FORT SILL, Okla.--Fort Sill Gunners rugby players traveled to Oklahoma City Aug. 28 to play in the 2nd Annual Harlot Fest, a preseason tourney to prepare players and teams for the upcoming 2010-11 Texas Rugby Union 15s season.
The tourney served as a great refresher for the Gunners who return home Sept. 18 to renew their own pre-season tournament, the 26th installment and first since 1997. Jason Posey, Gunners team coach, said the tourney played every year from 1972 to 1997, often on Polo Field. The '97 tourney drew six men's teams and four college teams. This year, two teams, the Oklahoma City Crusaders and the Midwestern State University team from Wichita Falls are confirmed; Posey is seeking one more team to fill out the four-team tourney. Matches begin at 10 a.m. at Prichard Field with each team playing three 25-minute halves. The tourney should be over by 1:30 p.m.
Sill ruggers joined about 60 players from nearby towns for the four-team harlot tourney that drew about 150 rugby savvy fans. The name harlot has its own special meaning to ruggers who represent all ages and body shapes, from high school seniors to 50-year-old gray beards. Hoss Miller, president of the Oklahoma City Rugby Club, the Crusaders, said the Oklahoma City tourney was called a harlot fest because a rugby harlot is someone who will play with anyone.
Players from at least four teams competed in the tourney and consisted of experienced front row people, while backs and forwards were selected by blind draw.
"We had mix-and-match-teams out there, some with players who otherwise might be opponents playing on the same team," said the burly, 50-something man still in rugby gear and ready to enter the pitch. (Miller later played in a match using his 280-plus pounds to push a knot of players forward all by himself.)
Although blood flowed and bumps and bruises accumulated, rugby is generally a less brutal sport than American rules football. Miller said players do not wear pads and the head cannot be used as a weapon when tackling an opponent.
At age 34, Posey is now an elder on pitches dominated by athletes in their twenties. Still, he was a force to be reckoned with both for his endurance and his hitting technique. Posey leveled one opposing ball carrier planting him in the red dirt drawing groans of admiration from several players and spectators.
Playing the No. 8 position, Posey said he often distributes the ball to other players to get them involved in the game, but at times his will power drives him to score his own try. In his final match of the day, raw determination to break tackles and a couple good passes later, he broke the plane of the tryline and placed the ball near the uprights for an easier point-after-attempt.
"I hadn't scored in a while and needed to put one down," said the smiling and sweaty Gunners coach, seemingly unaware of a trickle of blood meandering down his face from an earlier collision.
He said the harlot tourney is great conditioning for the Gunners squad and a perfect test for a team that loses many players throughout the season to field training or deployments.
"We have a new team nearly every week so we have to be prepared to pick up a system that works regardless of who's on the field," he said. "A harlot tournament helps ruggers learn to play with anyone and get the job done."
Twenty-one year-old Anthony Calhoun is one new face on the Gunners team. The C Battery, 1st Battalion, 40th Field Artillery Soldier enjoys the chances to score tries as it reminds him of his days as a running back playing football.
"I'm pretty good at it so I'll keep playing as long as I can," said the lean, fleet-footed winger.
Calhoun has the kind of quick feet that can juke a defender off balance in his search for a seam down field. He also has the speed to outrun opponents and will use that extra gear most of the time to leave opponents trailing in his wake.
He said rugby is great conditioning for his duties with the Army where the physically demanding training works hand in hand with rugby's tough practices.
But, rugby is more than a game of endurance and physical prowess; many players speak of the fraternity and brotherhood that exists not just on teams but between teams. Calhoun said the Gunners squad is like a home away from home for him.
"Everybody knows each other and comes together to have fun and play the game," he said. "It's like a family, and I'm glad to be a part of it."
More information on the Gunners is available via Facebook. Type Fort Sill Gunners to access the team's webpage.
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