History

The History of Arizona Wildcat Rugby
Everyone in the “rugby know” recalls William Webb Ellis, a student athlete in England. He founded that “game at the rugby school” in April of 1823. Just under 150 years later another student athlete who had studied at Reading University in England founded the University of Arizona rugby team. In the fall of 1969, John Alan Schmitt, returned to the University after falling in love with rugby while studying in England.
John placed ads in the Arizona Daily Wildcat to recruit for tryouts. It was Schmitt who planted the rugby flag in the State of Arizona, and Arizona Wildcat rugby was born.
Later, a visiting professor from New Zealand, John MacGregor, brought some black and white All Blacks footage and found several more University of Arizona students. The club further prospered.
The early days required a “pioneer” spirit. The team traveled by private car to destinations ranging from Utah to California. To play in the early days for the University of Arizona rugby program was to truly be a road warrior (and at that time the national interstate highway speed limit was 55 miles per hour!) .
The first game in Tucson was played in November 1969 when the Los Angeles Rugby Club took on Arizona on a makeshift field at Rincon High School. The team from Los Angeles prevailed. Later, Arizona would play some of its home matches in then 37,000 seat Arizona Stadium until ultimately the team settled in mid-town Himmel Park.
One of the early Wildcats was Bob Blakey, a law student who went on to found the Phoenix Rugby Club. When the Phoenix RFC was born, Arizona had its first “in-state” opposition.
The 70s was a period of expansion for the sport in America as well as on the U of A campus. The club generally fielded 25-30 players for practice and for each match. In 1973 the team ventured to the then seemingly far-flung Santa Barbara Tournament and hoped to establish the University’s program as one of the up and coming in the western United States.
In 1974, Arizona raised eyebrows in California as the club led by flyhalf Brad Cox finished 4-1 at the then prestigious Santa Barbara Tournament. Their only loss was in double overtime to Snake River, Idaho. On that Arizona side was a freshman fullback named Dave Sitton who would later coach the program for over three decades.
Arizona’s home in the 70s was Himmel Park, a delightful midtown Tucson venue, which would serve as its home field and spiritual base for over 15 years. It was just off campus and was lined with beautiful palm trees. The home side, spectators and visitors alike loved Himmel Park. Later it would host the Pacific Coast Collegiate playoff and serve as home to the Wildcats, the Old Pueblo Lions Club and the new Tucson Magpies team.
In the late 80s, rugby at the University of Arizona and the in city based club programs had grown so large that the sport was relocated to Estevan Park. The City of Tucson Parks Department transformed a dilapidated baseball diamond into a highly regarded rugby facility. The Davis-Monthan team also called Estevan home during its existence.
By 1975, rugby was growing at such a clip that the Phoenix Rugby Club and the U of A club combined to help form the Arizona Rugby Union. The Wildcats and Phoenix RFC welcomed Tempe, ASU and the Old Pueblo Club to make a circuit of five a reality. For a brief time, a ferocious rivalry was raging between the Wildcats and the new club, the Old Pueblo Lions (comprised of many ex-Wildcats, including Peter Jorgenson and Old Pueblo Club founder Dan Cross). As club rugby grew more mature, the gap between colleges and clubs found colleges moving into their own competition and clubs into another.
One of the elements to the rivalry between the clubs and the Wildcats was the fact that Arizona won the first Arizona Rugby Union crown in 1976. The college team was strong enough to defeat each of the five member clubs in the fledgling union. In 1977 Arizona dropped a 7-6 decision to the Phoenix Rugby Club and finished second. Although Arizona had proven itself worthy of competing against club sides, the tide was turning nationwide toward establishing college rugby as a separate entity from club rugby.
In 1976 the team established a long and cherished relationship with the Anheuser Busch wholesalership in Tucson. Bill Clements, a former University of Washington football player (and California graduate school rugby player) moved to Tucson and formed Golden Eagle Distributors. He developed a friendship with undergrad Dave Sitton and it expanded as Sitton graduated and was hired by the company to develop their marketing department. Golden Eagle Distributors sponsored the Michelob Continental Rugby Classic. For twenty years it was one of the top tournaments on the planet attracting teams from all over the world to Tucson. With Mr. Clements premature passing due to cancer in 1996, the family elected to carry on the relationship as Ginny, Chris and Kimberly Clements and Golden Eagle Distributors continues to support rugby at the University of Arizona. For that reason the scoreboard at Rincon Vista pitch bears the Clements name. In 1978 the Wildcats made the move to college only rugby, winning the Michelob Continental Rugby Classic’s Collegiate Division held at Hi Corbett Field. The team also finished in the middle of their new conference affiliation—Southern California. Then the national powerhouses of college rugby on the west coast were California, UCLA, and Long Beach State. Under the leadership of eventual All American Ryan Kelly, the team participated in post-season play for the first time in 1986. The ‘Cats qualified in ’87 and ’88, twice hosting the PCRFU playoffs in Tucson.
Also, another All American, Simon Mathews, helped Arizona to a 1987 upset win over the University of California in the San Diego Tournament. (Cal losses are rare.) The team enjoyed success in most of the 15 aside tournaments, which were abundant in the 1980s. The Wildcats won at Flagstaff, Reno, Austin and, of course, the well known Michelob Continental Rugby Classic in Tucson.
In the late 70’s the Wildcats began a tradition, which still marks their program as a leader in today’s rugby world. Arizona toured Wales and England in 1978, establishing ties in the United Kingdom. During that tour the club befriended Clive Evans and Jon Evans. Clive was an important fixture in the Maesteg, Wales rugby community as well as the Welsh Rugby Union. Jon Evans was the head coach of the Cardiff Rugby Club and a well-regarded sports professor in Wales. They had a great influence on all of the Wildcats on that inaugural tour, especially head coach Dave Sitton.
