(Photo/Steve Perkins)
Rugby is a favorite South African sport. Westporter Steve Perkins was born there, and wanted to find a club here for his son.
Deputy Police Chief Sam Arciola and Westport police officer Ned Batlin helped Steve organize a rugby program, through the Westport PAL. Westport’s Parks & Recreation Department also helped.
Staples High School head rugby coach David Lyme has helped the program grow into 3 teams: Under 10 (non-contact), and U-12 and U-14 (full contact). Very quickly, the young Westporters have become formidable ruggers.
They’ll feed into the Staples program, which currently fields 4 teams for nearly 100 players.
In the photo above, Steve’s son Ari Perkins (blue) battles Aspetuck, in U-14 action at Wakeman Field.
Dave Lyme is fantastic! Well done!
When I was a teenager in Westport I played for the Connecticut Yankees, which was part of the Metropolitan Union. Does the team and union no longer exist?
I know that Rugby is a popular sport. Especially in UK and SA. And perhapsAUS/NZ
How do its injury stats stack up to tackle football? A US religion.
Inquiring minds want to know!!!
There’s a ton of information about that available online.
According to the Brain Injury Law Center, Auckland University of Technology compared the number of catastrophic incidents (i.e., resulting in paralysis or death) in rugby with other sports between 1975 and 2005. It found that with the exception of England, rugby incidents worldwide showed 4.6 catastrophic injuries for every 100,000 players annually.
The same report showed American football resulting in 1.0 catastrophic incidents per every 100,000 players between 1975 and 2005 — more than 75% fewer incidents than the index tallied in rugby.
I’m not a kid….obviously….but clearly remember the advice from my BJHS football coach…..the great Eddie Hall….that you shouldn’t play rugby unless you were looking to get hurt. And when you did get hurt, it was likely to be serious.
All the advice I remember from Coach Hall was “McCarthy, Don’t Shoot!!!!”
Thanks Sam and Ned always to help a fellow westport person like you both are