Ambassadors Without Portfolio

STUDENT DIRECTOR, FRIENDS OF DARTMOUTH RUGBY

IN 1875," writes Ralph Nading Hill '39, editor of the recently published history of Dartmouth, "a challenge from the students of Tufts College for a game of Rugby football was declined because there was no Dartmouth team and the undergraduates knew little about the game." Today Tufts would find four 15-man rugby teams at Dartmouth, and over one hundred students who know the game well enough to play it.

Rugby, the English version of football, has been played at Dartmouth since 1953. In 1960 the team became an independent club by withdrawing from the DCAC and becoming a member of the Eastern Rugby Union. The Dartmouth Rugby Club is run completely by the members. Each spring we elect new officers — a Captain to coach the team, a President to schedule games and arrange the spring tour, a Secretary, a Treasurer, a Manager, and even a Social Chairman and Song-Leader to make sure the old English traditions are maintained in America. Dan Corbett '65, an English major from Columbus, Ohio, is our present Captain, and John Raney '65, a first-ear Tuck student from Keokuk, lowa, is President.

Rugby at Dartmouth is a strictly informal affair. There are no rigid practice schedules, no strict training rules, no squad cuts. Any student at Dartmouth, freshmen through graduate students, is eligible to play at the varsity level. Having student rather than professional coaching gives the players a greater sense of responsibility both to themselves and to the team. Although winning is not our primary concern, our record is one of the best at the College. Last year our teams compiled an over-all record of 20 wins and 6 losses.

We play rugby for enjoyment: the personal satisfaction and team pride for a game well played, and the lasting friendships that are made with players from other clubs. In keeping with rugby tradition the game is played according to Gentlemen's Rules with a minimum of interference from the one referee. It is not at all uncommon for the opposing team to applaud a well-executed play. At the end of the game, the home side forms a double line and applauds the visitors off the field, and the visitors return the compliment. Instead of retiring to locker rooms at opposite ends of the field, it is the rugby custom for the two sides to meet after the game for refreshment, songs, and good talk. This close, personal feeling is one of the most rewarding aspects of rugby.

The Dartmouth Rugby Club has two regular seasons, one in the fall and one in the spring. We field three teams in the fall and four or more in the spring. Virtually everyone who comes out for rugby has the opportunity to play in a game; and because there are no substitutions in rugby, he plays a complete game. In the spring, many of the top football players at Dartmouth abandon their helmets and shoulder pads for the simpler barrelstriped rugby jersey. This year, Big Green guard Ted Bracken joins the impressive list of Dartmouth All-Ivies who have played rugby: Al Krutsch, Jake Crouthamel, Steve Lasch, Gary Spiess, Don McKinnon, Bill Blumenschein, and Chuck Greer.

In addition to being one of the top teams in the Eastern Rugby Union, the Dartmouth Rugby Club is probably the best traveled rugby team in the U.S. Since 1958 we have made tours of Cali- fornia, Bermuda, Nassau, England, Ireland, Scotland, and Germany. The biggest extravaganza of all was last spring's tour of Germany and Scotland. Under the auspices of Eisenhower's People-to-People Program, and with the generous support of Dartmouth Alumni, the Undergraduate Council, and the merchants of Hanover, we set up a "sister city" exchange between Hannover, Germany and Hanover, N. H. It was an historic trip as we became the first American rugby team to play in Germany. But, the club is used to such trail-blazing; Dartmouth in 1958 was the first Ameri- can side to play in England, and in 1962 it was the first to travel to Ireland. From Germany last year we flew to Scotland for seven games with the top universities there, another first.

Although we usually take a beating at the hands of the more experienced European sides, we learn much more about the game than we could playing in the United States. But, more important, we carry the name, songs, and story of Dartmouth to people who have never heard of us before.

Our reception by the Europeans on these trips has been nothing short of tremendous. When we arrived in Hannover, Germany, we were met by the Lord Mayor of Hannover who presented us with trophies. We reciprocated by delivering historic documents from Hanover, USA, and personal greetings from President Dickey. The high point of the trip was the game in Hannover with the Ricklingen '08 Rugby Club, the German na- tional champions in 1960. Although we lost the game 11-3, I think we won a different sort of victory: in an unforgettable gesture, our hosts flew the American flag above the German flag throughout the contest.

