Local Rugby team Tuskers play with a passion
Pictured here are Tuskers, a local rugby team from here in Kern County.
By Micheal Wafford
Coached by Art Gonzalez and Wicus Postma, from South Africa, local rugby team Tuskers have created a five year plan that they hope will culminate in their own field, division 1 status and hosting a national qualifier.
After placing first in the bowl division this summer in the sevens category, a variation of the game played with seven members per team instead of 15, the Tuskers, currently division 2, are looking forward to continuing their success.
While the team is trying to recruit new members the Tuskers are confident in the players they have now. While many members of the team are aging, Gonzalez said, “It’s not a game where you have to stop after a certain age. You can play as long as you feel you can still compete.”
They are also working on starting a youth program. The program is set to be ran by Ahmed Baameur and the rugby club is in talks with Covenant Community Services to set up a date to run a rugby clinic for foster children.
The Tuskers previously ran a high school program and about 15 of the current players were recruited when the program was running according to Gonzalez.
Postma and Gonzalez are also looking overseas for talent. Postma and Kelly Naden, originally from New Zealand, are hoping to start an exchange program with foreign players.
“We are currently discussing this opportunity with clubs out of South Africa, New Zealand and England. As I am from South Africa and Kelly Naden [is] from New Zealand we have a few contacts and the clubs seem interested,” said Postma. The money involved in travel and living expenses is the biggest factor the Tuskers will have to resolve according to Postma.
A lack of money is a problem common to the world of American rugby. With so few professional teams the game is played by people who often have to pay to play and the Tuskers are no different. To cover expenses for uniforms and travel, Gonzalez said the team seeks out sponsors and tries various fund raising methods to help keep the game affordable to the players who have expenses such as school.
The financial issues however don’t deter Gonzalez, or other American players. The game described, as a mix between football and soccer, by Gonzalez has its own allure that attracts players.
Gonzalez said, “Being able to tackle guys with no pads on. There’s just something you can’t compare it to football. You know hitting guys with pads is great but when you hit a guy with no pads the different feel is almost unexplainable. When you have the ball and you give a guy a forearm right into his chest and blow through a tackle.”
The lack of padding isn’t the only factor differentiating rugby and football, the lack of breaks also changes the dynamics.
“It’s probably the most physically demanding game. Given that you’re not wearing pads and you are playing full contact. To be successful you need to be in incredible shape. It takes a lot of dedicated training to excel because of the fact that there’s not a whistle that’s blown after a play is dead, like in football. You don’t get that 30 seconds to stop and rest and start again,” said Gonzalez.
The physicality is just one aspect of the game, “You have to be able to trust the next guy next to you. The way you play defense, the way you play offense is based on being able to communicate with each other and that only comes from hours of practice and playing with the same guys.
“A lot of guys when they get out of college or high school may not go on to play football or whatever sport they were in, but they still want to play in a competitive field and they still want to play in a sport where they can show their talent and their skills.”
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