Program Spotlight: Texas State, A Good Group of Guys to Hang With
Program Spotlight: Texas State, A Good Group of Guys to Hang With
The Lonestar D1AA competition should be an interesting one to watch in the New Year.
There always seems to be a team that bursts through in this conference and this year, so far, that team has been Texas State. The Bobcats came into this past weekend with victories against UTSA (30-12), Dallas (19-15), St. Edward’s (38-8), Texas Tech, and Texas (22-7). They capped the fall off this past weekend with an emphatic 60-26 defeat of North Texas.
“Not being overdramatic, but this is the best year we’ve had in our history,” said club president Kyle Campbell. “Last year, which was my first year at Texas State, we won just one game, against UNT.”
The one-victory season pushed Texas State into Lonestar’s Tier 2, but they are much improved and winning in Tier 2. As a result, the Bobcats are also seeking Tier 1 opponents, such as the Longhorns.
“We’re play anybody,” said Campbell. “We scheduled a lot of games on purpose because we want a national title. We have a new coaching staff with seven guys, position-specific coaches, including two women who have been a great addition. We have recruited like crazy and we have two full teams. So we want to play a lot of rugby.”
A strong social media presence and on-campus news coverage has helped get the team noticed at the university. But winning games helps, too.
The President of the University wore one of the Texas State rugby jerseys and attended a game.
But there’s also a cultural shift, mostly based around getting players bought into the rugby ethos onto the team.
“We spent the spring semester going to every high school tournament we could, letting kids know we had a growing program,” said Campbell. “We recruited that was and we recruited on-campus. And the thing is, we have the two full teams but we don’t look at it as A-side and B-side. We’re all playing rugby. We’ve had guys who have had to step up from the B-side so it’s important that we’re all one club. One of the main things is that we’re just a fun team to hang out with. When we recruit high school players, we can’t offer anything. Instead we just talk about how much fun it is.”
Fun also means performance, it means playing as a team, and it means working hard.
“Everything we do is about supporting your brother,” said Campbell. “If you’re not getting the ball you better be tackling and rucking. That’s something we preach every day.”
After their close win over Dallas, a game they won on the final play, the team leadership re-emphasized that message.
“We said ’hey, this is not football,’ explained Campbell. “We’ve goto to play as a team always.”
Captain Willian Turner, whose parents are British and who has long experience in the game, has been outstanding at No. 8. Fullback Elisha Garcia is very fast and dynamic and has enjoyed an exceptional fall.
But Campbell said the team as a whole is what has led to success.
“It’s really impressive how many guys we have switched out,” said Campbell, who plays tighthead prop. “No one’s spot is safe, so the players can’t get complacent.”
Not getting complacent is the story of Texas State rugby. They decided not to just shrug and accept things not going well. They got to work, ensuring they had a good in-team culture, and recruiting to get numbers—more players meant a happier group of players and better practices. Good competition for the 2nd side meant everyone got to do the one things that’s most important to them, play rugby games.
And making sure no position is safe ensured that every player was engaged in being a good player and a good teammate. And shocker (not really), a group of dedicated players who want to be good teammates is a group of players you want to hang out with.
Keep an eye on Texas State rugby.
