Rugby club
Andrew Jacobs
(apjacobs@uiuc.edu)
(ready to use)
Coauthors
EXPLORE
About the ethnographer
My name is Andrew Jacobs, I'm a freshman here at the University. This is for my Rhetoric 105 university subculture research project. |
Unit Keywords
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kw:rugby, kw:ethnography, kw:subculture, kw:illinois, kw:university, kw:club, kw:organization |
Partner Projects
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Rationale of the Unit
What subculture have you chosen to research and why? What do you know about this group and what do you want to know? List your intial research questions.
I've chosen the Rugby Club here at the university because I've always been interested in learning more about the sport. Rugby's fast pace play without pads as well as its relation to football has always interested me. I also chose this because I have an inside source that could provide me with useful knowledge about the club as a subculture (my roommmate is in the club).
Although I don't know much about the rules of the game except that each team's object is to run the ball and lateral it in an effort to score a touchdown, I do know a bit about how the club functions. Anyone can join, even people without any experience in rugby or football. All of the members are split into three teams, the "A" team, "B" team, and "C" team, depending on individual skill level. The teams practice almost everyday and have games on weekends (usually Saturdays), and everyone gets to play. All the members of the club go out together on Thursday nights to "have fun."
Although I obviously want to learn about the game itself (the rules and how it's played), I really want to know more about how the club fuctions as a subculture, meaning their similar personalities and their behavior. This includes how they act, how they treat each other, and how they treat others on and off the field. Also, off the field, I'd like to know more about their hanging out together, helping each other, and partying together, because from what I gather, there really does seem to be an actual culture underneath the rugby-playing part of the club.
My initial research questions, then:
What are the rules of the game?
How is it played?
How to the players treat each other and help each other on the field?
What do they do off the field together?
How do they behave? Personalities? Similar interests (other than Rugby)?
How does the Rugby club function as a subculture? |
Project diary
INTRODUCTION - 11/11/03
Ah yes, the world of rugby...gnashing teeth, unforgiving tackles, colliding skulls, continuous running, and grueling scrums describe the non-stop, no-holds-barred, kill-everyone sport. Only the most athletic and courageous of warriors dare step out on that field, but do these images paint an appropriate and representative picture of Rugby players off the field as well? Not necessarily. The players of the Illinois Mens Rugby Club here at the University of Illinois may be among the most ferociously talented athletes around when they're in a game situation, but off the field, the teammates share similar personalities in that they are a bunch of nice, respectful guys who like to hang out together and enjoy each other's company. Collectively, they embrace the game of rugby and interact with one another based on this common bond, whether that be helping each other out and supporting each other on the field, or playfully ridiculing each other and having fun off the field. Just like any ethnic or religious group at the University of Illinois, the rugby team is a subculture all of its own, a functionally unified group with distinctive patterns of behavior and beliefs. |
Research Plan
Discuss your initial research method. How will you begin to seek out answers to your research questions? Where will you begin taking field notes? Who are you considering as a possible informant?
My initial research will involve taking field notes and performing an interview (with a member of the club). In these ways, I will answer as many of my initial research questions as possible before moving on to more in-depth research that will involve traditional sources (books, newspapers, etc.) on the Rugby club as well as relative alternative sources (brochures, fliers, etc.).
I will probably begin taking notes at the field of play. I'll go to a game or a practice, watch how the game unfolds, watch how the players behave and react, and observe the grounds where they play. I also might take field notes off the field with the club, maybe go out with them one Thursday to see how things go off the field and what they do other than play Rugby together.
My informant for the interview will most definitely be my roommate Jeff, who is a member of the club. He goes to all the practices, plays in the games, goes out with the other club members when not playing rugby, and he knows nearly all the rules of the game and how it's played. He has plenty of useful knowledge that I can use for my paper. |
Project diary
Readings, Keywords, and Constructs
Discuss what sources, other than your own field notes, that you consult for your project.
Readings and resources to this point have been web sites, although I plan on using books, newspaper articles, interviews, brochures, and flyers. I've searched through library listings for books about the rules of rugby, but I found a better source for this on the internet. Instead, in order to utilize the library's resources, I have been searching for a book that discusses rugby's "team" aspect (how the team interacts, functions as a whole, etc.).
The web site mentioned above (with information about the rules of rugby) was linked from the Illinois Men's Rugby Club website, which is http://www2.uiuc.edu/ro/mrugby/. This is another great resource. Aside from links to other Rugby web sites, this site has news about the team, quotes from team members, roster listings, schedules, how to join, and other information. Besides books and these web sites, other traditional sources might include newspaper articles. I've been keeping an eye out for rugby articles in local newspapers, but I have yet to find any, although I do remember reading an article in the Daily Illini about the club. I plan to find that article in the library.
