We are Weston Rugby, and here is our story...

When I was a youngster, no more than seven or eight years old, I was very intrigued by an aged leather ball that was always laying around on the floor of my dad’s office; it was his old college rugby ball. The ball was old and worn, the leather fraying on the seams. This ball definitely had some heavy history. There was a hand-written verse on the side; Old and faded, penned in black ink. Every time I picked up the ball, I would try to make out the phrases from the old discolored letters. The verse read, “Every time you take this ball in your hands, remember that you are a Red. Fast like the wind that howls through the meadows, fierce like the stormy ocean hammering the coast, strong like the unmovable mountain, and astute like the fox escaping the hunter.” This phrase became imbedded in my mind, to the point that I still have it memorized today. Usually, by the time I finished deciphering the writing, my dad would come in and take the ball from me. “This one isn’t for playing, son. This ball right here is very special to me,” he would say as he began to narrate stories from his golden rugby days. Later on, I would stubbornly come back into his office and grab it again; for some reason, I was infatuated with it and with the sport. This was the beginning of a very beautiful relationship between rugby and me.

Fast forward a few years and I’m in high school in South Florida, playing for the Weston Rugby Club. We would host biweekly practices and usually have games on Saturdays. At every game, practice, or tournament you could find two younger kids intently observing from the sidelines; these two kids were my younger brother and his best friend. They were out there being our water boys, our ball boys, trying to copy our drills, listening to the strategy talks. They were almost more obsessed with the sport than we were. Slowly but surely, my brother, Arty, would bring more and more friends out to help the team. Eventually the all fell in love with the sport and wanted nothing more than to play in a team of their own. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a rugby club with a younger division in our area. In my head, this posed as an opportunity to give back to those that had given us so much of their time and support. I spoke with my good friend and teammate Lucas about hosting some training camps for the younger guys. What started out as a few clinics became periodic practices and the kids kept coming every week. We talked about becoming something more legitimate and forming a team. A couple of weeks later we went ahead and began working in forming a local rugby club with players between the ages of 11 and 15. With the help of a couple of parents and the massive effort from our players, we founded the Weston Youth Rugby Club in the early Spring of 2008.

At first, the road was rocky. We had virtually zero help from the city and no starting capital. The Weston Association was difficult in allowing rugby into their city or onto their fields. From practicing in backyards and wearing white Hanes t-shirts as uniforms, we gradually grew into a successful and self-sufficient organization; a typical Hollywood rags to riches story. With the help of some parents, we were able to register the club as an official non-profit organization. This was huge in terms of reserving fields, getting jerseys, and raising funds. The numbers grew and before we knew it, we were hosting practices for 20+ kids twice a week. Once we stablished a presence and the team became cohesive, I took it upon myself to find other youth rugby clubs and reach out. Good news! there were a few in neighboring towns. This was our time to show up and put our money where our mouths were. At this climatic point in time, we evolved from a local club that taught young kids about rugby to a competitive youth rugby team.

We took to the road and began playing. The first few games were tough; some of the guys had never been in a live play situation before. We battled through our first season and never lost our pride. Over the summer, everything changed. We learned from our past mistakes, them as players and us as coaches. We worked hard and put in long hours. Our conditioning was impressive, and our strength was fierce. The guys would put in an awe-inspiring amount of work both on and off the field. I remember when my players began asking me about general fitness advise. They then proceeded to tell me that they were meeting on non-practice days to work on their strength and conditioning. Twelve and thirteen-year-old boys were focusing on doing cardio and building up their fitness on their own; doesn’t sound like something a typical teenager would do. They would show up to every practice, even when they didn’t have rides; sometimes they even rode their bikes for miles to the field. It was a beautiful sight. They started out as group of strangers with a like for the same game and ended up a team. They were well-oiled machine, moving and churning with perfect synchronization. This passion and dedication from the players is what fueled my drive as a coach to work nonstop for the team. This team was something especial; we fought against all odds being the underdogs of the league and the outcasts of the city.

Through backbreaking effort, grueling promotion campaigns, and exhausting our resources we were able to raise enough funds to rent a field to practice on. A fully marked field with uprights is a luxury compared to where we were practicing before. Lucas and I also devised a new sponsorship fundraising strategy and went out to the parents for help. We did this part without the player’s knowledge. After pitching at several people and sitting at many meetings, Sedano’s Supermarkets agreed to sponsor our team and uniforms. A few weeks later an array of large shipping boxes arrived at my doorstep. It was literally like Christmas in July. I opened the boxes to reveal a set of rugby kits consisting of dark green rugby jerseys, black shorts, and black socks. This was it, we were finally a team! Along with the jerseys, we were able to get our hands on a set of practice balls, cones, and some other equipment that would help us better our game. Lucas and I showed up quite early to the next practice and laid the kits out on the field with each player’s name by the jersey. I still remember the look in the kids’ faces as they slowly began flooding the field and realized that we were now a legitimate team. That was one of the hardest practices I ever saw the kids execute, we were ready to take on the season. Time to fear the Green and Black.

Next season began an we looked like a completely different pack. Making intelligent plays, moving the ball well, reading the opponent; we were a force to be reckoned with. The word spread around the local middle schools and more kids began to come out to practice. Before we knew it, we were hosting practices with 40+ kids. We even asked a couple of other players from the older team to come out and help us run drills. Our first game of the season was against Miami RFC, a well stablished team that had been around for years. They were good, but we knew were better. The whistle signaled the start of the match and the ball went live. The Weston Rugby Players played their hearts out, they left everything on that field; and to no surprise, the got the big W. That victory marked the beginning of a very fruitful season. The players finally saw the fruits of their labor. They quickly went from being the underdogs to one of the most prominent teams in the league.

The next two seasons we’re perfect. More parents got involved and more players joined the team. We slowly grew more organized and structured ourselves as very legitimate organization. We opened banks accounts to manage out funds and appointed administrative roles within the association. The fruits of our hard work had finally blossomed, we were Weston Youth Rugby.  We now approached a difficult time in our history that we had purposely ignored. Both Lucas and I were about to graduate high school and move away to college. What was going to happen to the team, who was going to run practices, organize games? We thought our house of cards was going to crumble before our eyes. At this point in time, as coach and director, I tuned to two friendly faces who constantly showed up to help in practice. Our teammates Nico and Jeanfranco.

As Lucas and I went off to college, Jean and Nico volunteered to keep the flame alive. To carry to the torch and continue to give back to our community and our players. None of us ever took a pay check or any sort of compensation. We did this to give back and to spread to love for rugby. I think this is what made it so great, it truly came from the passion for the game and the love for our community.

Now, almost ten years after the club was born, the flame still burns bright. Though the team merged with another nearby club, our organization still stands. We still strive to better our community and continue to promote the rugby culture in South Florida. As for Lucas, he currently resides in New Zealand where he is chasing his dream of playing professional rugby. Nico and Jean, they both still live in Florida and recently finished school. Arty is attending Florida State University where he is studying mechanical engineering and playing rugby for the FSU Rugby Club. Many of our player continued their rugby path and are now playing at schools like FSU, UCF, FIU, LIFE and Iona.

If someone were to stop me in the middle of the street and ask me what is the most satisfying thing I’ve done, I’d hands down talk about this story. The passion we nurtured was palpable through our organization; our results astonishing. I will never forget the feeling I had when my players called me coach or asked me for life advice. It’s a sense of purpose much greater than myself and it is something I will hold close to me for the rest of my life. Who would’ve thought this would all start from playing around with and worn and frayed old rugby ball in my dad’s office?