Rugby is a close-contact team sport that originated in England in the first half of the 19th century.
One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its most common form, a game is played between two teams of 15 players each, using an oval-shaped ball on a rectangular field called a pitch. The field has H-shaped goalposts at both ends.
A very windy day last week caused the Rookie Rugby Clinic to be held indoors in the Kipling School gym. This was the first time that a Rookie Rugby Clinic was held and the free event ran in conjunction with the summer youth program put on by the Kipling Leisure Services.
“We did hold a Rugby Clinic as part of our sport camp a few years ago,” explains Susan Hengen, manager of leisure services. “But the Rookie Rugby program is something that’s new this year.”
It was put on by Sask. Rugby, who sent out three instructors along with all the equipment.
They taught all the skills involved in the game, and a little bit of the rules of the sport.
“We allowed anyone from six to 12 years of age to take part, but we primarily had eight to 12-year-olds and a good number of the older kids,” says Hengen.
“It was great,” said Hengen. “Nineteen kids took part and the three summer program leaders helped out as well.”
Hengen goes on to say:
“All the comments from the kids taking part were very, very positive. Everyone was really enthused and everyone was excited.”
“Rugby is a very active and physical game. The kids were on the go for the whole three hours. They were excited about learning the game - it was very hands on. Instead of tackle, they used flags.”
Hengen explains that this is something that they may do every second year but if the interest is there, they could look at doing a rugby clinic every year.
“It would be beneficial for the kids and if there’s any hope of actually beginning the sport in the community, you would want to do it every year. There’s a lot to learn with rugby.”
Rugby’s main rules are run forward and pass backward.
Some kids struggle with that because they are used to sports played with the opposite procedures in the game, such as football and soccer where a player is always playing ahead.
“That was probably the biggest challenge, was passing back,” says Hengen of her observation during the clinic.
