Rugby players and coaches tend to have an anywhere, anytime approach to the game, and while that can sometimes get people in trouble, it can also start something special.

 

For the Pelham Youth rugby program, being ready to pitch-up at late notice helped make memories, and vault the team to a new level.

 

Pelham Youth Rugby started about six years ago when a few rugby enthusiasts decided to kick-start the youth game in the small town north of New York City most famous for being the final stop in a train-for-hostage movie (The Taking of Pelham 123 - see the Walter Matthau version), and for being the home of the New York Athletic Club's rugby facility. With the help of Play Rugby USA, Matt Persanis got a group of young kids playing flag rugby. As the kids got older, they started playing tackle rugby. Meanwhile, Play Rugby's Christian Mayor (like Persanis, involved with the NYAC men's club) had started another middle school program. Another sprang up in New Jersey, and the teams started playing each other.

 

The kids got older and soon Pelham was fielding a U15 and a U13 team.

 

"We started with the idea that a lot of high school teams have no feeder system, so every year players graduate and they scramble to recruit," said Persanis, who also works with Keith Killeen, Spencer Scanlon, and Jamie McLellen to run the team. "So we thought we'd start at the young ages and build from there, with no pressure to do anything more than that. What we found was that it was really fun."

 

The team is part of the Pelham Town Department of Recreation. It is not run by the school district, and because the response has been so good locally, the Town continues to support it. They started taking the kids on trips - a short one to Philadelphia, but seemingly a world away for some of the players - and they started winning games, a lot of games. And making friends ...

 

One day in 2013 Persanis got a call. The Bermuda U15s were coming to New York from Canada, and a promised opponent hadn't been put together. Could Pelham step in for a game? Persanis made some calls, got the OK from parents, and took the field. That, in itself, was a big move for Pelham. When they won the game 22-5, everyone started to take notice. Pelham was invited to Bermuda for a return engagement, and in late June of this year, 55 U16 and U14 Pelham teams got on a plane to Bermuda.

 

After shaking off the cobwebs and getting a session from Ben Gollings of Serevi, who happened to be there, they faced off against Bermuda. In two very exciting matches played in the national rugby stadium, Pelham won the U16 game 15-14, and lost the U15 game 25-15. 

 

James Bristow and Alex Oman scored tries for the U14s, with Duffy Doyle setting up one that was finished off by the forwards. Oman was player of the game for Pelham, with Woods Johnson, Quinn Scanlon, Michael Adamu, and Doyle all playing especially well.

 

In the U16 game, Pelham took the lead when co-captain Luke Persanis set up Harry Fanning. But Bermuda handled the humid weather a little better and struck back with two tries to lead 14-5. With time winding down David Monaco burst through the line to make it 14-12, and then Kevin Ndou (Man of the Match) countered into the Bermuda half and that set up a penalty that Fanning put over the bar to win the game. 

 

It was, by all accounts, a hugely successful weekend for this young youth team.

 

"We have about one-third of our team new to rugby," said Persanis, who stepped down from his men's club coaching position at NYAC in order to concentrate on the Pelham program, saying the kids needed him more than the men's club did. "But I also have seven kids who have been with me for six years. They have grown up with the game, and I've grown as a coach with them, too."

 

Led by some exciting young talent, such as Kevin Ndou, co-captain North Westall at No. 8, and co-captain Luke Persanis, they are now poised to venture into the Empire HS competition. 

 

"We tried to play anyone we could, and we played a lot of JV teams from established programs," said Persanis, who saw his squad play, and beat, JV teams from New Rochelle, Fordham Prep, and Xavier, to name three. "The idea was that these would be the kids they will play against at the full high school level. We've got approval to play at the U18 or high school level, and it's great, because we did that by building from the beginning."