Mesa College’s Rugby Club has officially been recognized by the USA rugby association.
Dave Mason, the head of the Rugby Club, is a former rugby player with the goal to enlighten students with the life skills you obtainable from rugby.
Mason stated, “Rugby is important because of the fellowship. You build bonds in rugby that will be difficult to make anywhere else.”
Many community college students just attend classes and leave campus to return home or go to their job. The need for a support system is high in the college environment. Rugby is an intimate sport where you can bond and gain lifelong friendships. Mason believes that forming these connection enables students to empower themselves and others around them.
A healthy lifestyle is required to play rugby, according to Mason. Balancing out practice, school work, and extracurricular activities can teach time management and how it can affect health. Rugby can help build a sense of community by ensuring that your teammates maintain optimum health and mind state.
Rugby players live how they practice and play; from school work to the approach they take in the many roles in their life. Mason said that rugby is more than a sport, it’s a way of life.
Mason explained that his expectations are like flying a plane. “first you have to board passengers, then you have to get them down the runway, next you take off, lastly you elevate until you reach a cruising altitude, but doing all of this burns good amount of fuel…This year will be light,no championship but a strong foundation built.”
Their practice takes place Tuesdays and Thursdays across the street from Dusty Rhodes Park at 7 p.m.