Rugby takes center stage on Independence Day

When persons assume about sports activities performed on the Fourth of July, most think about baseball. The national pastime has its place on Independence Day, with major and small league groups throughout the country participating in, ordinarily with caps and accessories adorned with red, white and blue. Other people convert their notice to Coney Island for the Nathan’s Warm Dog Taking in Contest.

But in Park City, rugby is section of the town’s Fourth of July celebrations. Park Town Haggis Rugby Soccer Club hosted a collection of matches at Town Park on Monday with a substantial crowd of onlookers from the sidelines. 

“I’ve been heavily associated with this club for 8 several years, and this is 1 of my favored days with the club,” Shon Curtis claimed. “A great deal of men and women, see all of my friends, enjoy some rugby, consume some beer, take pleasure in the sunshine.”

Monday’s celebration was a minimal far more specific than past a long time, as Curtis said it was the 50th anniversary of the initial Independence Day rugby activity. In the past, the Park City Muckers would confront the Salt Lake Haggis on July 4. The two clubs have very long because merged, but the custom carries on. Now, it serves as the club’s major fundraiser of the year.

“This is where by we get the majority of our dollars for our journeys, like about to Denver,” Curtis claimed. “Because that is exactly where we participate in is around in Denver. So, that pays for our inns and journey and rentals. So, this is incredibly major for us.”

Curtis begun participating in rugby soon after getting released to the sport by a mate. He states he went on to play for the University of Utah’s club rugby staff and the U.S. U-19 group. Curtis wrestled and performed football, but very little is like rugby for him.

“It’s the ideal activity at any time,” Curtis said. “I’ve played each and every sport, except for hockey, and it’s my beloved sport. It is the major conglomerate of people today and good friend group. I have friends in each individual main state, every single important state because of rugby.”

Amongst the participants at Town was retired former rugby player Robert Lopez. Lopez hung up his cleats five several years ago, but Park City’s Fourth of July rugby online games introduced him back again, at least for one particular day. 

“I’ve appear each year due to the fact I was 18 years aged, (and) I’m 55 now,” Lopez claimed. “It’s just tradition just about every 12 months. Even by marriages, even by youngsters, absolutely everyone is familiar with in which I’m likely on the Fourth of July.”

Lopez’s rugby knowledge dates again to when the Muckers would square off with Haggis ahead of the merger. 

“We’ve normally envied the scenario with the Muckers getting us up below, and we could not defeat them, so we joined them,” Lopez explained. “We’d constantly have these massive rivalries, and Haggis was a pretty great group from Salt Lake. We’d have large rivalry game titles, but we could in no way get absent from how excellent it was up right here.”

At 55, Lopez knows his restrictions. He did not want to endure nevertheless another nosebleed after at last finding it set. He claimed he was happy just to make a pass or deal with. But it’s the people today that keep him coming back again. 

“Even the guys that you’re aggressive with and you get into fights even on the subject and things, you are nevertheless brothers, you’re continue to good friends,” he said. “You all want to hold out, and this is the activity we appreciate, and this is the 1 thing that delivers us together. And a beer.”

Scott Solid has been enjoying in Park Metropolis on Independence Working day because he was a significant schooler in 2007, with the exception of 1 year. Strong commuted from Riverton but suggests the journey is nicely truly worth it.

“It’s every thing this is the only point I look forward to on the Fourth of July,” he mentioned. “You have your fireworks and things, but this entire function is almost certainly the solitary point why I generate up in this article.

“I get to see previous pals from numerous groups I have performed for, and we all just occur out right here and helpful strike every single other, but with poor intentions.”

Strong reported he at the moment performs for Park Metropolis Haggis as nicely as the selects team for the Utah Warriors. He famous that players from a wide variety of backgrounds appear up to play in Park Metropolis and that it’s a good way to see the activity in person.

“It gives the community a prospect to see what rugby is and be intimate with it,” Solid mentioned. “Being capable to be feet from the discipline, to be in a position to see the hits and stuff, so it’s a neat opportunity.”

To outsiders, the custom of participating in rugby, a sport that the U.S. is not recognized for enjoying, on Independence Day may possibly seem odd. But the rugby gamers at Town Park on Monday wouldn’t have it any other way.

“This has develop into my custom,” Solid explained. “You can see hundreds of gamers occur up right here. It is develop into their custom on the Fourth of July. So, there’s absolutely nothing much more American to me than actively playing some rugby.”