- January 23, 2025
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They come from all walks of life. Some are college-graduates with corporate office jobs and 501ks, others are more blue collar, plumbers, electricians and the like. Some come from stable families, looking for a weekend hobby, while others hail from broken homes.
Their backgrounds — where they come from, who they are, how much money they make — does not matter. Because when they are on the pitch, donning the trademark black and white striped collared shirts, they are all part of the Sarasota Rugby Club.
The club’s founder, an Englishman by the name of Gary Johnson, has been playing and coaching rugby in Sarasota since the late 1990s.
The idea behind creating the club, which officially incorporated into a non-profit in 2010, was simple: To create a place that would welcome people of all experiences to the sport, both young and old.
“I’ve played rugby since the late ‘90s and early 2000s here, coaching and managing teams since then and eventually we decided to start a foundation to encourage youth to play the sport,” said Jones. “All of us in the rugby community had kids at the time and realized how expensive it was to play soccer or lacrosse or American football and we just wanted to give people the opportunity to play a sport that wasn’t going to cost an arm and a leg.”
Sarasota Rugby Club, which in addition to a competitive men’s team of about 40 players called the Sarasota Surge, also has a Youth Academy with tiered teams per age group, is designed to create a pathway for athletes into a sport that is outside of the traditional athletics offered in the states.
Although rugby has grown in popularity in recent years in the United States with the advent of the first professional league, Major League Rugby and the success of USA rugby, the sport, one of the predecessors of American football, is still not mainstream.
Americans don’t watch rugby on TV. It’s not a varsity sport commonly found at most high schools and while there are collegiate rugby organizations, it is not a varsity sport recognized by the NCAA.
Then why should Americans care?
Because the sport, Jones maintains, has something to offer for all athletes, particularly those looking for a home. The mechanics of the sport are partially what lend itself to building discipline, character and teamwork in young athletes.
“The premise of rugby, compared to other sports like football and soccer, is that it requires a level of discipline and accountability on the field that translates to life off of it,” said Johnson. “There is no showboating or disrespect shown to the other team. Additionally, rugby is constant. The action never stops, forcing you to rely on your teammates more than any other sport that I’m aware of. You can’t just quit on a play.”
This isn’t even to mention the contact aspect of rugby. Yes, rugby is a full-contact sport — players on offense are tackled to the ground by defenders — that is played without any sort of protective gear, save for a mouth guard and occasional skull cap.
The hits are hard and injuries do occur. Head Coach Ross Galbraith said for new members looking to join the men’s team, that first moment of contact is the litmus test for if they want to pursue the sport.
“That first hit separates those who are serious about it from those who might’ve just watched a few clips of rugby on Instagram,” said Galbraith. “Sometimes it can be over from the first hit they take and they don’t come back. Other people embrace it.”
The way the players tackle one another, however, differs vastly from that of American football. In rugby, there is a strict rule preventing any contact by a tackler on a ball carrier above the shoulders.
While there are similar rules at different levels of American football, they can be difficult to enforce. Players are sprinting as fast as they can, wielding protective gear like a helmet and shoulder pads as weapons. Jones says that it makes for a collision sport, as opposed to a contact sport.
Rugby also offers the chance for different types of athletes to make highlight worthy plays.
The action never stops in a rugby match. Two teams of 15 players play for 80 minutes on a field just wider than that of a football field, trying in vain to advance the ball to the other team’s try zone to outscore their opponents. When a player is tackled, they must forfeit the ball, but the action goes on.
The fluidity of the game is what allows for athletes like that of a high school lineman, to have the ball in their hands and score a try, something that might never happen in American football.
On Jan. 18, the men’s team, which is roughly 40 people aged 21-35 years old travels competitively around the state, kicked off its season at the Sarasota chapter of the Fraternal Order of Eagles in Ridge Wood Heights.
Perhaps even more notable than the game was the location — Jan. 18's match was Sarasota Rugby’s first game at its new home field.
Sarasota Rugby is centered around the community. From the sport itself to those around it, the club prides itself on having a welcoming presence.
Last April, however, Sarasota Rugby found itself without a home. Since 2015, the club had called the field at the Sarasota International Cricket Club home. Sarasota Rugby had everything it needed — space, lights for nighttime practices and a clubhouse for players to dress in.
In a complete surprise, Jones was told at the end of April that Sarasota Rugby would have to vacate the area, their lease brought out by a different organization. It left the club scrambling to find a new home in time before the season started this January.
“We were at a total loss,” said Jones. “The board had a lot of meetings trying to find somewhere to play and we fell into this conversation with the Fraternal Order of Eagles, who have a field at their location. They’re an absolutely great bunch of people with similar goals to ours in supporting the community. We’ve put posts in, we’ve landscaped the field and we’re working on installing lights.”
