Rugby Flick Review: "TRY"

I've been on quite a rugby cinematic kick lately, and just recently watched a very interesting movie called "TRY". It was pretty eye opening about USA rugby in general and the grueling process it takes to be on the national team.

EVEN THE TRAILER GIVES ME CHILLS:



I was pretty struck by some statistics the movie gave:

• The Rugby World cup is the THIRD most watched sport and the SECOND most popular sport in the WORLD
• yet USA rugby players make $0......NADA....NONE (**movie was made in 2008 so this fact may have changed, but USA rugby players STILL don't make much)

What's even more shocking is that THE USA IS THE ONLY NATION TO WIN A GOLD MEDAL FOR RUGBY WHEN IT WAS IN THE OLYMPICS IN THE 1920s (...and they won TWICE IN A ROW!!).

The Olympic gold medal USA rugby team from the 1920s is actually an AMAZING story, which is known (not well enough!) as one of the greatest underdog stories in sports history.....comparable to the Miracle USA Olympic hockey team in the 1980s.
The USA Olympic rugby team was considered SUCH an underdog and not good enough to be successful, THE FUNDING FOR THE TEAM WAS PULLED ALLTOGETHER BY THE U.S. OLYMPIC COMMITTEE. The USA Olympic rugby team literally had ZERO DOLLARS to work with. The team raised the money they needed completely on their own to be able to travel to the 1920 and 1924 Olympics, where they faced nations that many people bet would beat the U.S. on odds of 5:1 with a  20 point spread (DAYUM).
But not only did the U.S. end up pulling their weight through the Olympics, they CREAMED some of the highly ranked teams they played. They beat Romania 39-0!!! Even with all of these dominating wins, people still expected the U.S. to have their asses handed to them in the final matches against France (which at the time, and still today, was a TITAN of rugby). There was a lot of publicity bashing the U.S. team and reiterating how they had no chance to take home the gold medal. But I love this quote from the captain of the U.S. Olympic rugby team, Babe Slater:
"We are sure going to let them know they have been in a battle."
What a mindset: not necessarily thinking about winning, but focusing more on giving it everything you've got and making sure the other team knows that for sure.
And the rest is history from there: USA upset France BOTH times and completely stunned the WORLD.

....so what the heck happened?!?!?!!

The movie explains it well:
As USA started to prove it was a force to reckon with in the Olympic rugby realm, people started tuning into it more. But just as USA rugby started to rise in popularity, rugby was removed from the Olympics and its popularity in the USA plummeted. At the same time, during the 1920s people in the U.S. started craving something a little more....er..."patriotic" (that even sounds dumb to say, but it's true). Rugby was heavily known as a British sport back then, so people wanted something more "American" to grow in popularity.
....so of course you can guess what came next: American football (aka the pansy birth child of rugby).
It really took hold in popularity the idea that "American football" was completely patriotic/American born, so rugby completely faded into the background and out of view in the United States.... because its parents are British. Talk about a typical 'MURRICA move.

But rugby is RAPIDLY making a comeback in the USA. Between 2004 and 2011, rugby in the U.S. has grown 350%. DAYUM. Between 2006 and 2011, the number of high school rugby players grew 84% (where the heck was my high school during this time?!!?! I curse every day at the fact that I didn't get a chance to play rugby in high school because my school didn't offer it). In 2010, the number of registered players in the USA surpassed Wales and Scotland, both teams that always put up a major fight in rugby.
USA rugby's major roadblock though continues to be FUNDING. They need more EXPOSURE to gain popularity and have more of a foundation to work off of. It was pretty inspiring to watch the USA rugby players in the movie have almost fewer resources than a club rugby team, yet still put in an unreal amount of hours full of hard work and dedication. I really laughed/felt for the team when they were literally doing their ice baths in GARBAGE CANS!
This will be why someday USA rugby will be UNSTOPPABLE around the world, because there is literally nothing driving these players except for the love of the game. Even soccer players around the world still gain a lot of fortune and publicity from playing (not to say that this is why they play, soccer players are also known for being very dedicated). Not only do USA rugby players not gain any monetary benefits from playing, but they also have to SACRIFICE a lot at the same time. Many people could argue that the sacrifices outweigh the gains, but I'm sure every single one of those players would disagree (or else why would they be on the team?).


Out of everything I gained from watching the documentary, this kind of struck me the most: 2 out of the 3 players they follow in the movie DO NOT MAKE THE TEAM. I think that is a harsh but honest reality they convey. I'm sure that statistic of 2 out of every 3 players getting cut is actually probably way bigger, but it is very very very very very hard to make the team. All 3 of the players were equally dedicated and put in the same amount of time, hard work, and sacrifice but only one came out with a spot on the team. What's great about this is that the 2 players who don't make the team are obviously disappointed, but they are not mad or bitter in any way. In fact, they specifically state that although they are sad they didn't make the team they are so proud of the people who did make the team and are happy for them. They also convey that they are not giving up. Even if USA rugby is out of the realm of possibility for them, their rugby careers still aren't over.


AHHHGH I CAN'T HANDLE IT. IT'S BEAUTIFUL.