And I think 70% were freshmen that have never played rugby before, so that's no big deal. We're used to it. So we recruit all year, every year, all the time. So we're always getting new guys that have never played before.
So our coaches have a set-up where if, say you join the middle of the season or something like that, they have a week program that'll catch you up to speed, and then you kind of just get thrown, thrown in there it's the easiest way to learn. I really didn't learn just sitting on the side and passing around, stuff like that. I really learned when I was in the game and on the field. So we do have a program set up. The beginning of the season obviously is the best time to join. We kind of restart from zero, getting everybody to learn the basics and all that stuff. But yeah, if you join the middle season, we have two dedicated coaches to new recruits. So they teach you everything about the sport before you get on the field. So it's a lot safer and easier for you to get into practice and stuff.

Giselle Kowalski:
And I know that you guys said that you had a fan base, correct? For people who don't really want to get involved in rugby, but come to the games to support y'all. Is that a thing?

Kyle Campbell:
Yeah. So we have the Renegade Roses, which is a group on campus. They're great. They support us, do everything, throw little profit shares and stuff for us. So they're awesome. But yeah, if you want to be, that's our biggest thing too this year is we're trying to do a lot of days like a family day, Sorority Fraternity day, just to get people out there to watch the games. And it really, I've never been a person that didn't like watching rugby. It's really a fun sport to watch. So just getting people out there, it's just a lot of fun. And we're trying to get the game more interactive. We're going to get a DJ this year to come out, just announce games, stuff like that. So we really didn't have that in the past, and I think that's something we can really bring to a fan experience. I know it's like college rugby, but it's like we just want people to support and have fun. That's all it's about.

Giselle Kowalski:
Yeah, it sounds like a party. I feel like you guys have a good time. Whenever I visited y'all, I was like, these guys have a great time every time.

Kyle Campbell:
No, absolutely. Absolutely. Everybody's so nice and fun. It's just like, it's awesome.

Giselle Kowalski:
Yeah. So where do you hope the sport of rugby goes in Texas? Do you think it's going to become big in these next couple of years or...

Kyle Campbell:
I definitely think so. I think again, starting with the youth is the most important part, getting kids to play it when they're younger. So there's just, in the MLR, there's guys from overseas and stuff that have been playing since they were born pretty much. So that's the biggest leap is you kind of want to overpass those guys, so you kind of got to start young. So I really hope rugby's a lot bigger. I think it can be a huge sport. It's literally just getting people to know what it is. A lot of people I talk to like, oh, what's rugby? Something like that. So just getting people to care about the sport and know what it is at first.

Giselle Kowalski:
And so for this upcoming fall semester, when is the best time to come and watch a game for y'all? If someone's listening to this right now, when do y'all practice? When can we come and see y'all?

Kyle Campbell:
Yeah, so we don't have an official practice schedule yet. We're still working with rec sports, but we do have three practices a week, and then we have games every Saturday. But we do have, I think right now we have 10 games, so they're in the fall and spring. I know one for sure, we have a night game on Friday against UT, so that's going to be a fun one. Towards the beginning of November is when we have that game against UT. And then we have another night game against St. Edwards. Those are the best ones to go to. Friday nights seven o'clock. Just a lot of fun. So yeah, definitely those.

Giselle Kowalski:
Sweet. And so if you could describe your time in the Texas State rugby team in just five words, what would they be?

Kyle Campbell:
Oh, gosh. Fun, entertaining, bonding, caring, just I guess brotherhood would be my last word. I think brotherhood's the most important part. We always tell people to join the brotherhood. That's what it really is. I know I've been harping on that a couple of times, but it really is.

Giselle Kowalski:
It's just a family.

Kyle Campbell:
Yeah.

Giselle Kowalski:
Yeah. That's awesome. Well, thank you, Kyle. This has been awesome.

Kyle Campbell:
Yeah, absolutely. Thank you.

Giselle Kowalski:
And thank you for listening to this episode of the Try @ Texas State Podcast. Make sure to tune in next time to learn more about something else you can try on campus at Texas State. And also remember to follow us on our social media at TXST. This podcast is a production of the Division of Marketing and Communications at Texas State University. Podcasts appearing on the Texas State University Network represent the views of the hosts and guests, not of Texas State University. Again, I'm your host, Giselle Kowalski, and I'll see you next time. Bye y'all.