The language difference was no barrier, for rugby speaks an international language. We felt that we made many life-long friends for Dartmouth and the USA in that country. We are sure that the name of our college will be part of their talk about rugby in the future. Like-wise, those whom we played in Scotland and Ireland were "happy and amazed to hear of Dartmouth College and of what it is." The final tribute came from an elderly Scottish spectator. When informed that rugby was also played at Yale and Harvard, he asked, "Harvard? Oh yes, isn't that somewhere near Dartmouth?"

The spring of '64 was memorable for the "B" Team who traveled to Nassau while their "big brothers" were touring Europe. Dartmouth was the first club in the Eastern Rugby Union to send a second side on a spring tour. This spring we will take both the "A" and "B" teams to Nassau for a week of rugby.

We are justly proud of our role as "ambassadors without portfolio" for Dartmouth and the U.S. The Right Honourable Lord MacDermott, Senior Pro-Chancellor of Queen's University in Ireland, wrote in a letter to President Dickey: "I can truthfully say that these [the Dartmouth Rugby Club] have been the best Ambassadors that Dartmouth and the U.S.A. could have sent. It is young men such as these who make and cement international friendship."

Although we are not taking another "big" spring tour this year, we now have contacts in New Zealand, South Africa, Hong Kong, and Thailand, and hope to travel across the seas again in the near future. Of course, trips such as these are quite expensive, and here the club is indebted to one of the most important aspects of its organization, the "Friends of Dartmouth Rugby." This is a group of over 300 loyal alumni headed by a Board of Governors which includes Mrs. Thomas Curtis ('32), Sigurd Larmon '14, Judge Amos Blandin '18, Orton Hicks '21, Ford Whelden '25, Charles Moore Jr. '25, Harry Gilmore '34, Vincent Jones '52, Henry Greer '6O, Robert Edge, and Col. Edward Eagan. Author Corey Ford, chairman of the Board of Governors and sometime "Coach" of the club, is our guiding light in Hanover. I must put "Coach" in quotes since, by his own admission, Corey does not coach: "In the locker room before a match I sit in owlish silence, sucking on my pipe and occasionally nodding my head up and down sagely, but under no circumstances asking any questions." The club could not operate without Corey's help.

We correspond with the "Friends" by means of a bi-annual newsletter, and with their financial help we are able to make our spring tours. As we are not a DCAC sport we do not receive financial support from the College; pur normal running expenses are paid by the players themselves. Anyone interested in becoming a member of the "Friends" can do so by writing to: Friends of Dartmouth Rugby, Box 966, Hanover. Contributions to the rugby club count as part of Dartmouth's Total Class Giving program and are tax deductible.

This is the picture of rugby at Dartmouth. It is more than just another athletic team; it is an athletic fraternity in the full sense of the term. As guest of honor at our post-season banquet last fall, President Dickey paid the club a memorable compliment. He thanked us for what we have done for Dartmouth and for our contribution to international good-will, and assured us: "As long as I am President, the club will remain as it is today, a team run by and for the players."

We believe it is very important to preserve this feeling, and to fulfill President Dickey's specification of Dartmouth's goal: "Independence, self-discipline, and responsibility." The attitude towards rugby at Dartmouth was well stated by Corey Ford in the Saturday EveningPost: "Rugby is football for fun. It is strictly a game of the players, by the players, and for the players. Here is the new idea — or maybe it is the old idea which has come around full cycle — of sport for its own sake. In these days of high-pressure schedules and rigid regimentation, rugby still holds to the basic conception of amateurism - independence, individual initiative, good fellowship. Its cleated imprints on our college playing fields may mark the most progressive step that amateur sport has taken in many years."

The Dartmouth rugby squad, on the eve of departing for Nassau, poses officially in Leverone Field House.

Dartmouth's rugby team playing the Ricklingen '08 side in Germany last spring.

Last year's "B" team in Nassau, where all the Green ruggers went this spring.

At post-game party in Hannover, Germany, Capt. Dan Corbett '65 (r) and ahome club player typify the friendly sideof the international game of rugby.

Spring Rugby Schedule April 10 Boston Rugby Club 17 Williams (away) 24 Holy Cross May 2 Yale at Hartford, Conn. 8 Amherst 15 Harvard at Manchester, N. H. 22 Princeton