2/15/2010
By GORDON D. FIEDLER JR. Salina Journal

The terms "scrum," "loose head prop," "tight head prop," "hooker" and "flanker" might cause even the most avid American sports fans to screw up their faces in bewilderment but only if they don't speak "rugby."

Keenan Thompson, 17, is fluent in the game, which is good, because he'll need a rich vocabulary, physically speaking, when he travels to Ireland next month on a 10-day rugby tour.

Thompson, a senior at Sacred Heart High School, will be playing for the Kansas City Blues rugby team against high school and club teams in Dublin and Galway.

The once-in-a-lifetime opportunity came his way when the coach of the Wichita Spartans, Thompson's regular team, received an appeal from the Blues, who needed players to fill out its 20-plus player roster.

"I won't know any of the kids except for a friend from Manhattan," Thompson said.

That won't be a problem for long if it is true that rugby is the tight-knit fraternity Thompson claims it is.

The sport's appeal tackled him as a young lad when he tagged along with his dad, Chris Thompson, to practices of the Crusaders, the Salina rugby team the elder Thompson helped organize.

"It's the physicalness," Keenan Thompson said. "You have to play it to realize. It's just awesome. Intense."

To the ignorant, rugby may resemble a recreational form of rioting. But to Thompson, there is complexity to the game which comprises two 40-minute halves for adults; 30 minutes for teens.

"There's a skillful side to it," he said. "The passing takes finesse, the kicking takes finesse."

His dad is equally enamored of the sport, of which he knew nothing when he saw a flier announcing the formation of a local team.

"I was at a point I needed some physical exercise in my life," the stout Chris Thompson said.

Keenan's mom, Denise, also can speak with experience: she's spent time on the rugby pitch with members of the Kansas State University women's team.

"It's such a hard game," she said, "so intense. Go, go, go for 40 minutes, nonstop."

The game Keenan will play in Ireland is the same as is played in the United States. The field, or pitch, measures 70 by 100 meters with goal posts at each end similar to those in American football.

Teams play 15 aside and must be adept at both offense and defense. The object is to move the ball down field by passing, running or kicking and score a "try" by touching the ball behind the defender's goal. A try is worth 5 points, an extra point is 1 and a kicked goal is 3.

Besides playing the matches, Thompson and his fellow ruggers are scheduled to attend rugby clinics and training sessions conducted by top international rugby coaches.

The $2,050 expense of the trip is in hand, and Thompson is thankful for all who donated above and beyond the amount he was able to raise.

Denise Thompson said when the fundraising stalled, she sent out a Facebook appeal, even contacting her high school foreign exchange student from Spain, who graciously chipped in a generous amount of Euros.

Keenan Thompson is not expecting to establish a formidable beachhead on Paddy's green shamrock shore.

"We'll probably get our butts kicked pretty good," he said. "But when we come back, maybe we'll be able to play like the Irish."

nGordon D. Fiedler Jr. can be reached at 822-1407 or by e-mail at gfiedler@salina.com.

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