Following the best season the Mississippi State University Rugby Club has ever experienced, Head Coach Evan Kaplan is trying to match and surpass last season’s success for his current season.
The MADDAWGS finished the fall season 5-1 and finished 2nd in the Southeastern Collegiate Rugby Conference while finishing 1st in the West division. In the spring season, the MADDAWGS were invited to the USA National Tournament where they finished 13th in the nation.
“The club is dedicated to player recruitment, which has already paid off by having the largest rookie class in the team’s history,” Coach Kaplan said. The club is returning 17 players from last season’s squad with the addition of 18 rookies.
Kaplan feels very confident about the rookies making an impact from the beginning of the season. “A strength we have is that some of the more experienced players are beginning to take a more active role in the training and coaching of the newer/younger players, which will definitely aid in our future success,” he said.
Jessie Barrett, a junior kinesiology major from Lake, Mississippi, feels their team is a legitimate threat to make another great run this season. “Most people see us as a thrown together, fight amongst ourselves type of team, but I feel that we opened up a lot of eyes last season and proved we were much more than that,” Barrett said. “My goal for our season is not only to win the SEC West again, but to win the entire SEC championship and to make it to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for the national tournament.”
Another returning junior, Ashton Yates a sports business major from Olive Branch, Mississippi, is ecstatic about the upcoming season as he wants to take what he learned last season and use it to better himself for this season.
“I felt as last year I was more of a smash mouth football player, but I am trying to become more of an all-around better rugby player so I can help my team to the best of my ability,” Yates said.
The SCRC is very competitive, but Yates feels their biggest competitor this season will be The University of Alabama. “They are our biggest rival in the SEC West besides Ole Miss of course, but Alabama is the most competitive in the West.
Once we get into the entire SCRC, The University of South Carolina is extremely talented and competitive,” he said. “Last season we made it to the final four in the SEC, and this year I would love to win the SEC and get into the national playoffs.”
The MADDAWGS are hoping to be SEC West division champions again, practicing three times a week on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Their first game is Saturday, Aug 29, at the University of Memphis.
As the men’s rugby team has been having such great success, a few women have expressed interest in a women’s rugby team as well. All women who would possibly be interested are more than welcome to come participate as well.
