Tragic Real-Life Lesson from Coach Isaac

The kids came to practice tonight, not exactly on time but they showed. I had a little venom in me for the initial conditioning session, telling them that they need to be ready when we start training at 5 pm. We had lost 25 minutes or so of valuable time under the lights. We never let them forget that rugby is first and foremost a running game that demands endurance and power.

It was our first night of live contact. We would have preferred to start contact much sooner but now that we are becoming an established program, we had to wait until all the kids and parents signed the necessary waivers to allow tackling. We try to teach them the right way to tackle and go into contact. After all, this is rugby and not football. Leading with your head in tackles in rugby will get you knocked silly and can incur injury if not done correctly. The great thing this season is that on any given night, we have 3 to 5 coaches supervising.

At the end of each practice coaches talk, not just about rugby but about life. Coach Soni asked Jose Pena, a former Warthog player who has made the Cal team, what happens if Cal players are late for training. Jose said that he was late for one Cal training and got a "strike" against him. Two strikes and you might be off the Cal team, Jose said matter-of-factly.

It was Isaac's turn. Just last week Isaac had told the kids that they need to make important life choices. He implored them to go the college-route and avoid hanging out on the corner.

Tonight, Isaac had more urgency in his talk. He told us that he missed practice Monday night because he was at a funeral for a former player of his on the Hayward high school rugby club. He told us that Willie had died of two caps to the chest at 1:30 am while he sat in a parked car with some friends. He talked about Willie's grieving mother. Isaac told them that they better choose their friends with care or they could end up like Willie.

It was a chilling reminder of what life can be for some urban kids. It's why Warthog management insists that our players perform in school. We want them to have options in life, especially ones that include college and improving their lives.

Tonight was about a lot more than rugby. Thank you Isaac for bringing this brutal message to us.