A club sport that has gained popularity and continues to see success here at Oswego State is men’s rugby. The program dates back to the 1970s and continues to have a strong alumni involvement. The Wizards are currently ranked 19th nationally in Division II and have high goals for the remainder of their season.
The Wizards have been nearly perfect at home over the past couple seasons. The last time they lost at home was in 2013 against Niagara University. The club competes in the Empire Upstate region, made up of some SUNYAC schools and other colleges across upstate New York.
The Oswego Wizards traveled to SUNY Cortland this month to take on an undefeated 13th ranked team in hopes of an upset. The Wizard’s kept things close at halftime with a score of 12-12, but that’s as close as they’d get as Cortland won by a final score of 17-12.
With the regular season consisting of just eight games, there’s a demand to play each game like it is the last.
“We know so far that we’ve underperformed, we’re 3-2-1 right now and we could easily be 6-0,” said captain Chris Moranski. “With every week, we’re trying to get to that playoff spot and make sure we set ourselves up going through.”
Getting new players can be one of the biggest challenges for any team, but can be more difficult for a club sport.
“A big recruitment tool is the involvement fair, that’s where we get most of our players,” Moranski said.
Word of mouth and current players recruiting on campus also helps the team get fresh talent.
“I came here, I didn’t know anyone and I didn’t know what I was going to do,” Jacob Speno said. “A guy came by and asked me if I wanted to play rugby so I came out here and I’ve been playing ever since.”
Their head coach also travels to high school tournaments to recruit potential players.
The game can be physical that involves running, passing and catching. What can be difficult, especially for people who are new to the game, are the various rules and how rugby is played.
“All the integrant rules and the plays you can do is really the hardest part to grasp,” Speno said.
One element that is typical to most sports is that the team is like a family.
“On the field you’re battling 15 guys with 14 of your best friends,” Speno said. “Off the field you have 40 of your best friends that you do practice with and hangout outside of rugby.”
