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Show Peter Ostrom, left, with fellow coaches Dave 'Alamo' Mueller, center; andDon Sturges. Peter Ostrom left his mark on rugby in Park City by Dave Mueller The death of Peter Ostrom took away from rugby a man who contributed widely to the game for fourteen years. Ostrum approached rubgy the way he moved in the other areas of his life, projecting his intense persona both on and off the pitch to the benefit of all those involved. He preferred to associate himself with new or developing clubs, working with younger players to bring his experience and enthusiasm to their organiza-. organiza-. tions. He joined the Park City Muckers in 1972 when the local side was expanding its scope and challenge. He was an important part in the eventual ascent of the Park City side from a new club in an isolated region to a solid force in western states iugoy. In 1975-76 Peter joined the newly-organized University of Utah side while he lived in Salt Lake City. He was instrumental in getting the Utah club to travel beyond the boundaries of the state, using some of his California associations to enter the side each year in the widely-acclaimed Santa Barbara Rugby Tournament. Tourna-ment. It is a tradition still observed by the Utes who this weekend played respectable rugby rug-by (3-2) in that event. Ostrom moved back to California Cali-fornia in the years 1977-79, . helping develop the recently-founded recently-founded Del Mar Rugby Club. . Within two years Del Mar moved higher in the San Diego rugby rankings, much due to Ostrom's continued assistance to the development of younger players. His own on-field excellence was recognized when he was chosen for the San Diego Counties Representative Side. In 1983 he returned to the Muckers as coach in a year that the local club struggled to overcome the loss of several key veteran players through retirement. retire-ment. The club suffered through the 1983 , campaign to its first losing record in history, but largely due to Ostrom's leadership leader-ship rallied to its first appearance in the Park City Rugby Challenge Cup finals in 10 years. By last season, the players who had been developed by Ostrom formed the nucleus of a team which enjoyed one of its finest on-field seasons ever. |