Graybeard of Rugby
"RUGBY does not die after Dart mouth," says Wally Lutkus. "What I think is great is that the alumni have carried the enthusiasm out to the unknown wilderness, even Alaska, and got rugby clubs started where there weren't any. There's a team in New York City that has two sides there are 15 guys to a side that is almost all Dartmouth people. Ninety-five per cent of them are members of the Old Green." Lutkus, an assistant Dartmouth swimming coach, is the non-salaried College adviser to the Dartmouth Rugby Club, a student-rur, organization. He is currently trying to put together an alumni board of governors for the club and hopes eventually to raise some money for the team. "Corey Ford in his will provided money for Rugby Club trips and money for a clubhouse but that's not started yet," he explains. "One of my goals is to fulfill Corey's wish and build a club-house."
Lutkus is not an inactive adviser. In fact, he couldn't be a more active one. The 36-year-old graduate of John Carroll University has been playing rugby for 15 years, the last 10 with the Dartmouth ruggers. "Why, I'm twice as old as the freshmen," concedes the former high school science teacher." I enjoy it, I really do. I played a lot of sports and a lot of things, but my ultimate goal is to play rugby until I'm 40.I enjoy the camaraderie. I know the kids a lot better because I'm playing with them. I guess misery loves company it's great getting together with the guys and talking about the sport with them."
The Dartmouth Rugby Club will mark its 30th anniversary next spring. Back in 1951, primarily because of the efforts of Jack Skewes, now business manager of the College, a rugby team was established to represent the Green at the annual tournament in Bermuda. The team worked out Tuesday and Thursday nights in the east cage of Alumni Gymnasium and learned the fundamentals of "Englishman's football" under the tutelage of Don Wheatley '54, who had learned the game at school in England. As The Dartmouth reported: "If brawn is any criterion for the prowess of a rugby squad, Dartmouth will be on topMaking up the scrum or line are gridiron forward-wall stalwarts Pete Bogardus, Ted Eberle, Bill Monahan, George Rambour, and Vin Marriott. Johnny Clayton, A1 Reich, and Jack Skewes complete the impossible array of formidable power, while Billy Leshure of soccer fame and Red Alley add speed and agility at the wing posts." From another contemporary clipping: "This is the Indians' first rugby team. Team members hope it isn't the last." After six weeks of training, the Dartmouth team went to Bermuda and won two out of three matches, including a 10-9 upset victory over Harvard.
Lutkus points out that at one time the Rugby Club had varsity status, with letters being awarded to its members. Letters are no longer given, and the only things the club gets from the College are $400 for equipment and use of Sachem Field for practice and matches. There are 60 to 75 players on the club this spring. There is also a women's team. The A team, which won the Ivy League championship two years ago, finished third in the Ivy tournament last month.
The club plays 15 to 16 games during the year, with matches scheduled in both the spring and fall. The game is made up of two 40-minute periods with five minutes of rest in between. "It's great conditioning," says Lutkus, who plays the "prop" position on the B-level teams. "It's a little like soccer, and the scrum is a little like football." Some rugby traditions continue today. Players are expected to run to Sachem Field and there is always a keg of beer after a match as there is following Thursdaynight club meetings. Rugby talk and rugby songs are also part of the weekly sessions. "After a match the losing team always claps off the winning team and vice versa," says Lutkus, whose wife Sue, a former national A.A.U. swimming champion, is coach of the Dartmouth women's swim team. "After the game everything is nice."
Lutkus' work as adviser to the club is strictly volunteer. "I have two coaching loves, swimming and rugby," he says. "My association with rugby has all been positive. I guess I like to see it go right and provide the leadership. I've been able to grow old gracefully with rugby."
