With a new school year in session, clubs and activities are getting started. Rugby Club, a club dedicated to informing people about what rugby is and connecting those who love it with each other, is one of the many clubs at Franklin this year. According to Matthew Manley, Rugby Club advisor, teacher, and coach at Franklin, the club has been around for the past five years. Rugby and football are very similar. The game is made up of fifteen players. To gain points, each team scores tries, which are like touchdowns. This is because the ball must come into contact with the ground while a player is holding it behind the goal line. It’s very important to learn how to tackle correctly because if someone were to do it incorrectly they could hurt themselves and the other person.
Though they haven’t met this year, Rugby Club has always been more of a team than a club. According to Destiny Sagli (11), one of the club’s student leads, the club has a “great family atmosphere.” Sagli was introduced to Rugby Club last year because she was looking for a new sport to join and was encouraged to join by a friend.
Kya Bailey (11), the other student lead, had said, “since rugby’s more of a new sport, newcomers are more welcome.” Bailey joined the club last year also and has played many sports before. She was intrigued by the fact that, unlike a lot of other sports, rugby isn’t something most people are expected to have played since they were a kid.
The rugby season officially begins this spring, and Rugby Club is a passageway into this interesting community and sport.
