Husky rugby looks to the future

Practice starts with an injury report from the trainer. Tony is out for this weekend’s game against Central Washington with a broken clavicle, and the kid from Oregon is still in the hospital. Coach Shawn Loudenback nods and tells the trainer that he’ll talk with her later. Such is the life of a rugby team and its coach.

Loudenback came to the UW at the beginning of last season after spending time playing and coaching throughout the United States. He graduated from New Mexico State University, where he served as a captain on the Aggie rugby team.

He was asked to come to the UW to revive a once proud club sport that had fallen on hard times.

“They had gone through four or five coaches in the past five years,” Loudenback said.

The rugby team is one of the oldest club sports on campus, finishing out its 45th year at the UW this season. Restoring the team’s proud tradition is particularly important to Loudenback and his staff.

“I want to make UW rugby one of the top club sports on campus,” Loudenback said.

While funding and player turnout are still major issues with the team, Loudenback and his assistant coaches insist that wins and losses are less important than the fraternal aspect of the game.

“The game of rugby is an amazing game of camaraderie,” said assistant coach Brian Ely.

After spending 80 minutes pounding the opponent into the ground, matches are often followed with a “drink-up” or some sort of social event with the other team.

“After the game, you are friends with the other team,” senior captain Nate Olsen said. “It’s more than just an on the field aspect of the game. It’s like a fraternity.”

Olsen, a former Roosevelt High School student, came to the UW with a choice to make. He had to decide between continuing his soccer career or playing rugby at the club level. Olsen’s dad and cousin both played rugby for the Huskies. Rugby won out, and he hasn’t looked back since.

“I’m very happy with the choice I made [to play rugby],” he said. “I wouldn’t trade it.”

Olsen is one of only two seniors on the team this year, but he will be returning for a fifth year in school. That means that the team will lose only one player to graduation, something that is extremely important to the players and coaches.

“We have a very young team,” Loudenback said. “They lack the confidence to initiate the game plan without a fear of the consequences. Like any other sport, it’s always testing yourself against that other guy, except with rugby you are more face to face.”

Youth is something that has plagued the Huskies all season. Their 1-4 record in league play is certainly indicative of that, with close loses coming from Oregon, Washington State and Central Washington. Ely said 80 percent of the players on the rugby team had no prior experience playing before entering college.

“Our inexperience is our pitfall,” Ely said. “There are a growing number of high schools in the area that are learning how to play. We’re trying to push the growth of the sport in the area so these programs can be feeders into our program.”

Olsen echoed his coach’s sentiments regarding the youth of the Husky rugby team.

“We have so much potential, but just haven’t been able to get over the hump yet,” he said.

The inability to get over the hump was evident last weekend, as the Huskies lost a close game to the University of Oregon in Eugene, ending any hope for a playoff spot. They will have a chance at redemption this weekend, as they face first-place Central Washington in Ellensburg on Saturday. The Wildcats are 4-2 in league play, and defeated the Huskies in Seattle earlier this season.

However, since their loss to the Wildcats in December, the Huskies got a big last-minute victory against second-place Oregon State University. Because of that win, the Huskies are confident that their speed can overcome the size they lack against the bigger Wildcats.

“We’re known for our speed, not our size,” Ely said. “We also feel that we have a tactical advantage.”

The tactical advantage that Ely is referring to is the superior knowledge of the coaching staff in comparison with other teams at the collegiate level.

Loudenback’s credentials are impressive. He has played internationally, as have his assistants Ely, Joe Rissone and Steve Bush.

“Our coaching staff is amazing,” junior Joe Spear said.

Ely was in agreement with Spear’s comments regarding Loudenback and his trio of assistants.

“We have a great coaching staff,” Ely said. [Shawn] sets the tone for the whole group.”

The match against Central will be the final one of the year for the Huskies. Although they will not be in the playoff picture, the players feel that there is a bright future ahead. Spear believes that the players are starting to learn to work as a unit rather than individually.

“You have to trust one another on the field and off it, too,” he said. “If all 15 guys aren’t working together, it’s hard.”

Loudenback feels that the effort from his players is there, and all that is missing now is the experience and knowledge of the game.

“I can’t coach desire,” he said. “The desire with these guys is very high to learn and to try and better themselves.”

[Reach reporter Evan Riggs at sports@thedaily.washington.edu.]