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Show '! The zfflountain Flower SEPTEMBER 1972 Story by Nick Smw, photos by Foul Barker; both courtesy Deseret News American football's parent catches on as Park City fall extravaganza One of the local restauranteurs used to play on the rugby team. He doesnt any more not pince he separated one of his shoulders in a game.' Aw," said one of the team members last winter when the team was reliving some of its past glories, thats because he wasn't mean enough. You have to be tough to play this game." In the years theyve been in existence, the Park City Rugby Football Club has learned it pays to be durable in spirit too. Thanks to their combined with com- -' two-and-a-h- So the Park City ruggers moved into their first season, testing their mettle against area collegiate teams and Utahs three other community clubs. That first year, we got pretty banged Mueller recalls. It's a up. whole different game from football and it didnt come easy. Without such American . football mainstays as the forward pass and the block, the ruggers picked up such tactifts as the maul Where the ball carriers teammates bodily hold him up and carry him down the field if he doesnt lose his footing once, hes hit (while the other team' tries to pull him down). You do get banged up a little because it is a contact sport," Mueller continues, but actually alf munity support, Pairk Citys burruggers take gundy and gold-cla- d the field against 15 other teams from places as far away as James River, Va. in the second annual Challenge Cup Sept. 16-1Entries include crew members of an stralian destroyer, the HMAS Rvlbert, who heard about the tournament while they were .In dry dock for repairs off Hunters Point, Calif., and the Aspen rugby team where the Park City club president, Corky Foster, was first introduced to the game. I was over there one summer looking for something to do," he recalls. I'd played football in school, so I gave rugby a try. And I liked it. Foster arrived in Park City and found much the same situation that British ski instructor Steve Sherlock discovered when he introduced the game to Aspen six years ago. Very few of us had ever played it before," match secretary Dave Mueller says. Some of us had played football back in school and, since most guys come here to ski, they keep around athletics and stay in pretty good shape." that shoulder separation you mentioned is our most serious injury so far. You dont get, for example, the terrible injuries to the spine you can get in football because you wear lees padding and you play accordingly." Theres also the rugby tradie beer party tion of the to we like quaff a few, (Yeah, Mueller says with a grin), something the Park City ruggers revel - 7. . - post-gam- in. : I think it adds to the gentle-manline-ss of the game, says Foster. In football, you go out to knock the other team down; they you retreat to the locker room knowing you wont see them until the next time you meet on the field. In rugby, you know youre going to see them after the game." But since rugby is an amateur sport worldwide, the team has had to cope with budget problems. We have had a great response from the people of Park City," Mueller says. They come out to the games, and, on my way oyer here, two kids saw' me wearing my game Jersey and wanted to know if we had a match tonight." In other parts of the country, you find teams composed of lawyers, dentists and other professional people," Foster adds. Our club has mostly skiers and people who work at the resorts. We sort of think of ourselves as The club does include a couple of lawyers, a former Canadian football professional and a University of Utah-lastudent who played on Stanfords 1971 Rose Bowl team. With the enlarged Challenge t Cup, the ruggers hope' for that will grow as big as the annual Art Festival. Were trying for a rebirth of rugby here in Utah, where its been kind of dormant," Foster explains. BYU and other schools bring teams in and play them, but nobody knows about it. We and the other teams are three Utah sort of like a union, trying to promote rugby and see it grow. A most unusual union at that, with its own hangout in the Forge at the New Park Hotel and its own motto hanging near the bar. Give Blood, the sign says. Play Rugby." ls. an-even- non-colle- ge Some of Park Citys niggers are (seated, from left) Terrell Smith, Norm Hall, Corky Foster, Chsrlee Barnes, Jim Patterson, (standing) Kevin Crawford, Steve Amoss, Don Glover, Bill Bentley, Bill Manning, Pete Pigott and Dave Mueller. Theyll, host 15 other teams Sept. 16-1- 7. i i |
