Securing home field
Rugby club gets space at Hays Kennedy
By Chris Otts
cotts@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
Instead of gathering to watch the University of Louisville's opening game two weeks ago, about 30 high-school boys and grown men suited up for their own brand of football at Hays Kennedy Park.
For two hours, they wore themselves out playing a touch rugby scrimmage, topped off with drills, cross-field sprints, push-ups and sit-ups.
"I want us to work together as a unit," coach Eric Raney barked at his players after halting the action for a moment. "I want us to dictate what's going on this field."
After all, the field now belongs to them.
The Louisville Rugby Football Club took over two acres in the park this summer, giving the club its first official home since forming in 1969.
The club, which consists of men's and women's adult teams and an under-23 men's team, used to practice and play most games in Cherokee Park, with an occasional tournament at Seneca Park.
But that meant setting up heavy goals and taking them down every time the team got together, as well as lugging gear like tackling dummies, balls and cones to and from the park.
Now the team has its own field, which it has marked off, and permanent goal posts. It plans to add lights next and is looking to build a clubhouse with locker rooms and storage, maybe next year, Raney said.
The club, a nonprofit organization, has about $10,000 in savings and will have to raise money for the building, Raney said.
The club is a member of the USA Rugby national organization. It plays in a regional league that includes clubs in Dayton and Columbus, Ohio, and in Indianapolis, Raney said. But the team plays against other clubs as well, he added.
Metro Parks would have never allowed the team to have its own field or building at Cherokee or Seneca, or even in the planned Champions Park off River Road, because of the other programs at those parks, said Marty Storch, the agency's assistant director. But the fields at Hays Kennedy, near Prospect, were "under-utilized," he said.
"People were always on the field at Cherokee Park," said David Glattstein, a member of the team who lives near Ballard High School. "To have a space where we can grow is just so much better."
Kirby Coleman, a six-year member of the team who lives in Old Louisville, said he doesn't mind the drive to and from Hays Kennedy.
During games at Cherokee Park, it was difficult to keep the ball from rolling off into a creek, which is especially bad because rugby play does not stop. Occasionally, dogs would wander onto the field, which was just below Dog Hill, he said.
"There was just so much traffic and so many distractions," Coleman said.
Raney, who lives in the Highlands, said the only downside is that Hays Kennedy is not centrally located.
But, he added, "With a sport like ours, you can't be too picky."
Reporter Chris Otts can be reached at (502) 582-4589.
