Each of the 12 Southeastern Conference member schools has a club team. Together they make up the Southeastern Collegiate Rugby Conference, which was formalized in December 2010. Alabama opens SCRC play on Feb. 4 when it hosts LSU. The SCRC playoffs are April 14-15, 2012.
“I think our team is known for its fitness,” said Solter. “Our conditioning usually takes advantage of other teams. We have really strong guys, really fit guys on our team, especially this season more so than any of the other seasons I’ve played with UA. That all goes back to our work ethic.”
Alabama’s team has been coached, for the past 20 years, by Malcolm Croft. His assistant, Mark Seitz, has coached Alabama for 13.
“Having their experience and general rugby knowledge-- you can tell that having a coach that’s been around a club 20 years versus five makes a tremendous difference. We are very fortunate to have them.”
The pair coached Alabama to the 2007 Deep South Championship and to a top 10 national ranking in the mid-1990’s. Club alumni include collegiate All-American Christian Cram and the Chicago Lions’ Matthew Priest.
The team, which currently has around 45 members, plays a fall and a spring season and 7 rugby in the summer. Alabama recently won its own Dixie Classic with a 45-0 win against North Alabama, a 41-7 semifinal win against Auburn and a 19-15 win against UAB for the championship.
“I like how rugby involves the entire team. There’s not one player who can take over a team. You need all 15 to win. That’s my favorite part of it,” said Patrick Sequeira, a junior wing from Houston and the team’s match secretary. “A fan would also like that it’s continuous. There are no stops or timeouts like football. If a ball goes out of bounds, they get to put it back in quickly. There’s always action.”
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