Southeastern to host rugby match, anniversary party
Monday, November 6, 2017
by: Tonya Lowentritt
HAMMOND – In honor of the 50th anniversary of Southeastern Louisiana University’s
Rugby Club, the university will host a rugby match on Nov. 18.
Scheduled at 1 p.m. on the Southeastern football practice field adjacent to Strawberry
Stadium, the match is free and open to the public. Interested players, including those
with no previous rugby experience, are invited to play while the community is invited
to cheer on the teams.
“Over the course of its existence, the storied SLU rugby squad won numerous state
and regional championships, propelled scores of players to relative stardom, and became
a mainstay of club sports on the Hammond campus,” said Leon Ford Endowed Chair, Professor
of History and Director of the Center for Southeast Louisiana Studies Samuel C. Hyde,
Jr. “The success of the SLU team gave rise to the internationally renowned Hammond
Mardi Gras Tournament which, for a time, was the largest rugby tournament in the world.
At its peak, the Mardi Gras Tournament hosted more than 200 teams from as far away
as Australia and Japan.”
Hyde said that earlier this year a new effort to revive the Southeastern rugby
team was launched by SLU rugby alumni Marcus Aguilar and Sonny Fontenot. The Nov.
18 match is designed to encourage rugby alumni to support the team and attract current
Southeastern students to what alumni consider the most exciting team competition sport
in the world.
A family friendly reception, complete with refreshments, treats for kids, door
prizes and announcements about the status of rugby at Southeastern, will immediately
follow the 1 p.m. match alongside the playing field.
For more information, contact event organizer Jason Mapp at mapprugby@hotmail.com or Hyde at shyde@southeastern.edu or at 985-549-2151.