The Loyola Men’s Rugby Club team has been promoted to the Division II league. Starting next season, the men’s team will be competing against players in other Division II schools.
Loyola Men’s Rugby has been a top-15 team in the Division III league the last seven seasons running, and they are currently a top-12 Division III team in the country. They finished first overall in the country in 2020. The past fall and spring seasons, they have beaten five Division I teams, and this contributed to them becoming a top contender of moving up a division. This accomplishment of Division II came right in time, as the club is hitting its 50th anniversary next year, and they have just qualified for nationals with their victory over West Chester University.
Head Coach of the Men’s 15 Team and Program Director Vincent Rapposelli says the training schedule has been increased from four to five days of practice each week. He added that the team put in hours of work to earn this title. Rapposelli said film plays an important role in training, as well as the work the students put in outside of practice doing their own workouts matters, too.
Aside from their hard practice, the team offers players a deep sense of belonging. Rapposelli said it’s definitely tradition and brotherhood that makes the Loyola Men’s Rugby team so special.
“Anything that’s been around for that long, though all that time and all that history, all that change, shows that it does have the bedrock and a foundation worth investing in … We have a great group of guys, some really high level talent doing some really exciting things,” Rapposelli said.
Team Captain Kyle Fabiszewski ‘27 has been a part of the rugby team since his freshman year. He said this accomplishment of moving up to Division II shows a lot of dedication and commitment that the boys come and play with, and to be part of something like that feels good. Fabiszewski wishes students at Loyola knew the amount of time that the team puts in despite it being a club sport.
“It’s almost like a D1 sport, I would say. It’s not just something that you sign up and have fun with. You gotta really dedicate more than enough time for it,” Fabiszewski said.
One of the biggest challenges the team faces currently is awareness and support as a whole. Rapposelli said if people knew the players on the team, they would want to support them at the games. The coach wants Loyola to be known and recognized for its rugby team in addition to its other teams. He said it could be used as a recruiting tool.
“We want students both here and in high schools across America to be interested in what Loyola rugby is doing. We want to attract high caliber men and a high caliber program. We want students at Loyola to be proud and to say that they go to a rugby school,” Rapposelli said.
Right now the team’s focus is working on winning a national championship. Fabiszewski said the team wants to make the school happy.
Rapposelli said he’s proud of how far the Rugby team has come and wants to celebrate what the guys have done to make this achievement of moving up a division.
“As coaches, we can only do so much shuffling papers and signing documents, right? But, it’s the boys who show up each day and each week to really fight for that level of competition and prove that they’re ready to compete at that level that I’m really proud of,” Rapposelli said.
The team’s next tournament goes between April 24 to 26 and will be away at Maryland SoccerPlex. For more information on the Loyola Men’s Rugby team, visit their website.