By Christine Walsh
Contributing Writer
This Saturday at 1 p.m. is opening day for the 2016 rugby season. The preseason started off strong with a win, but shortly after, the players realized they really needed to test their limits. The team has welcomed many newcomers, especially a good amount from the freshman class.
Senior Luis Carpio will gear up this weekend for his final college season, but is hopeful that it is not the end of his career in the sport.
“I started playing rugby my sophomore year of high school after 10 years of playing baseball,” said Carpio, “My football coach introduced me to rugby, and I was hooked.”
According to Carpio, rugby has not only been something he has benefited from on the field, but it has made a huge impact in his lifestyle. Carpio attended Xavier High School, a rugby powerhouse in New York City.
Because of this, Carpio knew he wasn’t quite ready to give up the sport after high school. He knew he had more to accomplish over the next few years. Unlike baseball, rugby is something a little more intense, and an opportunity he feels he can use to reach for the higher bar, he said.
“My career has been a great one so far. From travelling to different countries for international training and matches, to domestic traveling in the United States, rugby has changed my life and I want to make this my profession,” said Carpio. “My eyes are set on playing professionally after college.”
Knowing he would like to continue the sport professionally after college, Carpio said he knows there is still something he has to finish here at St. Bonaventure: the commitment to his team.
Going into a season with a very young team isn’t the easiest thing to do. For some of the freshmen, it is only their first year playing rugby. Only being a few weeks into the season, players are still learning the basics but have been quickly able to grasp them, he said.
“We have always been a hard-working team. From coaches, to players and alumni, [everyone] has always put 100 percent into the commitment, and that’s why we are where we are today,” said Carpio.
After being asked what it’s like to now have the role and higher power serving as a captain, Carpio said, “Being captain doesn’t mean much to me, it’s just a name. Everyone on this team is a captain and leader.”
The team has grown with many young athletes joining and is not only focusing on its physical strengths, but the mental side as well, to lead to a successful season.
“This week has been all about making a mental switch [turn] on. Having such a young team that might have been an impossible task to accomplish, but our young guys are a very committed group of guys,” said Carpio.
Freshman Warren Mayanga, can agree with that.
“Over time, the team will get stronger. With a majority of the team being underclassmen, I think we can be really good,” Mayanga said. “The older guys like Carpio are awesome, they’re very friendly and helpful with the game.”
Mayanga has learned that the field is full of a lot stronger and faster guys compared to high school. He knows they’re going to have to put up a fight on Saturday.
Mayanga started to play the sport his senior year of high school.
“I just did it as something to do my final year of high school, and to leave with something to remember,” Mayanga said. “When I found out I got the chance to play in college, I took it, because it’s something I love to do.”
Carpio said that having such a young team is actually a good thing. It gets the guys to go out there and not only push the pace for themselves, but for also for each other, he added.
“From freshmen to our grad student, Pat Hogan, whom I have the honor spending one more year playing alongside, we hold a high bar for the squad,” said Carpio. “ The best part about it is that the freshmen keep pushing that bar and intensity in every lift and practice each day.”
The Bonnies will play the State University of New York at Buffalo Saturday, 1 p.m. at the Marra Athletic Complex.
