Q&A with new SJSU team President ~

   A few months back I wrote about a Q&A I had with then San Jose State Rugby club team president. Since then the team has gone through their annual voting to see who next seasons club president will be, and this being now the “offseason” of rugby for most college teams. I reached out once more to the new team club president Jeremy Bielby.~

for a refresher on what was talked about last time click here---> http://llrugby.blogspot.com/2013/03/san-jose-state-university-rugby.html

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LLR: What is the history of your rugby playing career thus far and what is your major while at san Jose state.

Jeremy Bielby: I started playing rugby my sophomore year of college 3 years ago (I will be going into my 5th year at SJSU) with some pretty amazing guys under head coach Rick Humm and we ended up being nationally ranked. The following season under Ken Bousfield was more of a struggle, but I still learned a lot that season more so about how the rugby team was run and how to organize and keep the team running. This past season under James Fonda went great and the club is going in directions that I didn't think were possible when I first started. I'm majoring in Justice Studies and SJSU.

LLR: You are the new club president of sjsu rugby, the process is different from club to club around the country, what is the process and how can one stay in that position whether its president or treasure and so on.

JB: I have been working with the school through the SJSU Club Sports program for the past 2 and half years I came into being the new president by being last year’s vice president and learning what the club needs and what has to happen behind the scenes to have a successful team on the field. We also held elections were current players could run for officer positions and people would vote on who they felt was most fitting for the position. The president position in our club kind of comes with experience and number of years with the team, but most importantly the person’s dedication to the team. A person keeps the position by fulfilling their duties and by being re-elected by their teammates.

LLR: Christopher Eyre the last president stated that this team has a bunch of underclass men playing, is there or are there plans going into the off season to get those guys and the team more rugby games before next season starts.

JB:  Some of the young guys have joined various 7s programs over the summer depending on where they are living for the summer. We also are in the process of setting up a good pre-season schedule for the fall and winter.

LLR: Has there been any discussion to maybe travel to other locations to play games against other college clubs.

JB: There has been some talk of trying to take a trip to Southern California this upcoming season if we can afford it to do a tour and play a number of teams down there. There has been talk that in the future when the team can build good financial foundations that they could travel out of the United States to possibly Italy and some other European countries to play rugby.

LLR: Can you tell us what the current conditions are and the facilities that you guys have to work with there at San Jose State.

JB: Currently we practice and play at the SJSU south campus on the field that is most commonly known as the "tail gate" field for the football games next to the stadium. It’s not bad but the field especially during football season takes a beating and can be a little rough to play on. One of the future goals for the club like many others would to be having their own pitch with a club house.

LLR: Like anywhere else in the country rugby has to battle with “soccer” for land space and playing fields, has there been any idea thrown out there to try and land a Rugby Specific field for SJSU or have a partnership with any other clubs in the area to make it happen.

JB: Currently we share the field with every club sports team that requires a grass field for example lacrosse, men's/women's soccer, and ultimate Frisbee. We also have to share facilities with intramural sports like football and soccer. And there has been some talk/dreaming of acquiring some land by campus to have a rugby stadium that could be used by primarily us but by a women's team if one eventually come to SJSU again.

 

I will be doing another Q&A with SJSU rugby after next season kicks off. If you have any further questions please feel free to comment below or reach me at @LLRugby and please feel free to visit sjsurugby.com