s never lost his love for the sport. This love led to him trying to get others involved in the sport.Last spring after a conversation with former SAU student Mike Kuhl, Chia decided he would try to start a rugby club at Spring Arbor University.Chia filled out an application to create the club, which was later accepted. He sat outside the dining commons for numerous days with some SAU students trying to create an interest in the club. More than 50 students showed interest, and this semester about 25 of those students have put in the effort to start the team.The team cleats up for practices on tuesday and thursday afternoons led by coaches Chia, Kuhl and Stephen Flavin.

To many American viewers, rugby looks extremely odd. The sport most closely resembles football, but it is very different.

Rugby is a sport played between two teams that try to score points by advancing a ball past the opposing team’s goal line or by kicking the ball through a pair of uprights on the opponent’s goal line. The rugby ball is an oval ball made of synthetic material. Players can run with the ball, kick it or pass it backward or sideways to a teammate. Opposing players try to tackle the player who has the ball or gain possession of the ball.

Sounds like fun, right? There is one catch. Rugby is a fast-paced, hard-hitting game, and the players don’t wear helmets or pads. Imagine watching a college football game and both teams run out on the field without helmets and pads. That’s rugby.

As a new program, the SAU rugby club has played match-ups against the University of Michigan’s “C” team and the Hillsdale College Team.

Chia is looking forward to the club’s development throughout the 2012-2013 school year. He said, “It would be nice to get 35 to 40 guys on the roster to be able to run a full scrimmage against each other at practice.”

Any students interested in joining the club can email Chia at lloyd.chia@arbor.edu.