Next summer, for the first time in 92 years, rugby will return to the Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Though often thought of as the fastest-growing team sport in the United States, the men’s version of the game is frequently relegated to the club level at domestic universities, overshadowed by its padded and American cousin, football. But this summer, one Binghamton University rugby player with Olympic dreams took a major leap forward to put his sport — and his school — on the map.
Senior Nicholas Coppola, a loose forward on Binghamton University’s men’s club rugby team, was one of only 26 male rugby players selected to attend this summer’s Northeast Rugby Olympic Development Academy. The Academy is a feeder program to the United States men’s national rugby union team — nicknamed the Eagles. It offers opportunities that allowed Coppola to spend a portion of his summer with top players and coaches in hopes of earning a spot on the national roster.
“I really like to play and I would love to continue playing after graduation, after college and see where that takes me,” Coppola said.
Following a recommendation from his coach, Coppola attended the USA Rugby National Tracking Camp — a combine event hosted by Columbia University in May. Following the combine, Coppola was selected from over 50 attendees at the event to join the prestigious academy’s 26-man recruiting class.
“It really opened my eyes to what’s out there,” Coppola said of his combine experience. “We saw guys from Division III colleges who competed with Division I guys who were the best on their team to go to the combine. There were a couple of Eagles selects that were also coming out. And there were a lot of ‘transfer athletes’ — for example, track and football guys — who are interested in training for rugby.”
In an era of multi-sport athletes like the NFL’s Jarryd Hayne, a former star of Australia’s National Rugby League and current running back on the San Francisco 49ers, the concept of the “transfer athlete” is bringing attention to rugby and its stars stateside. However, with a Binghamton club team featuring no varsity athletes from any sport, Coppola’s recognition by the Academy serves as a major service in getting rugby at BU recognized.
“Even when we did well, we were a very under-the-radar team,” Coppola said. “Now we’re hopefully trying to get that recognition to bring us closer and tightly knit with the school, because that’s ultimately what we want for the team.”
With a lack of NCAA-level promotion, getting word out to fans, followers — and even players — can be tough in the world of collegiate rugby. Coppola heard news of the May 17 combine date only weeks before attending. He believes that by having USA Rugby continue to sponsor events alongside partners such as the Northeast Rugby Academy, the sport’s reach can spread with or without front-page promotion.
“I do believe that this will begin to branch out and start to make rugby more widespread — it’s the fastest growing sport in America right now,” Coppola concluded. “But the thing is, it has to be stuff like this. Where through me or through the team we get the word out so people know … that this is something available to them.”