Up until the 1999-2000 academic year, the men’s rugby team was a Division II club sport. It was then bumped up to Division I after the addition of players with previous rugby experience. It was also being used as a type of farm for football players in the spring.
With the loss of coaches and experienced players, the team has had to rebuild from the ground up in the past few years. “We used to have coaches who were pretty consistent,” states junior captain Nick Renna, “[we are] trying to secure coaching and recruitment,” citing “not a big coaching pool” in the area as the reason for their current situation.
The men’s rugby team currently plays in a league against such schools as SUNY Buffalo, Cornell, Cortland, Syracuse, SUNY Binghamton, SUNY Brockport, and Canisius, and is ranked eighth among eight. Their record this past year was 0-7-0, accumulating only one point over the season. Next fall they will be dropping back down to Division II, playing local teams that are more on par with their abilities.
Renna feels that by next fall everyone should be prepared, declaring “people we recruited last fall will really begin to blossom by the end of the season.”
They currently have a tournament scheduled with University of Albany Law School and have been in communication with local clubs for scrimmages.
