Club Sport Spotlight: Men's Rugby
 
The New Paltz Rugby Football Club (NPRFC) has had their share of highs and lows since its conception in 1985 but for the Fall 2015 season but this year even despite various pre-season trials, the team still is persevering.

NPRFC began as the culmination of a group of men, some of who swam for New Paltz at the time, who all gathered to learn and play the sport of rugby. The team has grown immensely in the last 25 years, with just over 20 active players and an overwhelming amount of graduates who are proud alumni of the sport.

If you ask Junior Co-Captain and Management and Accounting major, Dean DeVitis, to describe rugby he says it's "a combination of football, soccer, wrestling and MMA fighting." To any outsider, the sport seems confusing but to those on the field there is an organized method behind the madness.

The sport of rugby, consists of 15 players on each team competing to get the ball, which can only be thrown backwards, into the try zones at either end of the field.  During gameplay, many penalties result in scrums forming, in which the eight forwards of each team come together and fight for possession of the ball. If a ball goes out of bounds, it is returned to play through a line-out, where the forwards lift players in the air to fight for the ball as it is thrown back into play.

Despite previous success, both DeVitis and fellow Co-Captain, Senior Jared Lachner, know that this fall season will take a lot of work to achieve the success they want.  Both have high hopes to make the playoffs at the end of the season and are taking every chance they can to get there.
 
"Making the playoffs to me would mean that the team is heading in the right direction," said DeVitis.

"We have been doing morning runs three days a week, and we have been practicing six days a week," Lachner added.

Not only are these two organizing practices, but without a coach for the fall season, they have also been creating the line-ups and teaching newer members of the team.

When asked about potential for future success Lachner stated, "We have a group of guys that can go out and potentially put some great work in on the field and I hope we unleash that hidden beast that is NPRFC."
 
If you, or anyone you know is interested in playing rugby you can find NPRFC on Facebook or email them at newpaltzrfc@gmail.com.

https://www.facebook.com/newpaltzrfc?fref=ts link to fb page