Rugby

To the Editors of The Crimson:

Many myths and stereotypes frequently circulate about the nature of the Harvard Rugby Club, most notably the notion that it is primarily a social organization which does not require a serious athletic commitment. As a fourth-year rugby player, I can tell you that this is simply not true.

In actuality, we practice four afternoons a week throughout the year and play between one and four games each weekend. Like many varsity sports, we return two weeks early in September for a grueling fall preseason in the MAC throughout February to prepare for the spring season.

This spring, we won three major tournaments posted a record of 14-1, our best since winning the National Championship in 1984. Several of our players earned all-East honors and will soon try out for the all-American team. Harvard rugby is undoubtedly a serious sport.

Our social functions help to perpetuate our success on the field by serving as alumni fundraisers, which help defray the costs of coaching, equipment and transportation during the season. In addition, they help us to maintain our cohesion as a team, but obviously far less so than determination and hard work in practice.

We feel that this successful season has helped to break down some of the myths surrounding our sport. It is unfortunate, therefore, that your recent coverage of rugby has focused on the negative and disregarded many of the positive aspects of our season. While our tremendously exciting New England Championship was relegated to several paragraphs on page 10, an anonymous person's misperception of one of our social events gained front-page headlines.

I hope that in the future you will re-think your editorial policy regarding rugby and will publish only those articles which are truly newsworthy. In this way, you will help shatter, rather than reinforce, the pervading unjust stereotypes. Mark Sagarin '89-'90