That tour set up subsequent tours to Scotland and Ireland, and then in 1983 down to New Zealand and Australia. Associate head coach Mike Veth took charge of the overseas tours programs and molded Arizona’s travels into one of the wonders of college rugby. To this day, the Wildcats usually tour overseas every two years.
The early 90’s posed a great challenge for the Wildcats. College rugby and the athletes and coaches that it attracted were raising the level of commitment necessary to be successful. As a result, the team and its alumni needed to direct all resources to bettering the club both on and off the pitch. The Alumni Association was formed, and it is the Alumni Association to this day that provides key funding for travel and other team needs.
As the total program expanded, it was necessary to add quality coaches to the staff. New Zealand native David King and a host of others burst onto the scene. The catalog of qualified and dedicated volunteer coaches continues to be filled mostly by ex-Wildcats who are dedicated to the program.
In the late 90s, a group of student athletes decided to challenge Arizona’s program, hoping to move the Wildcats to elite status. Although the Wildcats had won several prestigious regional tournaments, they had never won a league championship.
A then sophomore hooker named Paul Enegren galvanized the entire club. He made a vow that the team would win the conference for the first time in 1997. It did. It was Enegren’s confidence that appealed to team members to work during the off season and to focus their energies for peak performance that proved successful.
It was the first year that the SoCal Conference broke away from the Pacific Coast Rugby Union, and Arizona has been a major player ever since. The Wildcats have won the SoCal Conference Championship in 1997, 1999, 2000 and were co-champions in 2003.
Since its most humble beginnings, the University of Arizona rugby program has blossomed into one of the more prominent in the United States. The Club now boasts over 100 active members, including an eight-member volunteer coaching staff. The Club enters four teams in two separate Unions. The intercollegiate program is a powerful member of the Southern California Premier Conference and has been in that organization and its predecessor since 1978.
Arizona was a co-founder of the Arizona Rugby Union and left the organization in 1980. However, the team has grown so that now it places a developmental side in the ARU and faces men’s clubs and academic affiliated teams throughout the States of Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada.
In 2005 and 2006, Arizona’s “Union squad” won the Union’s “Academic Division” featuring the University of Arizona, Thunderbird Graduate School, and Embry Riddle Aeronautical University.
The team travels more than any collegiate program in the United States with major trips each fall and spring. (The team’s closest opponent is Arizona State University, some 110 miles away.) The Club has toured overseas 11 times since 1978 and has played matches as far south as Otago, New Zealand, and north, in Edinburgh, Scotland.
The Club is supported by the University of Arizona Associated Students, businesses that are community leaders, and its rugby-playing alumni. The team stages a significant number of fundraisers throughout the year, including a spring golf tournament (the Michelob Strong and Tough). The team has for years supported the Chrysler Classic of Tucson PGA Tour event and provided services to the new Accenture Match Play featuring the world’s top 64 golfers. The Tucson Conquistadors coordinate the Wildcats efforts on behalf of and at the PGA Tour event.
The Alumni Association is emerging as a more important part of the overall structure of the club. The Alumni Association helps raise awareness of the club and, of course, tackles fundraising issues. The Alumni Association will also develop a board of directors which will help guide the program for decades to come.
In 2003, the University of Arizona began the process of moving rugby from Parks and Recreation system on to campus. Practice and storage facilities were made available at Rincon Vista, the satellite campus that houses the University of Arizona track and field program, women’s soccer, intramurals, and now Arizona rugby. In 2007 the team made the total transition to campus when Mary O’Mahoney, Club Sport Coordinator at the University of Arizona, offered to help the team move in and create match game facilities at Rincon Vista. They are now among the finest in college rugby.
Twice in the last decade, the University of Arizona program has been named the “Best Organization on Campus” and two of the team’s members have been elected student body president at the University of Arizona. Both Mike Proctor and Thad Avery were chosen by their fellow students as the “Top Leader on Campus.”
Student leadership is an important part of the Arizona Rugby Club program. With the help and guidance of the coaching staff, student athletes assume many responsibilities of the club’s operations. Also the Club Sports Department at the University of Arizona has emerged as a national leader.
The team boasts nine recent All Americans, including two-timers Simon Matthews, Chris Kron, Jonathan Gray and Jordan Kohn.
Five Wildcats have played for the United States Eagles, including Al Lakomskis, another Arizona All American who started at the wing for the United States during World Cup qualifiers in 2002.
Also in 2006, Wildcat rugby alumni Kevin McCaslin was named an “A” Panel Referee by the International Rugby Board, elevating him to the heights of referees worldwide.
Former Wildcats continue to emerge as rugby leaders. Chris Kron, who was an All American at Arizona, is now the head coach of the University of Santa Clara. Former Wildcat Mike Fleming is the head coach at San Jose State University. Justin Prichard, who was captain and flanker of the Wildcats in the late ‘80s, coached Sacramento State to a national championship in Division II. Mick Larabee is an assistant coach in a very successful University of Tennessee program.
Other Wildcats are now coaching high school programs throughout the country.
The team regularly recognizes academic achievement. In association with Golden Eagle Distributors and the Clements family, the William M. Clements Awards for superior academic performance are presented each year at the annual awards luncheon.
It is estimated that over 1200 student athletes have participated in the U of A rugby program since its inception. They can all be proud of what has been achieved by the Club and their contribution to University of Arizona rugby success.
In March of 2009 nearly 150 former Wildcats descended on Tucson to celebrate the team’s 40th anniversary. Players were treated to several cocktail functions, golf tournaments, an alumni match, and the match-up of Arizona and San Diego State.
The weekend was such a success that plans are underway to stage the next reunion in 2014 when the Wildcat program turns 45 years old.