1. 52 | May 14, 2015 | THE WILMETTE BEACON wilmettebeacon.comSPORTS
RUGBY
New Trier ready for playoffs
ERIC DEGRECHIE, Editor
Following a first round
exit in the state tournament
last season, the New Trier
Rugby team is hoping for
a better showing this time
around.
Posting an undefeated
record at 6-0, New Trier
seems primed to improve as
it heads into the postseason.
Coach Leo Sheridan, in
his seventh season at the
helm, is assisted by Thys
Wallace and Tim Sheridan.
New Trier plays its home
games at Skokie Playfields
in Winnetka and the New
Trier Northfield campus.
“I think our success comes
down to us having coaches
that really know how to get
people working within a cer-
tain system,” Sheridan said.
“We have great coaches that
grew up playing the game
and got coaches by the best
people in the sport.”
Sheridan learned to play
the sport while attending
Loyola Academy during the
1970s when there were only
six teams playing rugby on
the North Shore. Since that
time, the New Trier program
has grown by leaps and
bounds with the number of
players increasing from 25
to more than 70.
Among the key contribu-
tors this season has been a
core group of players that
have been with the program
for a number of years and in-
clude juniors Joe Lewis, Lu-
cas Bartzis, Peter Sorenson
and Charles Stimson, along
with senior captains Phil
Mosele and Aidan Nolan.
“We have tremendous
athletes. We play a very
fast game. Every one of our
games is competitive,” Sher-
idan said. “I think we’re a lot
of fun to watch.”
Prior to the regular season
finale versus Lake Forest on
Friday, May 8, New Trier
faced two difficult league
opponents.
It traveled to Arlington for
a game on April 25. As ex-
pected, it was another tough
match versus the host team
and went back-and-forth
throughout. Tenacious de-
fense and opportunistic of-
fense won the game for New
Trier, 10-7.
New Trier continued its
winning ways on April 29
versus Morton Away. The
game needed to go the full
80 minutes before there was
a winner. David Gascoigne
was key as his kicking pro-
vided points to keep New
Trier ahead at the conclu-
sion of the contest. Another
key play came from Charles
Stimson with a back run.
The victories clinched the Il-
linois Youth Rugby Associa-
tion East Conference cham-
pionship.
While playing at the Tier
II level, New Trier won the
state championship in 2007.
The program moved up to
Tier I, which is the highest
level in Illinois, the follow-
ing season. Though the com-
petition has gotten better,
New Trier has done pretty
well versus tougher oppo-
nents. In 2011, it was the
state runner-up.
With the greater number
of players, New Trier is able
to field a second Tier I team
and also plays at the fresh-
man/sophomore level, which
serve as a perfect feeder sys-
tem for the top squad.
“The program looks re-
ally robust. We started the
season with only three se-
niors. Thought we’ve added
a few, we’re primarily a
younger group of players
that are continue to get bet-
ter and better because we see
the same players year after
year,” Sheridan said.
Youth coach
hopes to educate
community
CHRISTA ROOKS, Assistant Editor
If you’re not familiar with
rugby, you soon will be if
Thys Wallace has his way.
Wallace started the North
Shore Youth Rugby Acad-
emy last June for kids ages
4-14, after seeing a need for
it in the community.
“I noticed that there’s no
rugby available to anyone,”
he said.
Wallace will be visiting
Highcrest Middle School in
Wilmette on Thursday, May
14.
While the program began
with 10 kids, it’s grown to up
to around 70 members.
As a coach of the New
Trier rugby team, Wallace
hopes that this league can
eventually serve as a feeder
team for New Trier.
The spring league, who
will wrap up their season
May 18, is currently prac-
ticing at Elder Lane Park in
Winnetka, on Mondays.
“They’re all fun, non-con-
tact games,” Wallace said.
The kids are divided up by
skill level, and play against
each other. Wallace added
that he uses American sports
to teach kids unfamiliar as-
pects of the sport, including
passing backward.
“In most American sports,
the ball travels forward,”
he said. “In rugby, you can
pass the ball backwards or
lateral. [We use] rugby bas-
ketball, rugby baseball, it’s
a progression into our game
so they can slowly but surely
learn to pass backwards.”
Parents are also encour-
aged to get involved in
coaching.
“We’re pretty much a
family or community sport,”
Wallace said.
Wallace partnered with
several park districts in order
to allow children to try their
hands at non-contact rugby.
As it is a no-contact version
of the sport, it’s safe for chil-
dren.
“There’s a stigma that it’s
a dangerous sport, and it’s
not,” he said.
Wallace added that the
kids who come love play-
ing, and he hopes to get the
word out to more children
who might be interested in
the sport.
“Once they come out, they
don’t leave,” he said. “They
keep coming back.”
However, lack of educa-
tion about what rugby is has
been another hurdle for Wal-
lace to jump.
“It’s hard to promote it
because it’s new and people
don’t know what rugby is,”
he said.
In order to educate more
people about the sport, Wal-
lace has begun a program to
instruct physical education
teachers on how to teach
rugby.
Those interested in join-
ing the North Shore Youth
Rugby Academy this sum-
mer can sign up at register.
winpark.org using activity
number 251790. The league
will run June 15-Aug. 3.
A portion of the registra-
tion fee benefits rhino con-
servation efforts in South
Africa, where Wallace is
from.
To schedule a visit for
your school from Wallace,
email rugbyfit.us@gmail.
com.
New Trier Club Tier 1 rugby player David Gascoigne, with teammate Steve Salinas running
behind him, tries to evade Arlingtonʼs Jon Toriumi on Sunday, April 19 in Northfield. PHOTOS
BY LOIS BERNSTEIN/22ND CENTURY MEDIA
Andrew Locke, captain of U.S. Olympic Rugby, shows New
Trierʼs Ashtin Paez how to get out of a tackle on April 10.