According to the Duke of Wellington, the battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton, the famous English boys' school. The duke might not have been talking specifically about rugby, but he knew the value of hard, physical games in building courage, teamwork and character. Fortunately for the British cause, those Eton boys did not have anxious mothers.
Supporters of high school rugby in Pittsburgh may not be so lucky. One mother, Laurie Golacinski of Shaler, has started a campaign to ban high school rugby in the area after her 17-year-old son, Eric, broke his neck during a game in May. She believes the sport as played locally is little more than a melee. Additionally, no trainer with specific training and responsibility for treating injuries was on the sidelines, and no coach recognized the seriousness of the boy's injury. She drove him to the hospital herself.
Mrs. Golacinski's campaign suggests maternal overreaction but, in fairness, she comes by her convictions honestly -- her son was seriously injured. He easily could have been killed or been paralyzed (fortunately, he is now on the mend). Moreover, the boy's coach at Shaler Area High School agreed with some of her complaints. He has become disillusioned with high school rugby locally, citing fights and other incidents contrary to the game's spirit.
Rugby is not for the faint-hearted, but fighting and bad sportsmanship have no accepted place in its rough art. As with hockey, guarding against excesses is easier said than enforced, but it depends in both instances on referees and coaches exercising their authority. Officials of the Pittsburgh Harlequins Rugby Football Association -- serious, dedicated enthusiasts who have pioneered the sport in high schools -- should review whether the game is being played properly.
As it happens, young Eric was injured while tackling another boy, not apparently as a result of dirty play. Such injuries also occur in football, as they do in any physical activity -- even cheerleading. Whether rugby is any more dangerous than other sports is hard to pin down, but the existing studies confirm what experienced rugby players will tell you -- that such an injury as Eric's is rare. Broken wrists and collar bones are typically the most serious injuries.
The National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research, which is located at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, keeps track of most high school sports (though not rugby). Not surprisingly, football has the highest total of serious injuries, but then some 1.5 million high school students play it.
Football has become safer in recent years -- as the wisdom of what causes severe injuries has been absorbed by coaches and players -- but there were still 24 catastrophic injuries (including three fatalities) in the 2000 season. Nobody, however, is calling for a ban on football.
Rugby, football's first cousin, is an easy scapegoat because many Americans aren't familiar with the sport. To many, it seems like a crazy person's game, played without serious pads or helmets. It doesn't help that it has a somewhat raffish, swashbuckling image cultivated by players who take pride that they are part of an athletic minority.
But the padding in football adds bulk and the helmets add force and both serve a destructive as well as a protective purpose. The rugby player is not as vulnerable to injury as he (or she) seems. Still, rugby officials in Pittsburgh ought to take the hint and have a medical trainer at every high school game -- even if serious injuries are rare. The added cost will buy more acceptance.
Those who would ban rugby need to understand that it is not some wild enterprise -- it is a game that has worldwide respect. It is followed avidly by players (and their parents) in Britain, Ireland, France, Australia, New Zealand, Italy and Argentina (to name some). Certainly, reasonable improvements can be made, but banning it goes too far.
E-mail this story 
