By KEVIN JAKAHI
By KEVIN JAKAHI
Tribune-Herald sports writer
The theme of the day was fun and mud — a combination that increased the entertainment value — at the Hawaii Youth Rugby state championships on Saturday at Hilo Bayfront.
In the Under 19 boys championship, the Kona Bulls completed an undefeated season, beating the Waimea Bulls 10-0 behind a pair of first-half scores by Jordan Christobal and Zeppi Zapataoliva.
A score — getting the ball over the goal line, much like football — is called a try and worth five points. A conversion or kick over the crossbar is two points.
In the inaugural U-19 girls championship, the Hilo Reign defeated the Kona Bulls 10-5.
In the U-15 boys title match, the Kona Bulls topped the Hilo Reign 10-5.
The field resembled the perfect setting for a laundry detergent commercial. There are 15 players on a side, and once someone stepped on the field it was only a matter of time before mud became a part of the uniform.
“The field was beautiful until the rain came down,” said league president David Wendt, no relation to George Wendt, who played Norm on the TV series Cheers. “But that’s what rugby was like when it first started in England. It was wet and cold. In New Zealand, they play in the winter when it’s wet and muddy. It was perfect rugby weather today.”
Like most rugby proponents, Wendt, who’s from Oahu, appreciates the sport’s growth, especially in Hilo. And the state tournament attracted a sizable crowd, more than 200 people ringing the field for the last match of the day.
In 2004, Kona and Waimea were the only clubs on the Big Island with about 50 players. Now there are three clubs in Hilo — the Hilo Reign, Keaukaha Sharks and Puna Chiefs. There are 500 youth players in the state, including 400 on the Big Island.
“There’s a growing interest in the country and Hawaii is moving up. In the next five years, women’s rugby will be really big in the state,” Wendt said. “There’s football for boys, but no sport for girls.”
Wendt points out the league is not some passing fancy and is already a national hit. There are four players from Hawaii on the USA All-American High School team, a junior version of the national squad. Nuu Aiava, a Keaukaha Shark, and Tama Paogofie, a Kona Bull, are on the team.
“Rugby is going to be huge. The 2015 World Cup will be in England. The 2019 Cup will be in Japan,” Wendt said. “The U.S. is bidding for the 2023 Cup. I’m hoping some of the pool games will be played in Hawaii. There are four different pools spread over the country, like soccer.”
Rugby will also be at the Olympics in 2016 in Brazil, and the USA women’s national team doesn’t want to be some tomato can on the international stage. For the first time, women’s rugby players are being paid, trained and housed at the rugby Olympic Training Center in San Diego.
League referee president Etu Barvavilala’s daughter, Bui, is one of those members set to play on the USA women’s seven (instead of the standard 15) team in the Olympics. She’s a 2009 Radford graduate, who played basketball and volleyball. She picked up rugby in her junior year, against limited competition on Oahu.
“What I tell the kids is they can go straight from high school to the international level and be in the Olympics in 2016,” Baravailala said. “She’s still getting rugby college offers. The BYU coach is requesting for her.
“What we’re aiming for is to have it as a Title IX sport, so we can have it in high schools. The Under 19 USA national coach came to a tournament on Oahu and loved what he saw with our high school kids.”
That’s also Aiava’s goal. He’d like to be in the 2016 Games. He was hard at work in London last week and his USA team finished 11th out of 105 clubs.
“It was a great experience. It’s a big thing for them in London. They take it serious,” he said. “It was a good experience for me. We played some good games at the tournament.”
Aiava, who was a running back at Waiakea, is looking to play football at a junior college in New Mexico. But he still has the Olympics on his mind. In June, the USA squad is heading to South America, where Argentina and Dubai await with more international competition.
“That’s incredible from our little state we’ve got four kids on the USA All-American High School team,” Wendt said. “And that’s from all over the country and we’ve got no rugby fields. We’ve put Hawaii on the map.”