Rugby Fever Sweeps CA
Jesse Tredo
Contributor
As the seasons change, and warm weather comes upon Canandaigua, a new
outdoor club has formed. Rugby Club is the most recent after school activity
to be born at Canandaigua Academy. The club was created in the beginning
of March and is being introduced into the student body.
The creator of the club is John Sarazyn, a technology teacher at the
Middle School. Sarazyn has been a fan of the game ever since he played
it in college. Once he experienced it for the first time, he completely
fell in love with rugby.
“I could never get enough of this sport,” Sarazyn says.
He has previously coached rugby in Grand Island, New York, just outside
of Buffalo. He did this while getting his master's degree from Buffalo
State. When Sarazyn came to Canandaigua to teach technology he decided
to pass his passion onto students who may be interested.
Rugby is a full contact sport derived from football. The main difference
is the lack of equipment used in rugby. Brian Dermody, an Academy chemistry
teacher and a long time rugby fan, refers to it as “football
without the pads.” However, there are many more differences than
that. Rugby involves progressing the ball down the field past the “try
line,” or as in football, the end zone. Players stop the opposition
by tackling them to stop their forward movement. The physicality involed
in rugby is tremendous. It is a grueling task to endure the pain associated
with rugby. The sport takes not only incredible durability and toughness,
but also the awareness and alertness to take the best course of action
in a game.
There are a total of about twenty members on Canandaigua’s rugby
team and there are fifteen people allowed on the field per each team.
This gives all the students ample playing time throughout the season.
When asked why he wanted to join the rugby team, Nick Cazer responded
by saying, “I have always loved football and wanted to try another
sport without pads.” Cazer who is an Academy Junior goes on to
say, “The best part of rugby is that everybody can play with
intensity but still have fun at the same time.”
The team itself is not affiliated with the school and is considered
a club team instead of a sport. This means they are an associate member
of NYS Rugby, a state-wide organization of rugby teams and are not
playing for Section V Athletics.
The only schools in the area to also have rugby clubs are Fairport,
McQuaid, Pittsford, and School Without Walls, a school in Rochester.
These will be the main teams that Canandaigua would be scrimmaging.
Sarazyn says that they also play schools from the Buffalo area where
he previously coached.
The cost to join the Rugby Club is approximately 90 dollars. This
covers the cost for league registration, insurance, jerseys, and referees.
It is open to anyone who wants to join, and new members are always
welcome. The club practices three day a week at the Primary/Elementary
fields, and if weather does not permit, you can find the rugby club
in room 123 at the Academy.
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