Get The Scoop On PPU Rugby!

Cover photo by Madison Turiczek

No, we promise you aren’t seeing double! Point Park juniors Travis (left) and Troy (right) Johnston are captains of the rugby team, and the two twins that everybody around campus knows and loves (especially senior CF Brett Greene! #twinning). Meet the boys and read about what they have to say about Point Park Rugby and its upcoming season:

Would you guys call Point Park Rugby a team, a club, or both?

• Travis: “I would consider it both. We are a club because we get funded through United Student Government (USG) and we’re not considered a team through the school, so in that sense we are a club. Also, a lot of the teams in the area, all the University teams are considered clubs as well. But we are a team; we’re a group of guys that come together to play rugby and I think any time you’re a sport, you consider yourself a team.”
• Troy: “Technically we are a club but I tend to use team more often to describe us. I think it is primarily because we still are a team and the team dictates what the club does.”

What would you say the team is about?

• Travis: “We’re a group that came from high school loving sports, and at Point Park, if you don’t play basketball, baseball, or soccer, there’s really nothing out there for you unless you want to play intramurals. We are basically a bunch of ex-football players and wrestlers that just were really looking for another team sport to play coming to school. We are pretty accepting of everybody though; you don’t have to have played a sport to join, that’s just how it has happened in the past.”
• Troy: “The Club is only 4 years old and originally only had I think 6-7 members. As of last year the team would practice at the Point a couple days a week where only a small amount of players would show up. Until this year the club never had an actual schedule. We would have to email teams in the area to play us on their off weeks. Getting games scheduled was extremely hard because no one wanted to play a team that couldn’t even field a full team. The club has made huge strides the past two years growing in numbers and joining the National Small College Rugby Organization (NSCRO). “

How long have you guys been captains?

• Travis: “Just this past season. The two captains from last year just graduated and they appointed Troy and I to be captains this year.”

What’s your favorite thing about being captains?

• Travis: “The fact that everyone on the team looks up to Troy and I, the fact that they can come to me with questions and I’ll be able to answer them and they put pressure on me to lead the team, I really enjoy that. Also, I’ve become a better rugby player just from being captain because I can’t answer anybody’s questions or help them be better at the game if I don’t understand the game myself. I’ve had to learn the game a lot more this year than I have the past two years so I’m able to help people and teach them how to play the game right. I definitely have enjoyed that and gotten that out of being captain.”
• Troy: “I love being the leader. Being a captain of this team not only gives you that role as the team leader but it also gives you the responsibility of being almost the coach. Because our team has no coach I am to create a schedule for practice and run it. I really enjoy that part. I like to push the guys as hard as I can knowing that they have the ability to be pushed as hard as I push them but also to see them succeed.”

What’s your favorite thing about being a part of Point Park Rugby?

• Travis: “All my good friends have come from playing rugby because they’re all on the team with me. We have a good sense of team comradery, we’re always together. I also like the fact that since it started, the club has been self-ran. We’ve hardly had any help from advisors and coaches. Captains, since we’ve started, run practice since we don’t have a coach. In all of our success, it means a little bit more to us because it comes from ourselves. It’s more prideful for us.”
• Troy: “There is no one favorite thing about being a part of this club. I have grown to love the sport which is one reason why I enjoy being a part of this team. The guys on the team are my best friends here at school. We do pretty much everything together.  Being able to play rugby just gives me an excuse to continue playing sports which I have always done.”

Why should anybody consider joining the club?

• Travis: “When I first started, it gave me a group of people to become friends with. It’s hard making friends when you come to college, but if you commit to a group, it makes it easier. We are a close group, and if you’re looking for a group to commit to, Rugby is for you. And if you’re interested in athletics, it would be great to join the club.”
• Troy: “I would strongly consider joining the club simply because my college experience has been significantly enhanced by being a part of something like this. It has and will always be one of the most memorable things I do.”

If somebody doesn’t want to play, can they do anything else for the club?

• Travis: “Absolutely! We have playing and non-playing members in our club. We have a non-playing member that is our photographer. The non-playing members are primarily girls. We have girls that are in charge of our social media, others are in charge of the signage for us. Jacob Como currently does our advertising/flyers for us, but we’d be happy to pass that on to a non-playing member just to have more people involved in the club. Our match secretary is also a non-playing member, and she coordinates all of our matches and she talks to the other clubs and sets up times for things.”
• Troy: “Of course, we have executive club positions that are held by nonplaying members of the club. We also have several girls in the club who do a number of things for us from being club secretaries, helping with fundraising, helping create advertisement for events, and more. There’s a spot for everyone and anyone in our club.”

When does the next season start?

• Travis: “We’ve been conditioning; that started a week after we got back from break. We condition every Friday for three hours. Our season starts March 1st. In two weeks, we have our first match at Fairmont State in West Virginia and we’re looking forward to it. Hopefully it’s not going to be too cold. It’s the first day of Spring Break so we won’t have everybody. A couple guys are going home but we will have enough people to play so it will give everybody that hasn’t yet played a chance to get their feet wet and get their first match under their belt.”
• Troy: “The spring season doesn’t have an actual schedule. It is generally run how the club has operated in the past, emailing teams and seeing if they would like to play.”

Any upcoming games you really think fans need to see?

• Travis: “We don’t have a lot of home matches in the spring because we play a lot of tournaments, and those are away. But we are playing Grove City on March 15th at Quarry Field which is where our home matches were at in the fall, so that’ll be a good one to come out to. We will have fan vans for that, but I think the one that everybody on the team is excited for everyone to come out to is Carnegie Mellon on April 26th. They’re kind of like our rivals. That’s the last match of the season and we will definitely have fan vans for that one, too.”
• Troy: “Any home game. We are currently trying to play two matches at home this spring and we loved the support we received in the fall. I would love to see that again. No one should miss our final match of the year against CMU who are our biggest rivals at this point. The match will either be played in South Side at Quarry Field or at CMU so it will be in the city regardless.”

Are there any last comments you can make about Point Park Rugby?

• Travis: “I like where we’re at right now. Getting into a division three league was awesome for us. We’ve grown a lot since we’ve started. This spring is when we all come closer as a group with conditioning and stuff, and we get stronger as rugby players. So I’m excited for the spring season.”
• Troy: “I’m really looking forward to the upcoming season. We have been working very hard and will continue to, for the progress of this club. It is exciting to see the club moving in the right direction and becoming a more established part of this university.”

For more updates about the team, follow them on Twitter @PPURugby!