MY COLLEGE TIME~

When I began this original article I wanted to write about where and how college rugby should look like. But about mid-point I was stuck, I began to see some flaws in what I was writing and I didn’t know how to bring it all back together. Then I read a recent article on ruck bottom about a college program and how they are changing the ways majority Americans perceive rugby on college campus. Then it hit me, I wasn’t supposed to write about this article just yet I should write about my own college experience, granted it was just short time since my daughter was born and I had to enter the work force.

So here we go. I live in San Jose California, most of you have no idea where and the common answer we san joseians have to give everyone is, it’s the big city south of San Francisco. If I were to ask you what colleges are nearby, again most of you would probably guess Stanford and cal (both being in the bay area). What lots of people don’t know is there are a good set of major colleges in the area (bay area). San José has San jose State university, san jose city college and evergreen community college. Our next door neighbor is Santa Clara with santa clara university, de anaza community college (which many people would argue it should be a 4 year school with how large the school is and student body) and mission college. And then further up north is Stanford, San Francisco state and university, Cal, uc davis, santa rosa, and st. marys. My father and his brothers are big time san jose state supporters, as a child we (my sibilings and cousins) would attend every football and basketball home game sjsu had. As we grew older it was mine and my two close cousins , in age, dream to one day put on a Spartan uniform and hear the schools fight song play. As time passed and we each graduated from high school only one of us ended up going to sjsu for college studies. My other cousin to Santa Clara and I to San Jose City College. But we never lost touch with sjsu and continued to attend as many games as possible.

Having played rugby in high school , valley Christian high school club rugby program was called SOUTH BAY EXILES but sadly they are no longer around, I barely graduated with a C average gpa. So my first year in college I decided to take a year off and focus on school work, but that was a bad mistake since trying to go cold turkey on rugby only made my itch for the game worse. Finally my high school coach , who I would visit and speak with quit often, suggested I contact and see if the rugby club and San jose state would let me play with them seeing as I am a college student and they are a club sport not varsity. I was able to get in touch with the coach and club president who was open to me coming in and joining the team. When I first began practice and playing a set of games it was in the summer and about 20 guys would show up so we could practice 7’s . we would play in the Palo alto 7’s tournament which from my understanding is now in a more organized business model.

From the get go I was made to feel more like a family member then a outsider, we began to tell jokes and enjoy our selfs. What I enjoy most was that the officers in charge ran the program as professional as they could. There would be no drinking at any college events by any players, if they were to be attending a college event and or party that had alcohol present there could be no rugby gear worn. And if that player was seen wearing a sjsu rugby shirt we were then obligated to make that player turn his shirt inside out take it off. The point of this was that the fact is we wanted to make and build a good relationship with the school club board and change the idea that we were just a bunch of guys who drank and beat each other up. We would give our 100% in every practice and pick each other up if one of us couldn’t finish running or complete a drill. If you are to ever move to the San Francisco bay area and wish to catch a good rugby match, I highly recommend looking up San Jose state rugby and watching one of there matches. They have intense rivalry matches with three of the local college teams every year and each game is always played very close that they could go either way. From my own experience and seeing the talent they have this year alone , there are several guys that have very good potential to play at the next level. Whether that be men’s d1 here or d2 overseas I hope each of these guys get a chance to show case there talents.  

 

I’m happy and proud of my time I spend at SJSU and still keep in contact with some of the players still there. Granted it was a short time I am still proud I was finally able to put on a SPARTAN jersey and say I completed my child hood dream. I may not be a official alumni from the school nor attend any classes but I will always support in one way or another to sjsu and sjsu rugby. If I am to ever win the lotto, I would donate some of my winnings to the program. I am happy to report that the club is now taking the proper steps to becoming a top program. This year they have had up to 60 players show up and are hitting the student body hard to bring in new players. They have now joined D1-AA and have a new coach in place, along with sponsorship. ~sjsurugby.com