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St Joe's Prep in Ireland

By St Joe's Prep, 04/14/14, 3:30PM EDT

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The Prep Rugby team goes on an international tour every two years.  The goal of this tour is to play at a high level of competition in preparation for a run at the Rugby PA State Championship but, moreover, to learn the game and culture of rugby from other coaches and other teams.  Two years ago, our destination was Argentina … this year we took 49 students, 31 parents and coaches to Ireland.  

Our first stop was Dublin where we were given a coaching session by a former USA National Coach and current Director of Rugby at Trinity College in Dublin.  Though being pelted with freezing rain and hail, the team practiced on because there was extreme value to the lessons to be learned.  The following day, we played at a 200 year old Jesuit school named Clongowes College which had 11 grass rugby fields and one turf rugby field.  Students at Clongowes are required to play rugby in their first year.  So where our most experienced player may have played 30 games in their lifetime, our opponents have been playing 25 games a year for 10+ years.  We played 3 games at the same time (15 players per game) so all players played full games and learned against great competition – Clongowes won their league championship as they often do.  After the matches, as is tradition, they treated us to a good meal before sending us on our way.

While in Dublin, we made the usual tourist visits including the Aviva Stadium, site of the oldest rugby pitch in the world, a Celtic Music/Dance show where some of the Prep’s finest showed off their Irish Dancing skills … kind of a Riverdance meets Mummers dance.

On to Galway on the west coast where we stopped at the Cliffs of Moher and tried our hand at traditional Irish Hurling and Gaelic Football (hint: not as easy as it looks … and it looks hard.)  We had another excellent session with two Premier League Coaches from Connacht which prepared us for our next game against a team who just came off a loss in their semi-final game for their league.  Our opponent was Athenrye.  Since we had to play during the day, their team was happy to play as it meant getting out of a full day of school with us.  Again, we played three games with dwindling numbers (due to injuries) and honed our skills even more.

We ended our tour in Belfast where we started with another training session from high level coaches in preparation for our final game against Ballyclare Rugby Club.  After two solid games against their top high school side (with some 19 year olds thrown in,) we were ready to sit down with them for a large bowl of Irish Stew in their club house. While in Belfast, we visited the “Titanic Experience” – not a museum but an “experience” to learn about the building (and sinking) of the Titanic.  Probably the greatest fun on our trip was had when we went “Zorbing” – Google “Zorbing” but, basically, you strap yourself into a plastic ball and they roll you down a hill. 

In the end, our first team won two out of three games and we were able to gain a great deal of rugby knowledge but, most importantly, 49 students (and 31 parents and coaches) gained a life experience that they will never forget.