ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Kids across the country have been busy in the rugby pit. The world-renowned sport is one of the oldest sports around the world, and is the fastest-growing sport across the country, according to a 2018 Global Sport Matters study. And it's for a lot of reasons.
“When I was really little I did wrestling," 12-year-old Gwen Kirsch said. "But that wasn’t my favorite, and then I started doing rugby and I really liked it because I really love running."
"Mud and blood" is the motto of these players, aging from 4 years old.
“This is a sport for anyone, any size and shape," said Joe Kirsch, the Fairport Rugby club’s modified girls coach, junior varsity coach and mens' club aardvarks coach. "You know, if they’re willing to learn and anybody can do this contact that we introduce at this level."
But most importantly, Kirsch is his daughter's modified coach.
“People always say to me, isn’t that so dangerous?" he said. "And I let my 12-year-old daughter play who weighed 80 pounds and she’s doing just fine. So it’s a safe sport. The rule sets are very age appropriate for safety. And just to make it fun at that level, you know, what would be appropriate for their athletic abilities and experience.”
Although the blood part of the teams' motto does trickle round once in a while.
“Quite a few bloody noses,” his daughter laughed.
“I started a rugby team here in Fairport would have been 23 years ago when I first got a job out in Fairport as a teacher," Kirsch said. "And during the interview, the principal asked me why I had a black eye. And I said I was in a game of rugby. And he says, 'Maybe you could start a team out here.'"
The Fairport Rugby clubs help teach the kids about teamwork, strategy and community.
“A lot of the coaches are dads or mothers and they help out," Kirsch explained. "So we’ve got three generations of rugby players involved with the program. And it’s not really a mainstream sort of sport in a lot of areas. And so sometimes, you get through word of mouth."
Meet the Kaseman family.
“My parents met playing it,” 8-year-old Lauren Kaseman explained. “My older brother, he plays rugby for an older team. And my sister plays on the modified. And I have a little brother, but he’s not old enough. He’s only 4, so.”
“My wife was one of the girl's head coaches when I helped coach the JV boys team, and that’s how we met," her dad and the assistant flag rugby coach, Mike Kaseman, said. "And then, now we’re married. And now three of our four children play rugby. Except for the little guy. That’s the biggest thing that both my wife and I share is that passion for ruby. As far as coaching, which is why we both got involved, to help kids out [and] expose them to the sport. Because we think it’s a fantastic sport. We love to see more kids play. And we love the sport to grow even more and continue the trend for the next couple of generations.”
Kaseman’s a father of three rugby players all at different ages, levels and teams.
“It’s great to have my kids be a part of it," Kaseman said. "And they’ve grown as individuals, you know, being part of a team. It’s a great bonding moment for our family when we can toss the ball around with the family. And it’s great that my oldest son is a leader and in our family. He’s great with the other kids and shows them how to pass and kick and stuff. So it’s great to see everybody come together and have one thing to do and something fun we can all enjoy.”
The sports a family-filled community that expanded many players’ own families.
“The coach of the modified has a daughter, she’s really nice,” Kaseman said about Kirsch’s middle child.
“I’ve known Lauren, I’d say, her whole life, I remember her being born. I was doing rugby,” the 12-year-old replied.
“Rugby’s a great community," Kaseman said. "When you play rugby, you probably know. And for those that don’t know, if you have played rugby and you wear rugby shorts pretty much anywhere, people will come up to you and talk about rugby and just say hi. It’s one big family."
“A lot of them have lifelong friends," Kirsch said. "I’ve been in a number of rugby weddings. I’ve had a lot of rugby players in my wedding. You see that all the time. As a general rule for adults, you don’t have a wedding in the fall because, you know, none of your teammates are going to go. They got games that weekend. There’s the bonds that you make through a sport like this. It relies heavily on teamwork. You can’t just have one superstar winning games for you. Everybody’s got to work together. And I think that really helps to build camaraderie and especially because it is such a physical sport. And when I say camaraderie, I don’t just mean your team at the at every single level of rugby.”
“Yeah, I mean, my dad, he’s old, but he still plays and he still has a lot of fun,” Kirsch’s daughter laughed.
It's a sport for everyone, however each level is specifically designed with age-appropriate rules. Little Kaseman’s flag team doesn’t tackle, but the technique is taught at a later age.
“I sometimes struggle a little bit with tackling, but I think like something too, is that you don’t really have to be super big. You don’t have to be super small. You don’t have to be tall. You don’t have to be short," Kirsch’s daughter explained. "There’s like kind of somewhere anybody can do anything, and I think that is a little hard for me to get over my fear of being able to tackle. But now that I’m over it. I think it’s getting better and easier."
“I never play against [my siblings] because I don’t really know the technique of tackling yet, but I’m working on it,” the 8-year-old laughed.
“I think a lot of them, they really like the tackling aspect," Kirsch said. "When they get a good tackle, you know, it feels really good for them. It’s sort of a release, I guess, you know, and especially these kids, they got to sit at school all day for eight hours. Maybe they get home, they’re on their phones or devices. And now they get that sort of rush of adrenaline and endorphins in their system. And it just, it feels great."
Kirsch says he’s happy his kids are having an opportunity to learn a sport he wishes he could have got into sooner.
“I as a three sport athlete in high school and football was one of those sports and I saw a lot more nasty injuries in my years in football, you know, my four years playing football than my 26 years playing rugby,” he explained, “Now they have the ability to start at eight years old and go all the way up. I didn’t get to start until I was 19.”
All players agree that the sport has also taught them a lot about camaraderie and teamwork.
“From what you see back there, all the way up to the international level, after every competition, the host team always holds a social which involves providing food, and, you know, conversation with your opponents," Kirsch said. "And so whatever happens on the field, you just leave it on the field. And I think that’s a very unique thing about rugby. And it’s so fun to see at the younger age is when like you get these kids talking to each other who at some point, you know, might go to the same high school together or go to the same college together, play on the same all star team together at some point. Especially to the younger ages, who will sit on the sideline talking to the other coaches during the games. And, you know, we’ll cheer for players from both teams one we see a great play, see a great tackle [or] see a good run. So, you know, when you see that happen, everybody cheers.”
“Really, rugby is a game of respect," his daughter said. "So after the game, we’re all friends with all of the other teams. And it’s just really fun and we make a lot of friends. I’ve known some of the other girls on the other teams longer than I’ve known my own teammates because this, we, we really talk to them and stuff like that."
It's building the future of the sport sooner.
“I either want to be a professional rugby player or a professional cheerleader,” the 8-year-old laughed.