No Longer Oakland's Best Kept Secret

We are proud to have the final version of a brief documentary telling our story. It was roughly eight months in the making. The process embodied the cliche "the devil is in the details" as filmmaker Paul Washburn and President Burke kept fine-tuning it to tell our story.

Rugby traditionally has been an upper-crust sport but in the last 10 years the game is taking a foothold throughout Northern California, especially in the high school level for boys and girls.

It's always been our goal to grow rugby in our own back yard and make it accessible to all boys enrolled in a high school in Oakland. Kids from these less affluent communities don't get the same chances as suburban kids to participate in athletics. Sports and rugby are powerful bonding agents for boys. We try to get these kids heading down the right path, hopefully towards a four-year college or a junior college.

If any of you have been paying attention lately to Oakland politics you might have noticed that Police Chief Anthony Batts is talking a lot about his department and the City doing more with less in the face of severe budget problems. One of solutions he has discussed is getting to kids earlier and earlier with healthy activities and outlets, before they head down the dead-end trail of gangs, violence, etc.

Our youth rugby program fits nicely with what Chief Batts is talking about. We need the support of everyone to keep offering and growing our program. Please check us out at http://www.oaklandwarthogsrfc.com/

10 Reasons to Play Oakland Warthog Youth Rugby

I ask myself: If I had a son would I want him to play for our team? I can definitely, resoundingly and unequivocally proclaim "Yes!" In fact, our head coach's son plays for us. But after a few practices this season I am more enthused than ever about endorsing our program and trying to truly make it a city-wide team for all Oakland boys and a source of pride from the Bay Bridge to the San Leandro border and beyond. It's our fourth year.

I have either played for or been involved in coaching seven rugby clubs including the Warthogs. I can honestly say "we've got it going on."

These are the top 10 reasons to wear the black and white of the Warthogs:



10: Behind soccer rugby is the second most popular sport in the world.

9: We are a structured program but not rigid. We try to keep practice a balance between having fun while instructing the team that it's a physical sport that needs to be taken seriously.

8: We preach that rugby is secondary to earning an education. We insist on a 2.5 grade point average to play. We also take our team for tours of local colleges to show them life outside of Oakland.

7: You don't have to be the biggest, strongest or fastest to be a good rugby player. If you are smart, aggressive and work hard you can find a spot on our rugby team.

6: Rugby is played on more than 400 college campuses in the United States. The odds of playing college football or basketball are slim. Our league, plus other high school, collegiate and club rugby in Northern California are about the best in the nation.

5: Playing rugby means having friends for life. The sport, because of it intense focus on teamwork, bonds players like no other team endeavor. There is a powerful network among rugby players on the pitch, in school and in professional careers.

4: Continuity of coaching and team administration. We have the same head coach, assistant coaches and direction for the team. We are all on the same page. We want our kids to be good citizens as much or more so than being good rugby players.

3: Diversity. Sure, it's a buzzword but we embody it. We draw kids of all races from almost all schools in Oakland, from Oakland Military to American Indian Charter to Oakland High School.

2: Self-confidence. Our sport forces kids to go beyond themselves, physically and mentally. These kids discover how hard they can compete and that their teammates depend on them. Rugby is epitome of getting knocked down but getting back up.

1: Fun.

2011 season plans and a documentary

By the looks of things we could have upwards of 25 or 30 kids playing for us this season. The coaching staff remains intact and we have a nice addition--the O.G. Warthog, Mr. Eddie Lopez.

The challenges remain the same: Landing a safe, lighted practice and match field; growing our numbers and diversifying our club; convincing Oakland that nothing could be more right for it than rugby.

Continuing the "new" theme, we have a documentary about us by Paul Washburn. Paul did the highlights video for us and previously released an amazing documentary about University of Michigan rugby. The doc tells our story.

The murder last month of a 13-year-old boy in East Oakland should cause mental alarm sirens to go off. By all accounts he was a good kid, a budding track athlete. The shooting death is relevant because as a team we are trying to occupy Oakland kids and keep them from the streets. So I always scratch my head and wonder why the City and Oakland Unified School District don't create new fields and make more field space available.

We have been running touch on Wednesday evenings at Brookdale Rec Center. We start at about 5 pm. We expect to have practice running two or three times a week starting in November/December.

We are forming an advisory council, sort of like a board, and planning a couple of fundraisers. Look for us on Twitter, Facebook, etc. The Warthog train is leaving the station.

A Fitness Key to Rugby: The 20-meter Sprint

Former Baracus teammate Andrew "The Hurricane" Gray hipped us to this study of fitness on Super 14 rugby players.

Most of you already knew this but the keys appear to be: 20-meter sprints, change of pace and standing up to punishment in the second half.

The other day I made myself do sprints. Now that I am an old fart I dislike sprints even more. What made it a little more interesting was just changing pace with kicking the ball every 20 meters. First one was a jog, hack the ball through on a medium, boot the ball the third time and sprint through the ball. Repeat. I then mixed in some pullups and situps and it sort of felt like I had done something.

We also know from the study that forwards work harder than backs but that backs just look better!( I always loved how forwards would hide their mistakes by just lingering at the back of the ruck or trying to lurk in the crowd and/or leaning on rucks.)

Check the fitness study.

Oakland Warthogs 2010 Highlights

A Great Day to be an Oakland Warthog!

Our season ended a couple weeks ago with a strong showing at the San Jose tournament, where we tied a match, lost to powers Lamorinda (Silver) and won a game. All the coaches loved the way our players came together in the last games of the season as each and every player contributed. We looked like a team, especially our forwards who can just smash and ruck with the best of them.

