Penn Hills rugby team exposing more players to sport in program’s 2nd season

By: Josh Rizzo
Sunday, April 3, 2022 | 11:01 AM

Matt Rosemeyer is excited to see what the Penn Hills Big Red rugby program will be able to able to accomplish in year two.

With the Big Red’s roster composition, Rosemeyer will likely see a big difference between games one and two of their schedule. Many of his players from last season graduated and Rosemeyer is left with a roster of 20 players, 19 of whom have never played the sport before.

Penn Hills, which will open the season with a scrimmage, plans to start the season playing Rugby Sevens. The Big Red is hoping to be able to utilize a full roster and play the 15-a-side game they were hoping to.

Easing into the competition is a good idea for Penn Hills, which spent most of the winter practicing indoors at the Fralic Center.

Learning the game while playing inside meant the Big Red had to practice non-contact, which meant Penn Hills mostly focused on the fundamentals.

“They were working on ball-handing, awareness, learning how to see the field and gaps,” Rosemeyer said. “It’s funny to watch that develop for guys that don’t know to play the game and barely know how to spell the sport. It’s fun to watch them make decisions and rugby moves.”

While the Big Red have gained a lot of knowledge, once matches start, Penn Hills will need to ramp up the physical part of the game.

“We will need to shed some of the habits that got pronounced from playing indoors and non-contact for so long,” Rosemeyer said. “OK, now we’re going to play the real game. Let’s get rid of the, ‘Oh, you are down because I tagged you.’ That’s not going to help you in a match. No one is going to stop because you tagged them.”

Rosemeyer was fortunate the one remaining player he has on the roster was his most active recruiter. His son, Charlie Joe, worked diligently to try and find more players to come out and join the team.

While Penn Hills didn’t get enough to play 15s, the Indians may be equipped to do so by the end of the season thanks to Charlie Joe’s work.

“If he wasn’t involved, I don’t think it would have gotten off the ground,” Matt Rosemeyer said. “I think he bothered everyone in the school ad infinitum to come out for the team. We have an eclectic bunch of guys.”

Penn Hills will take on some of the other Pittsburgh-area teams when they have a bye week or there is a hole in the schedule. PA Rugby has a Division II high school division that features a few local schools. Central Catholic, Indiana, Moon and West Allegheny are all in the Allegheny Conference.

While the Big Red are thin on experience, Rosemeyer enjoys exposing more people to rugby.

“It’s a great time,” Rosemeyer said. “The great part about rugby is it’s another opportunity to succeed. Guys thrive in different environments and this gives them one more opportunity to be out there and find out what they are passionate about.”

Tags: Penn Hills