SNOHOMISH — A generation ago, soccer was a fledgling sport in the United States. But over time, and with the advent of various pro leagues, American soccer grew significantly in both popularity and prowess.
Now many in this country want the same for rugby.
Among them are the boys of the first-year Everett Eagles U19 rugby team. The players, who come from around Snohomish County, say their goal is to give rugby a foothold here so it can grow and prosper.
Put another way, they want future kids to enjoy the game as much as they are now.
“I’m a soccer player and a football player, and rugby is sort of a mix between the two sports,” said 14-year-old Trevor Vallins of Mukilteo, a freshman at Kamiak High School. “It’s like football that doesn’t stop.”
Years ago,” he went on, “soccer was nonexistent in this country. But now it’s big and getting bigger. Hopefully rugby will do the same thing once people realize it’s a good sport.”
The Eagles are coached by John Smithies of Marysville, a four-year rugby player who wanted his 14-year-old son Jacob to learn the game. Before this season, the nearest youth team for kids living in Snohomish County was in Bellevue, so Smithies worked with Pacific Northwest Rugby Union officials to get a team started in Everett.
“Rugby is such a unique sport,” he said. “I’ve been an athlete all my life and played a lot of different sports, and for me rugby is the sport that is the most fun, the most athletic, that promotes the best bonds (of camaraderie), and has a culture of values like respect for each other and for the other team.
“You compete so hard on the field, but when you’re off the field it’s like everyone is the best of friends,” he said.
Jacob Smithies, a 14-year-old freshman at Kamiak, got interested in rugby by tagging along with his dad to games and practices with the Skagit Valley Steelheads, a men’s team in Mount Vernon. Even as a spectator, Jacob Smithies said, “I just kind of loved it from the beginning.
“It’s unlike football where I have to sit on the bench the whole season because I’m 5-foot-1,” he said. “In rugby, even though I’m a small guy I still have lots of fun.”
The Eagles are preparing for the upcoming spring season in the 18-team Rugby Washington U19 league, with teams from across the state and even one from Idaho. Rugby Washington also has boys leagues for U17, U15, U11 and U9, and even a 10-team girls U19 league.
Some Everett players have played rugby previously, but others are beginners so there will no doubt be a collective team learning curve. But one of the great things about rugby, John Smithies said, is the simplicity of the game.
“Rugby is a lot like chess,” he explained. “It’s really (an easy) game to learn. I know it looks confusing if you watch it and don’t know what’s going on. But once you learn the core rules it’s a very simple game to play. You pass the ball, you run forward, and the other team tries to stop you.
“But like chess,” he added, “it takes a lifetime to master.”
There are obvious similarities to football, but there are clear differences, too. In rugby, John Smithies said, “everyone can touch the ball, everyone can tackle, everyone can do everything. Everyone’s equal on the field.”
For the players, and certainly for the parents of young players, safety is a foremost concern. After all, rugby is akin to tackle football without pads. But it is the absence of pads, Smithies said, that actually enhances the game’s safety.
“Rugby players don’t have helmets,” he said, “so we don’t tackle (leading with the head). We’re always attacking on the outside or the inside of the player, and keeping our heads nice and safe.”
Also, rugby players are taught to tackle by wrapping up the opposing player — think of a wrestler executing a double-leg takedown — rather than crashing into an opponent at top speed.
“Not that there aren’t big hits,” Smithies said. “But the injury rates are much lower on a rugby field than on a football field.”
Alex Olson, a 16-year-old sophomore at Everett High School, has played both football and rugby, and says “football tackles are a lot more painful than rugby tackles. Because without pads (in rugby), you’re more conscious of how hard you’re hitting someone. You’re thinking, ‘I could get hurt if I hit too hard or if I hit incorrectly.’ So it’s a different mentality.”
That said, it might still take time to win over all the skeptics.
“I tell some of the guys at school that I play rugby and they’re like, ‘Dude, are you crazy?’” said Smith. “But in my opinion, it’s not as dangerous as football. And it’s a great sport.”
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