Army Claims Rugby Title; Air Force Doesn't Come Close in 38-12 Rout By Larry W. Kachelhofer Special to the American Forces Press Service
Brooke Rowe
Larry W. Kachelhofer Special to the American Forces Press Service
(EXCERPT) NAVAL AIR STATION PENSACOLA, FLA., Nov. 1, 2000 -- Friday
the 13th turned out to be a lucky day for the Army rugby team as they
conquered Air Force 38-12 and won the first Armed Forces Rugby
Championship here.
Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard teams faced off in
three days of games that began on Oct. 11.
"It was an outstanding job all around," said Navy head coach Lt. Cmdr.
Don Sheehan of Naval Air Facility Washington, D.C. "It was good armed
forces rugby. Everybody played hard on the field and the camaraderie
was still there between the services." He laughed and added, "We'll
win next year."
The Navy and Marine Corps squared off on the field Friday. Navy
punished the Corps 36-14 and won third place.
"The base (NAS Pensacola) did a great job of hosting the
championship," said Lt. Bobby Linder of Naval Air Station North
Island, Coronado, Calif. "We're from all over the world and it's good
to come together." With a big grin, he added, "I don't like any of the
other services for three days, and then we're all friends again. It's
just good competition."
In years past, the teams played under the Interterritorial Tournament,
which was not funded by the Department of Defense. Basically, players
had to pay their own way. Unfortunately, this eliminated good players
if they couldn't afford the trips and sometimes created hardships for
those who were able to attend.
The 2000 rugby championship was the first to be funded, according to
Army Maj. Mike Legg, congressional liaison for Special Operations
Command, in Washington, D.C.
"The Army was able to bring their players out and it showed," he said.
"This is the first year that the Armed Forces has put this on and they
did an awesome job. Good support," said Army coach Lt. Col. Mike
Stephenson of Fort Bragg, N.C. "Rugby is a warrior sport. These guys
have played five games in three days and you can see the effort they
put out up and down the field."
"My hat's off to the Army. They made us play hard and they played off
our mistakes," said Air Force head coach Lt. Col. Larry Grant of
Central Command headquarters, down the panhandle at MacDill Air Force
Base in Tampa. "It's been a great tournament. All five teams have
improved here over these past three days."
(Larry W. Kachelhofer is a staff writer for the "Gosport" of Naval Air
Station Pensacola, Fla.)
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Brooke Rowe
Associate Librarian
The American War Library
www.americanwarlibrary.com