Sports Reporter
scschroc@mavs.coloradomesa.edu
The CMU men’s rugby club team is on the rise and not slowing down. With Randy Lewis at the helm, the club has become a serious team in Western Colorado. Lewis helped the women’s rubgy team, whom he also coaches, become the No. 2 program in the nation last year. Now, he is trying to bring success to the men’s side.
“Randy is a great coach, obviously, after helping the women become one of the top national teams,” winger Lou LeRouge Mbala said. “He does a great job implementing what helped the women into our game.”
Lewis changed the mentality of the team, starting with the amount of hard work during practice.
“I’ve been seeing such a good work ethic from all the players and they’re showing that they really want to improve,” Lewis said. “We’ve all set high standards and we are showing a will to win. It’s not just a social club anymore. The game is more important now.”
Senior team captain Ethan Jordan has been trying to build and improve the club over the past three years and loves the dedication of the team.
“Between lifting, classroom time spent learning plays and extra sessions thrown together by some players, I’ve never seen a team with as much drive to get better every day,” Jordan said. “Randy is always on everyone to be better and I’ve never had a coach push everyone to improve, which brings the level of play up for the entire team.”
Rugby has some strange rules. So Lewis makes sure the team knows the game well.
“The best way to learn the game is to just go out and play,” Lewis said. “They just have to experience it. We throw them into the mix and when they make a mistake, we can fix it right there, and they see how much better it feels to actually do it right.”
One of the key aspects Lewis preaches is respect. He wants players to respect the game and respect each other, which brings more people together and spreads a passion for the game. Lewis and his team’s passion for rugby has raised the level of knowledge and performance. A varsity status for men’s rugby is conceivable, yet still unlikely, in the near future.
“The captains and coaches have talked about being a varsity sport, but we’re still waiting for a breakthrough,” Mbala said.
Meanwhile, men’s rugby remains a club sport, and the goal is to show that the club is serious.
“The club is established now, and the goal is to perform to get money support for traveling,” Lewis said. “Varsity status is down the road, but right now everyone is focused on winning and making the playoffs to show that they deserve money.”
The lack of funding could make it difficult for the players to stay committed. Everything cost-related is paid out-of-pocket by the team. CMU supplied a van for an away game in Gunnison last semester, but several players still had to drive themselves.
The lack of games throughout the season is also a problem faced by any club team. Last year, the men’s team played seven games because of issues such as a lack of funding to make the trips possible or a shortage of other rugby teams in Colorado.
“One of the biggest problems was trying to find other teams and schools that would be willing to make the trip to play us,” Mbala said. “But this year we already have eight league games on the schedule, and we are expecting to add some more games throughout the season.”
Rugby at CMU is growing, and the men and women provide a sense of camaraderie for each other. Both teams practice together to foster a more competitive atmosphere, which ultimately makes everyone better.
“The women’s work ethic has rubbed off on us and we’ve even borrowed some of their plays,” Jordan said. “We all would like to go to the playoffs and play rugby on a beach in California, but the real motivation is knowing that if we can improve, then rugby will be a big part of CMU.”
Until the club becomes more concrete in terms of funding and support, the next step towards improving as a club and a team is its game at Regis University Sept. 29.
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