A training academy in Little Rock has opened a pathway to the Olympics for some of the best rugby players in the country.
American Rugby Pro Training Center founder and head coach Jules McCoy has been tapped by USA Rugby to find and train the top players in the nation in preparation for the debut of rugby sevens at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro next August.
Both the men's and women's U.S. national teams recently qualified to compete in Rio, an opportunity to showcase the sport to a wide American audience.
Rugby, a style of football played without padding or helmets, originated in England in the early 1800s and is now played around the world. Rugby sevens, the format headed to the Olympics, is a shortened game in which teams of seven play fast-paced, 14-minute matches. Rugby teams usually have 15 players.
The sport blends the contact of American football, the transition plays found in basketball and the running of soccer.
"Many of us in the rugby community knew that if we could just get into the Olympics that would be a huge catalyst for growth of the sport that we love," McCoy said. "So many times when somebody says, 'Rugby, oh, isn't that football without pads,' it's almost like you have to apologetically describe what is going on. And that is not what rugby is. That is what Americans perceive rugby to be because their only lens is through American football."
She added, "We have a long tradition for rugby here, believe it or not, in Little Rock. You just don't hear about it.
"We've been an active club on the men's and women's side since the 1970s. We wouldn't have this [center] if we hadn't been working for it for 30 to 40 years. Really, we have had some pioneering men and women who started 40 years ago and had a vision, so we are taking advantage of that vision today."
LITTLE ROCK'S PITCH
John Young, a former University of Florida rugby player, first brought the sport to Little Rock in the 1970s. The enthusiasm generated by those matches fueled formation of an active group of rugby clubs in the city, and they eventually came together to form a collective known as the Greater Little Rock Rugby Club.
In the late 1990s, after almost 20 years of saving money, the collective bought the 34 acres of land that now houses the Greater Little Rock Rugby Complex, which serves as the training base to McCoy's center and its residents.
The venue, on Dineen Drive south of Little Rock, has three rugby fields -- called pitches -- a clubhouse and a gym. "The complex, there is not many like them in the United States," said Wilma Keller, chairman of Greater Little Rock Rugby Club Inc. "Not many clubs have raised the money themselves and developed it themselves."
McCoy said that with the right support, the potential benefit the Olympic training center could have locally is enormous.
"You're talking about a professionalized game, you're talking about hosting not only national events, but international events," she said. "Rugby is a spectator sport that residents can follow and rally behind. ... The sport appeals to men and women, all ages. And it is very democratic -- everyone gets to play."
The city's 55,000-seat War Memorial Stadium could accommodate crowds of fans.
"So I think there is some real potential here," she said. "It all depends on how much local civic leaders want to get behind it."
UNIQUE SERVICE
There are seven Olympic development academies for the sport around the nation, but Little Rock's is the only full-time academy for women.
"It's women doing it for ourselves," McCoy said. "That kind of role modeling for the young woman is key, not only to rugby but to life: If you want something done you have got to go out there and do it."
From the academy, residents can earn invitations to the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif., the training ground for the U.S. rugby national teams. Along with serving as a feeder to the national teams, the academy also prepares players for the pros and the highest ranks of high school, college and club-level play.
"We have the Olympic Training Center, but there is a limit to the number of athletes we can have there and we need a pipeline," said Bob Latham, chairman of USA Rugby. The Little Rock training center "helps us get additional athletes in a high performance environment and allows those athletes to realize their potential. That not only helps USA Rugby identify potential national team players, but it also elevates the game at club levels as well."
SEEKING THE ELITE
Twelve spots are available on the women's national team that will compete in Rio, a roster that won't be determined until next summer.
"There is going to be fervent competition for positions," McCoy said. "That is why this academy is really important. I am trying to push that envelope from here. We want the best."
McCoy, who grew up in Arkansas and works in North Little Rock as a neurologist, limited her medical practice to found and run the academy. "I was a national team coach. I was on the USA Rugby Board. I've basically coached almost every type of team and select side team [all-stars] in men and women in the country," she said.
An avid athlete growing up, McCoy started playing rugby when she was a medical resident at Tulane University in New Orleans. She went on to compete at the national level. "I played for the U.S. in 1998 in sevens. I was in the 15's player pool for years. I was really more of a B-side athlete with an A-side mind. And so when I was aging out of the sport I naturally turned to coaching."
"I love it," she added. "It's a game. It's like trying to play Monopoly over and over again, trying to win it. Or Candy Crush. It's addictive.
"You want to help players master this game. And it's such a hard game to master. And that is what is so interesting about it."
Her results as a coach helped rugby land its place in the Olympics. Both men's and women's teams of a sport have to be in solid standing before the International Olympic Committee will consider including the sport in the games.
"She was the coach of our national women's sevens team that competed in the first Women's Sevens World Cup in 2009 in Dubai, where we made the semifinals," Latham said. "The level of play of the teams in the semifinals, including the USA, helped rugby get into the Olympics in a vote that was taken later that year."
After members of the committee watched the United States play New Zealand during the semifinals of the World Cup, "they were convinced that if a nonrugby-playing nation could play that well, then the women's game was solid enough to take it forward," McCoy said.
IN THE HEAT
Training at the Little Rock complex goes on year-round. Residents can be found six times a week honing their skills on the complex's rugby pitches and four times a week working out at the on-site gym. As part of their schedule, they also practice on-site against the men's Little Rock Rugby Club, a team McCoy also coaches along with the University of Arkansas at Little Rock men's sevens team.
Players from across the nation arrive at the academy regularly, fueled by a motivation to become the best they can be. According to the website, live-in residency typically costs $1,995 per month, but under a summer special available until Aug. 31, it costs $1,500. How long each resident stays varies, although a minimum of two months is required. Trainees' ages range from 18 to 26.
In early July, the trainees included 14 full-time residents on the women's side and two on the men's side, a section of the center McCoy is trying to build up.
For all residents, the academy, which has been open about a year, is a portal to a rugby-centered world.
"There are no distractions," McCoy said. "It's very difficult to get athletes or anybody else to be 'in the zone' these days because there are too many distractions in our present-day life. When I say we are a rugby-centric environment, we use tools to keep people thinking about rugby only."
McCoy said many of the residents are from larger cities. "These kids love it here," she said. "They love the people here. They love the pace of our city. They come here and they feel like it is home. They feel like what we grew up with."
More information is at americanrugbypro.info/home.html.
Sunday Digest on 08/23/2015