Juliet Sullivan - published in "The Province"
February 26.2013
“Rugby is a hooligan’s game played by gentlemen”. It’s been
said so many times that it’s almost a cliché. But no-one really knows from
where, or whom, this phrase originated, although some credit Sir Winston
Churchill; others Oscar Wilde. The fact is, despite much research, some of it
my own, it seems the quote cannot be correctly attributed to anyone. My son did
shout it out in the middle of a game once (with an added expletive), after
witnessing an unprovoked attack on his team-mate, but I don’t think he can
claim the words as being his own. Mothers watching their sons and daughters take to the field,
unprotected, to face an oncoming full-on running tackle from an opposing
player, will take little comfort from the fact that rugby is “played by
gentlemen”. But as one of those mothers, after watching countless games over
the past 20 years – including many professional games in England and Scotland –
I have never witnessed an injury in rugby as bad as some I have seen in other
sports.
I still cover my eyes sometimes, if my precious (six feet
tall, 200 pound) son happens to be at the bottom of a ruck, or a scrum, and I
am always grateful when the full-time whistle blows and there are no injuries –
on either side. Please don’t ask me to explain what a ruck, or a scrum, is. I
may have watched countless games, but I still struggle to understand the game
fully. I still find rugby, whilst an exciting spectator sport, to be complex
and multifaceted, and the rules are not always clear to me. It’s our instinct as women to be protective, and our
instinct as parents to be scared if we perceive our kids to be in danger. The
fact is, rugby is no more dangerous than other sports, though it is almost
impossible to back this up with statistical evidence, as the numbers of players
involved in each sport varies considerably, and there is very little research
being done to record injury statistics.
Now throw in the fact that I now live in Canada, where rugby
is still largely misunderstood, and where people look at me like I am an
abusive parent when I tell them my son plays the game – and here we have a
problem. That problem is ignorance, and the key is education. We need to educate
people about the benefits of kids getting involved in the sport; we need to
show that it is a great game and that it is not dangerous, as it is perceived
to be. The perception has shifted slightly in the past few years, due in some
part to the attention received by the Canadian national team in the 2011 World
Cup in New Zealand. All nations need a sports celebrity, and this came for
Canada in the unlikely form of Adam Kleeburger, whose talent – and overgrown
beard – caused a surge of publicity for himself and the sport.
Kleeburger says, “Typically in Canada people perceive rugby
players as being these goons who go out on the field, smash each other around,
get bloodied and bruised and then go and drink beer afterwards. I think it
comes down to exposure and getting people to see there’s more to it than that.” We all know that rugby is actually one of the only games
that promotes respect on the field; something that inevitably translates into
life off the field; and something we all want our kids to be is respectful. Kleeburger says, “The biggest thing, I think, rugby can give
a young player is the idea of respect. I think rugby is the only sport where if
you are going to address the ref, (it is usually only your captain who can do
so), you address them as ‘sir’. If you have an issue, you have to address it in
a proper way, in a manner that will help get your point across without being
insulting.” That’s great, but what about the fact that the idea of the
game is to run at each other full speed, and bring each other to the ground in
a battle of brawn, strength and skill? Kleeburger says, “Players realise you’re
not wearing helmets and pads, and you have to learn to do things in a proper
manner, not only so you don’t hurt the other player but so you don’t hurt
yourself.” So, will there come a time when rugby players have to wear
protective gear? “I hope not, “ says Kleeburger. “Rugby is a contact sport, and
with contact sport comes injuries – I am a prime example of that.” (He is
currently recovering from a back and shoulder injury). “You have to understand
going into the sport that it does have that risk. But you can get injured
playing football, soccer or hockey. There have been a lot of changes in hockey;
players used to not wear helmets, and they didn’t have the same injuries they
do now; they didn’t have sticks to the face because there was that element of
respect. Players realised that they should keep their sticks down. Whereas in
today’s game, you see sticks all over the place, you see injuries to the head;
it’s just a case of understand and respecting.”
Kleeburger’s rugby career started in White Rock when he was
14. He had been involved in ice hockey up until that time, but was getting sick
of the politics in the game. He got a taste of rugby in Grade 8 after going on
a rugby tour to Argentina. I am interested to know how Adam’s parents coped with his
transition from hockey to rugby. “My parents were like a lot of parents – they
didn’t understand the game very well. They had been around for hockey and they
support me in whatever I do, but it’s a little more difficult when they don’t
understand certain things. My mom would come to my games and cringe every time
I went into a tackle. But unless you’ve grown up with it, it’s hard to
understand that it’s not the same kind of contact as, say, football. It’s much
more controlled, and there is more respect, and you are actually trying to make
a proper tackle, whereas in football guys can just jump out of line and just
charge at you and grab your legs. You can’t do that in rugby because you are
responsible for the tackle, and if you miss a tackle, that puts your entire
team under pressure.”
Something I love about rugby is that it seems to be
all-inclusive; there are players of all sizes and abilities. Kleeburger, who is
studying kinesiology at The University of Victoria in British Columbia and is
coaching the rugby program there, says “Rugby is the one program in the school
where nobody gets cut. We have a lot of guys who are there because they want to
be a part of the team, and want to be a part of the rugby atmosphere; they
don’t have maybe the same skills as some of the guys playing at a higher level,
but they are still involved and they still feel like part of the group.”
And there is something else. Rugby is not just about rugby.
It’s about socializing, community, acceptance, team spirit, camaraderie – and
creating life-long memories. As a mother, I like that. I want all of that for
my kids. And as a parent, I get to experience that myself too; my own social
life has centred around rugby for over 25 years. I guess that makes me a rugby
groupie, but that’s OK.
Kleeburger says, “Rugby is the sort of sport that people get
so much out of it that they really want to give back. We have a lot of parents
and ex-players who still want to be involved in it because they have had such a
good, positive experience.” Rugby is a culture, one that keeps people involved,
sometimes all through their lives. I personally know of one player who played
well into his 80’s.
Kleeburger, who is not recognised so much now that his
famous beard has been shaved (“and I’m fine with that”), says that the sport
helped him build confidence. “I would say I am fairly shy, so I think rugby has
brought out an ability to be in social situations. I feel more comfortable
being around a wide range of people. I think rugby generates a more
well-rounded person.”
And as a mother of a 15-year-old giant who is a budding
gentleman, I would have to agree.
