Oakland Warthogs Prepare for Third Season

(Warthogs Leon Tan, left, and Jose Pena walk at graduation ceremony at American Indian Charter High School in Oakland. Tan is San Diego State bound while Pena will go to Cal and play some rugby for the national powers.)

Calling all high school rugby players and potential rugby players, the Warthogs will be starting another season in a few months. The program welcomes all boys currently enrolled in any Oakland high school. Details about practice will be announced as soon as we firm them up and get a new web site up and running.

The Warthogs are a club and are free to student athletes. Rugby, the second most popular sport in the world next to soccer, will be an Olympic Sport in 2016. You don't have to be the biggest, strongest or fastest to become a good rugby player. You do need heart and some smarts.

Call Coach Mike Spencer (510) 593-3767 if you have any questions or want to join. We provide a positive atmosphere of hard work and emphasize doing well in school. The league matches start in January.

Oakland Warthog high school rugby fundraiser

Maybe you read Scott Ostler's column on the Warthogs in the San Francisco Chronicle. We are a high school club in Oakland, California that is entering its third season, competing against some of the top rugby talent in the country, Lamorinda, Jesuit, etc.

The Warthogs are grassroots rugby. The team sprung from Oakland Charter Academy, which no longer will have the resources to sponsor the team. The team is hosting a yard sale June 6 and June 7 at 2491 Cole Street in Oakland, off High Street in the Maxwell Park neigborhood, to raise money for the 2009/2010 season. The team is also selling stylish T-shirts, in red, black and white, for $15 each.

Donations by check can be made to Bay Area Youth Rugby, Inc., 1935 Octavia Street, San Francisco, CA 94109. The donations are tax deductible, EIN 26-3252059. Please be sure to write "Warthog" on the check's memo line.

The Warthog coaching staff is all volunteer. We run the club to give the kids the gift of rugby, a sport where people make friends for life, see the world and learn the values of hard work and dedication. Any and all funds raised go to pay for: practice field rental, league and national dues, uniforms, equipment, etc.

Most kids on the Warthogs, a city-wide club, come from poor backgrounds. Rugby is a healthy alternative to the streets. Thank you for your support.