By John Rittenhouse
Considering some of his recent decisions, John Cox leaves the impression he enjoys experiencing different things in life.
Take his selection of a college, for instance.
Instead of staying close to home while attending one of the many higher-learning institutions in the surrounding area, the 1999 Luverne High School graduate opted to travel to the East Coast and continued his education at Boston College.
It was at Boston College where Cox, now a junior at the school that competes in the Big East Athletic Conference, made another interesting decision.
Instead of participating in familiar intramural sports like football and baseball as he did at the varsity level during his LHS days, the son of Luverne's Mike and Cheryl Cox is a second-year member of the Boston College Rugby Football Club.
Rugby is a popular sport on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, as it was first played in England. It is a sport without many ties to the Midwest, but it thrives at schools such as Boston College in the eastern part of the country.
Cox admitted that he had heard of the sport, but he had never seen it played until his freshman year at BC. After watching some of his best friends play the game and listening to their conversations about it, Cox thought it was a sport that might interest him.
"I gave it a try and really liked it," he said from his BC dorm room Sunday. "A bunch of friends were playing it during my freshman year in college, and thatÕs when I first saw it being played. I started playing the game as a sophomore last year, and this will be my second full year as a member of the team."
According to Cox, rugby is a game played on a field similar to a football field. Although sites vary, the average field is 110 yards long and 160 feet wide. It has goal posts on each end of the field, and the object of the game is to carry the ball into the try zone (10 yards long, at the end of each field) for a five-point try.
After a try, the team that scores gets a free kick in an attempt to put the ball through the goal posts for two more points. When a team is called for a penalty, the other has a chance to kick the ball through the uprights from the spot of the foul for three points.
Unlike football, there are no forward passes in rugby. A team, which consists of 15 players, advances the ball by running it or kicking it toward the opponent's try zone.
A game consists of two 40-minute halves that are played with continuous running time. What makes the game unique is that it is a full-contact sport (like football) that is played with few or no pads.
"It's a pretty intense sport," Cox said. "Some guys wear a foamed helmet called a 'scrum cap,' but that's it for padding."
Cox said BC began preparing for its spring season in late February. The spring season is a limited one, designed to develop new players for the more important fall season.
The team practices two hours daily in preparation for the spring schedule, which will consist of warm-up games against Holy Cross and Fairfield University.
The Cherry Blossom Tournament will be played April 6-8 in the shadows of the Washington Monument in Washington D.C., which will be followed by the annual Bean Pot Tournament involving teams from BC, Harvard, Boston University and Northeastern April 13.
Although Cox is one of the team's inexperienced players, he has earned the respect of his peers to the point of being named a co-captain for the spring and fall seasons.
"It's an honor in that it's a role that commands leadership skills and the respect of the other team members," he said.
A big part of the co-captain position is setting up practice sessions that are instrumental in toning the skills of the veteran players, and teaching the new team members the fine points of the game.
If all goes well, the spring season will serve as a good stepping stone for the all important fall season, which begins with Saturday afternoon games in early September and runs through late fall.
BC will play every team in its division (Harvard, Boston University, Northeastern, University of Massachusetts and the University of Connecticut), and two more schools from a different division that forms the region of which BC is a member. Each division champion advances to playoffs that lead to a berth in a national tournament.
Cox said rugby is not a varsity sport at BC, which has its advantages and disadvantages.
No player will get jumped on for missing a practice when it conflicts with a class, but the athletes must pay for some of their expenses to participate in the club sport.
"We have to buy things like our shoes and shorts. The school pretty much takes care of the rest of our expenses, including the travel and lodging for our tournaments," he said.
Although serving as a co-captain for the team and taking part in demanding practice sessions have their drawbacks, Cox said he has gained more than he's given to participate in the school's rugby program.
"I'm participating in a sport with pretty much all of my best friends, and we're having a pretty good time on and off the field," he said.