This spring the fields behind Triton will be filled with teams practicing. This year, there will also be a new team playing that’s not a school sport.

This spring, the Essex County Bulldogs rugby club will be practicing and playing home games at Triton. The team will be playing at Triton, but it’s actually a club team not connected to the school.  The team is comprised of players from many different schools in the region, some of whom play against Triton in other sports. With a new sport at Triton people may be interested in playing or watching and some may be worried that a new sport will take up already limited field space.

According to the Sports and Fitness Industry Association, rugby is the fastest growing team sport in America. In the past ten years the number of high school students playing rugby has increased tenfold. The Bulldogs are one of 650 high school teams in the United States. The club was founded in 2010 and had 13 players. Like the sport as a whole, the Bulldogs program has grown astronomically to have more than 30 players in the 2017 season.

“I play rugby for the contact and the game. I always recommend that new people at least try it,” said Triton rugby player Cody Crocker. Crocker said that he is excited for the season and hopes to see even more players this year.

According to the president of the club, Dave Hill, the club made an agreement with Triton to use the fields for practice and home matches.

“Practices and home matches will be held at Triton. As a backup, we will look to Amesbury Sports Park or Pipestave Hill Athletic Fields as needed,” said Hill. The team found a new field because of scheduling conflicts in the past at the old fields and the need for a more reliable place to practice.

The Bulldogs club is similar to co-op sports already at Triton like swimming and skiing. The team has players from schools across the region, including: Amesbury, Newburyport, Pentucket, and Masconomet. The team plays schools in Massachusetts and across the north-east including games in Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Jersey. In the past, the team has toured Ireland and hosted teams from Ireland.

Athletes at Triton may be worried that another sport taking field space may mean that there are conflicts for what team has a field. This may not be a problem because of the numerous fields at Triton even if it is athletes shouldn’t worry as, in the past, the rugby team has not practiced five days a week like many Triton sports do. Even if there was a conflict of some kind it would be uncommon because of rugby’s sparser practice schedule.

Practicing at Triton will expose more people to the game and may cause some players to switch sports. Many rugby players on the team play football in the fall and Crocker says that it’s popular with football players because “it allows ‘big boys’ to score the points for once”. According to Crocker, rugby gives football players who would never touch the ball a chance to do so.

Rugby is growing incredibly quickly while other contact sports like football are on the decline. The future will show whether this trend continues or if participation begins to decline like participation in high school football has. If you are interested in playing rugby, the season starts in soon and you can register to play on the Bulldog’s website.