It made us feel good for all the hard work we put in the last six months. It's programs like ours that City leaders should be tripping over falling into line to try to support us. It's more than an after school activity. It's growing boys into good men.

And speaking of looking like a team, we had our banquet today and acted like team. More like "felt" like a family. The players brought their parents, coaches came with wives and families and we enjoyed an incredible meal hosted by Oakland Charter School in downtown Oakland. Our guest videographer in residence Paul Washburn made a highlight clip of the season set to rap. The event would not have been possible without the drive of Coach Ryan Burke and our team mom Lupe. There was enough food to start the players growing another 20 pounds and 2 inches into next season (A thought that scares me because I will once again try to "go live" with them at training.)

There were no big speeches at our banquet, just some words about how much we appreciated the contributions from players and from each other as coaches. Had I felt like being Coach Wind Bag this is what I would have dropped on them:

"Maybe it's because I did not have a wealth of natural talent that I had to work harder, focus more and train better to hang with more gifted players. I see my story repeated every practice, every match and every season. It is like the tides and the sunset. The talented player with no dedication will have fleeting moments, the driven players and teams that stick together will triumph again and again.

Victories in life go to the grinders and to those willing to prepare. I have told many of you to just go out to a field on your own and to do your sprints kicking and chasing a rugby ball. I have showed you how a jump rope can be the best tool for footwork and how pull-ups and tricep pushups will give you the power to fend off any tackle. Will you have the discipline to train on your own when you don't feel like it or you and your friends just want to hang out?

Here's another way of thinking about what I am trying to convey:

Everyone says they want to be good and to win but how many of you are willing to sacrifice and put in the time to actually do it?

It's the same whether it's rugby, school, work or business. (I applied to the Graduate School of Journalism at UC-Berkeley three times before I was accepted. I passed the state PI exam on the second try. Don't be afraid to fail. ) You have to work at it every day. And the work has to have focus, discipline and heart.

Every day I look at my college diploma and my master's degree hanging on the wall. I know that they can never be taken from me and that I earned them. They will be with me until I die. Unlike "things" such as a shiny car or clothes, an education is forever. It will set you apart and give you advantages over others. A college degree is far from a guarantee but it's a huge step. Go make it happen.

Talent is not enough. Look what just happened on the Raiders when first round draft pick Jamarcus Russell was cut. He has all the talent in the world but he doesn't have a job this season. The guy who replaced him, Jason Campbell, has been in the league not much longer but beat him out because he has a documented history or working and studying the game hard. Remember: One team the same year took Peyton Manning and one club took Ryan Leaf, who washed out after about one season. Talent and hard work is the best combination in sport and in life.

One kid who has walked the walk and talked the talk is Jose Pena, who has gone from Oakland Warthog to Cal Bear national rugby champion. Jose had gifts but worked hard at every training. Now that's what I'm talking about!"

Overcoming Oakland Stereotypes: Our Challenge

We are Oakland, for good and for bad.

Oakland follows us onto the pitch every game day and asks questions of us:

Will you play rugby or will you play thug ball? Will you maintain discipline? Will you break the stereotypes that the suburbs have of you?

I think of these questions and issues against a back drop of one of the worst news stories to hit Oakland in years, the arrests of two 18-year-old men in connection with the attack and beating death of a Chinese father and son along Telegraph Avenue in the Uptown section of Oakland. I can't help but wonder what if a good team or social program or church or job or organization had intervened in these two kids' lives before they went out that day to commit mayhem. The point is that it's events like these two African-American youths arrested for the beating death that give Oakland its bad reputation throughout the Bay and the country.

So this image of Oakland may or may not be in the minds of the teams, and their spectators, when we play in Pleasanton, Danville, Orinda or San Jose. We just lost a tough, tough match to Danville out in Danville last Saturday. This game had extra meaning to me because I had coached kids in Danville with Danville's coach Jon Straka when Danville had just started youth rugby. Our friend James Perley, who started Danville rugby, died suddenly last year.

Warthogs are a fairly intimidating looking bunch, mostly thick Tongan lads and Mexican kids. So the game kicked off and went back and forth. It was intense, end to end rugby that I like. Danville had a couple backs who could just burn and our forwards rucked and pounded the ball. My heart lodged in my throat for most of the game.

It was in the second half that we lost our composure and the match. Two of our better players got yellow-carded within minutes for some type of alleged retaliation and a high tackle. We had to play two men down. The calls were dubious but in rugby you don't have time to engage in debate. Bitching about calls is useless anyway because I have never seen a rugby ref change a call. It's the great thing about rugby, the game just keeps moving.

So one of our two carded players started making a verbal scene when he got back onto the pitch. He was so intent on running someone over that he just lost his focus. He admitted to me later that Danville had got into his head. Danville Coach Straka got heated up too during the game. We all did.

In the last minute of the game a Danville player tracked down one of our speedy wings and made a great tackle on our sideline but came up injured. Our Coach Soni took the time to tend to their injured player. This kindness took place against a back-drop of catcalls and some verbal nastiness between the teams' supporters. (I watch high level rugby from all over the world on television. A fight or loss of composure in pro matches is rare.)

But we are not dealing with professionals. We are dealing with boys ages 13 to 18. We are building a culture and a program to teach kids how to handle anger, rage and frustration. We want to show them how that without a team, that an individual player regardless of superior skill is useless. We try to show them how to be focused and play like a team under pressure.

Teaching life and playing skills to our kids is a process. The light does not suddenly shine for them. But the Danville game marked the first time for me that I saw how hard all of them were working and competing.

After a hard-fought contest, the two teams joined on the middle of the pitch to shake hands and award "men of the match." The two teams ate pizza in the parking lot, which is what rugby is all about.