By Stephen Smoot
When it comes to the sport of rugby, says John Snider of Doddridge County Parks and Recreation, “West Virginia is a big black hole.”
Snider and a group of coaches, athletes, and parents, however, have committed to change that.
Much like the origin of baseball, the formation of rugby remains clouded by a web of facts and legend. According to tradition, William Webb Ellis, a student at the Rugby School in England, broke rules of one game and, in the process of doing so, invented another.
Students at Rugby had formed a style of football where one could advance the ball backward by various means, but only forward by kicking it. Ellis defied the rules in 1823 and simply picked up the ball and ran forward for a score.
Two centuries later, rugby has staked its claim as one of the world’s most popular sports. Millions, mostly in the states of the former British Empire, watch the sport. Teams of 15 or 13, depending on the league compete in a sport that eschews protective gear, but permits tackling, grappling, and many rules and practices completely unique to it.
And for the last four years the sport has attracted increasing numbers of players, many highly accomplished, from Shinnston and elsewhere in western Harrison, as well as Doddridge, counties.
Snider described how the phenomenon started during the Mountain State Scottish and Celtic Gathering, a yearly festival held in late May in West Union.
“We decided to try to get a hold of some rugby teams to do a ‘friendly'” Snider explained. In rugby, the term friendly means the same as “exhibition” in some American sports. Three Pittsburgh area teams made the two hour trip to compete. Most of those that gathered had likely never seen a live rugby game, or even one on television.
But enough enjoyed the action to inspire the creation of a West Virginia based team. Snider shared that some children came to him prior to the end of the first half of the first game and said “this is freaking awesome. Can we have a team?”
And thus sparked the birth of the West Virginia Warhounds.
The pandemic put plans to form a team on hold until 2021. Then, a middle school girls team playing “sevens,” or seven on seven games, commenced play first. In their inaugural season four years ago, “we had nine girls and lost every game but one.”
As interest grew and the team expanded, it found success quickly. By the second season, competing as independents, the West Virginia squad of 12 girls traveled often to Pennsylvania and competed against teams representing high schools such as Penn Hills, whose student population approximates that of Capital High School in Charleston.
In only the second season, the Warhounds placed third in Pennsylvania’s Division II for rugby.
The program itself continued to grow. In the third season, the organization started a “rookie rugby” team. These squads do not play the full-contact version of the sport and are usually co-ed.
Other teams that have started along the way are a high school girls and a middle school boys team with high school boys likely getting a squad soon. This season, 40 players compete on three different teams.
In recent action, the middle school girls showed how much the team has progressed since its first season. The team composed of sixth and seventh graders took three of four games, their lone loss coming to a group of eight graders. They scored 97 points in all games, only seven fewer than the tournament winner.
Snider shared that the team’s leader is Lincoln Middle School’s Harper Chatham. In the tournament, she scored six tries while only playing in three of the games. Though it earns less points, a “try” is similar to a touchdown in football. After scoring a try, the team can then kick the ball for two extra points, as opposed to one in football.
Additionally, four players who competed with the West Virginia team have gone on to earn college scholarships to play for schools such as Frostburg State University in Maryland.
Parents used to the relative violence of football often start with misgivings about rugby until they learn the sport’s difference in culture. Snider shared that former West Virginia University head football coaching legend Don Nehlen once responded to a question about concussions in football by saying “that’s an easy one. Take the face mask off the helmets.”
The lack of protective equipment discourages full sprints into devastating hits in rugby. Players tackle by wrapping the thighs instead of the waist and grappling until fellow defenders can join the tackle. “They teach you to keep your head out of the tackle and still make a good tackle,” said Snider who has logged two decades of football coaching prior to rugby.
That said, almost every player’s main reference point is football. Snider explained that many rugby squads try to recruit from soccer, but that the West Virginia Warhounds focus on wrestlers. He explained that wrestlers bring a stronger skill set and have as good or better conditioning than those who have played soccer.
The coaching staff includes Snider, but also features others who bring experience from different sports. Jason Powers has experience in wrestling while Josh Chatham played in his native country of Great Britain. Cedar Hannah demonstrated her rugby prowess as a two-time All American at Fairmont State while Tristen McCabe has high school rugby experience.
McCabe currently competes with Salem’s elite water polo team on scholarship.
Another key figure in the rugby renaissance is Fairmont State University’s head men’s coach Ray Bezjac. Last year, helped his team into its first season competing in “the prestigious Allegheny Rugby Union’s Small College Division.” He also remains active in organizing tournaments to provide opportunities to play and also to show off the sport to others who might have interest.
Snider, Bezjac, and others have a vision beyond simply fielding teams. Establishing rugby for the long-term means building a community of both interest and support through creating an official governing body for the sport in the Mountain State. Organization will help to maintain separate regions that can support teams while also expanding opportunities for camps and other related activities.
