Coming off a season where they made the NCR D2 semifinals, Grand Valley State University coaches and players realized one thing—they needed to play more tough games early.
For scrumhalf Calvin Schwandt, the idea of doing more, and then, perhaps, doing more again, is just fine.
"We want to play as many D1 or higher-level teams as we can," Schwandt told GRR. "We just played Michigan State and we feel like that's a game we could have won. But even so it's helpful. We're looking for a team that will challenge us. We want reps against programs with more resources and dudes who go there for rugby, and make sure we aren't missing a few strides and getting away with it."
For Schwandt, those sorts of challenges are the things he embraces. And his energy, positivity, and skill are something the team embraces.
Schwandt doesn't immediately strike you as a natural rugby player, but, said his coach John Mullett, "his skill and IQ are off the charts. His off-field work ethic got him here. He's an NCR D2 All American."
Schwandt and his teammate Reinhardt Stipp swept the skills competition at NCR's finals weekend. Stipp went 4-for-5 on 45-meter drop goals, and Schwandt hit 15 straight kicks from 15 meters.
"Nobody noticed, which is typical for Cal," said Mullett.
Cal Schwandt started playing rugby in kindergarten. He watched his older brothers playing and he just followed them and watched them. By 7th grade he knew that was his sport and he starred for Rockford HS in Michigan.
"It's a big sport in our family," said Schwandt. "Hockey is another big sport in our family, but that's not for me. I just was always around the game and I knew stuff. When I played in high school, humbly I'd say I felt rugby-cognitively I was a step ahead of my peers."
The immersion was helped by the fact that when we talk about Schwandt's brothers, it's not just one or two. There's a lot of them. Schwandt has six older brothers, most of whom played rugby. And he has seven younger brothers, including one who is a teammate at GVSU. And then, just to give everyone a common goal, their youngest sibling is a sister, the one girl in a family of 15 kids (coincidentally, a full rugby lineup).
Schwandt's sister, who is six ears old, has, said Mullett, become a bit of a local celebrity. We asked Schwandt what would be her position and he said, "well we don't have a lot of forwards in the family but she might be a flanker ... or a scrumhalf. She has the sass to be a scrumhalf."
Being part of such a family, Schwandt is used to a life where there are few silences and there's always something going on. Somebody always seems to have a game.
"My parents are just humble, hard-working people," he said. "They are always on the go. We're always locked-on on something. There's rugby, soccer, hockey, wrestling, football. There's always something happening."
That's just fine with Schwandt. He can't sit still. That's why he loves rugby.
"There's no stopping," he said. "There's pace in the game. You're always touching the ball. There's always something to do. You're never bored. I have been told I have, like, bodily ADHD. I have no issue with it. I just like being busy."
