Portal:1965 Men/Intro

As I recall, the guys from Cranwell were coming the visit and they wanted to play rugby, so one of the AOCs or Athletic Department staff knew enough about it to pull a team together. We got in a few practices, but hardly had our act together during the match. Their finesse trumped our strength and random athleticism without much trouble. Jack Thompson '65

(From Jeff Hurt)

Harry: I am not a big donor, but I am a lover of Rugby. My story goes back to my first year. (Class of ’67). I was the coach of the Wing Champion Rugby team from 23rd Squadron. I was able to stack the deck with all of the class of ’67 23rd football players. Bob Barnes, Clay Magee, Gary Cormany come to mind. Our AOC was the Jolly Marine - Jim McGinn. I am sure you remember him. He gave the team a beer party at his house with a keg of beer and his wife cooked the food.

As the coach of the champion team, I was asked to put together an all-star team to play the cadets from Cranwell, UK who were visiting us. They waxed us. That made me start thinking that we at least needed a Club team so USAFA could get better. I helped put together a meeting with some of the Athletic Department officers and several cadets. That is when it finally dawned on me that I was on my way out of the Zoo. There was no way that I had enough time left to do anything about a club Rugby team.

But I do remember a few enthusiastic ’68 guys who were very enthusiastic. From what little I know of the history after that, - they were the spearheads and made it happen.

So that is my story.

jWh

PS. Bob Barnes went on the Medical School at Duke, and I went on to law school at Duke. Our first year we roomed together and we played on the Duke Club team. He was good, I knew the rules.