UNCW Mens Rugby  

It started with Eduardo Alcala'. Ed, (as most of us called him) lived in Torremolinos, on the southern Mediterranean coast, just outside of Malaga, Spain. He grew up playing rugby, much like kids in the US grow up playing football. He was looking for a university in the United States, and applied to several in this part of the country. UNCW was among them, and responded to him with more information than any other school. So he decided to go to UNCW and enrolled in the Fall of 1981. That same year, I failed to request a roommate, but did win the university's lottery for being one of the first residents in the new on-campus apartments. As luck would have it, Eduardo and I were randomly assigned to the same apartment. Ed is a great guy, and never met a stranger. Of course he knew absolutely no one at school, and we quickly became good friends. One evening in the Fall of "81, as we were walking to the cafeteria for supper, Cape Fear was playing an exhibition match on the athletic field. He went over and talked to them, and they invited him out to practice. He wanted me to play too, (probably because I had a car and could take him to practice) but I declined, promising to play the next year. At that time, there were at least two other students I know of, that played for Fear. They were Mike Dufresne and Dave Hodge. Dufresne was from Australia and VERY GOOD. He played ERU Select Side, and I heard he even had a tryout with the USA Eagles. (Bob Davis can confirm that) But I digress.

 

When school began in the Fall of 1982, I reluctantly kept my promise and went with Ed to practice with Cape Fear. By this time, Dufresne graduated and was no longer playing for Fear. Hodge only played sporadically. I heard Dufresne (a Geology major) took a job in the Yukon Territory of Canada. But I digress again. By the end of that semester, (Fall, "82) Ed and I were playing for Fear, and I was hooked. In the Spring of "83, Cape Fear asked Ed if he would start a UNCW Rugby Club. I don't know if it was a formal request, or just part of some drunken discussion during a post-match party. Nevertheless, he mentioned it to me, we talked about it, and decided to give it a try. Ed went to the Student Activities dept. to find out what was required. Basically all we had to do was get a faculty sponsor, write some by-laws, and pay a small fee. David Webster played for Cape Fear and taught at UNCW, so he agreed to be our faculty sponsor. While playing for Fear, we spent the rest of the Spring of the "83 season recruiting students from UNCW to play some of Fear's B matches, with a promise of having our own UNCW side in the Fall of "83. A few of the ancient Cape Fear ruggers we played with at that time were Jack Evans, Mark "Rookie" Hollifield, Ray Funderburk, Jeff Smythe, Roger Shonosky, Albert Stevens, Bryant Henderson, Bob Bogen, Marcus Rich and John Albi. Some of the first UNCW players we recruited were Middy, Greg Greene, Tommy, Josh, Mike Farmer, Maurice Maguire... and others.

 

When the Fall Semester began, we put flyers all around campus and held our first practices on the athletic field at UNCW. Eduardo was the club's first President, and I was Captain. Ron Rocket, (that's his real name) a longtime Cape Fear 2nd Row stalwart agreed to be our coach. Two brothers from Panama, Mike and Mark Sietz, along with several others saw the flyers and joined us that first semester. Everyone bought their own kit, and we just barely had enough players that first season, frequently having to borrow a player or two to make a full side for some away matches. There were a couple of weeks we couldn't find a team to play, so we would play Fear's B match. We continued to recruit players, as well as "social members." I think dues were $25. For that you got a t-shirt (Ed drew the design) and admission to all the post-match parties. Some of my favorite memories from that first year include playing exhibition matches at the ACC Rugby Tournament in Raleigh, the touring side from the University of Bristol, England, recruiting "social members" and the post-match parties at Tommy's house -just off campus. In the Spring of 1984, the UNCW Rugby Club went undefeated. And that's how it all began.