As for alternate sources, my roommmate who is on the team will try to dig up some brochures or flyers for the club, although he says these are hard to find because recruiting and spreading the word about Rugby is not necessary this late in the season. I also plan to use my roommate in an interview. This interview will probably be my best source for inside information on how the club functions as a subculture (he can tell me rituals, behaviors, attitudes, similarities between players, how the treat each other, etc.). |
Project diary
11/04/03 - In-class evaluation of sources
I've chosen to evaluate the Men's Rugby Club web site, which is listed as a registered organization on the UIUC web site at http://www2.uiuc.edu/ro/mrugby/. The author of the web site is AJ Valluzzi. He is very knowledgeable and credible with the information about the club on the web site because he has strong ties to the club as he is one of ten 2003 official officers of the club. Although the web site does not have any commercial sponsors, it is registered as an organizational web site on the University of Illinois web site, so in this sense, the University of Illinois sponsors/supports the web site and the club. The domain name contains a .edu ending, which implies that the web site is part of an educational group host (which is obviously the University of Illinois). The site was created to inform readers about various aspects of the Rugby club, such as information about the club, how to join the club, when games and practices are, and announcements, and the site's intended audience is both already-enlisted players and also potential players interested in joining the club, as well as any person interested in the sport of Rugby. The web site was last updated in late September (a little over a month ago), and eight out of ten links provided on the web site to other web pages worked as expected.
This source is definitely credible, especially considering that it is the official web site of the club itself. |
Field Notes
Use this space to discuss what interesting, significant, revealing, and/or strange information you've recorded in your field notes. What are you learning about your chosen subculture? You might also begin to synthesize the information you are getting from your observations and the other sources you consult.
My field notes thus far have had quite a bit of significant information. I'm learning a lot about Rugby and the club itself simply through observation. At practices, I observed a lot of kindness and helpfulness from the older players to the younger rookies. They helped them out, gave them tips, told them what they were doing wrong and how to fix it, and also what they were doing right. Of course kindness and support weren't the only characteristics of the Rugby players...they are a bunch of college guys, so obviously there's always gonna be that playful ridiculing and yelling and making fun, but none too serious. No one ever actually gets upset or angry with each other...no fights or anything like that. It's all in good fun. Practices are very competitive, but they also joke around and have a good time.
Games are a bit different. Although there is some joking around going on here and there, it's only to a certain extent. They take games more seriously than practices because they're obviously more important. There's not as much messing around. They get out there and play hard and expect their teammates to play hard. The support is still intact, though; just like in practices, the players will praise the good play but also correct the bad play of other players.
Outside of games and practices, the players are not incredibly different. The playful attitudes at practices are also present when the players go out and have fun together; they leave all seriousness behind. They all hang out together quite often, at least once a week, sometimes more. The usual day of fun seems to be Thursday nights after practice. Usually the players, if they are old enough to get in, will go to the bars and hang out, play pool, whatever, or other times they'll all hang out at the rugby house (it's a house where a bunch of the players live together), and sometimes they'll invite others and have a party there once in a while. |
Project diary
11/04/03 - In-class elaboration/revision of aspect of subculture
Both on and off the field, the Men's Rugby Club here at the University of Illinois functions much like a tight-knit family, giving it many traits of a subculture. There are no stragglers in the club either, meaning that each and every one of the club members behaves similarly in that they are always there for each other and helping each other, but with not-so-serious attitudes (with certain exceptions in tense game situations) that keep the good times rolling.
On the field during practices and games, one can witness one rugby player picking another up off the ground and dusting him off, or a veteran giving some friendly tips or advice to a rookie player. On the opposite side of the serious attitude involved in learning to play better as a team, there is a light-hearted attitude in all the players that makes for a good fun time at every practice and game. Constant jokes and playful riducule is thrown around, keeping the mood light at all times.
Off the field, the players throw all seriousness aside and just go out and have a good time. They hang out together, go to bars together (the ones that are old enough), throw parties together, and some even live together. They defend each other and have each other's backs at all times. |
Findings
Discuss your findings.
For information reguarding the "team" aspect of rugby and how they interact with each other and function as a subculture, findings through the researching of books, articles, websites, etc. have been minimal because this information can really only be found first-hand by interacting with the club members themselves and observing things such as games and practices.
But for other information reguarding rules of the game and facts about team play and strategy can easily be found through traditional sources. I have learned rules of the game that I never even knew existed, such as legal clothing (no pads allowed) and shoes, dimensions of the ball, tactics, how to tackle, various ways to move the ball upfield (run it, kick it, etc.), what to do after you get tackled (you must immediately release the ball), how to restart play when stopped for a penalty (scrum), and also different player positions and their functions. I've also found some general information about similar rugby clubs at other colleges.
Also, the club's web site gives some information about the club itself rather than just the rules of the sport. From here, I've learned how to join the club (contact one of the veterans, or just show up for practices), what sort of expierence you need (none), when games are, etc. |
Project diary
Refer to other EOTU work
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Users' Comments on this Unit
- Andrew's main point is that the rugby team is more like a family than a team. He argues this point by saying that much of the team behaves in very simliar ways, most of them not serious until they get into a game situation. He says that all players have a helping attitude, whether it be helping someone off the ground or giving them a tip on how to play better. He also comments that the players are very lighthearted and will frequently make fun of eachother. He makes this subculture seem like it would be very fun to be a part of and he also makes me think that the people who play rugby would be a very entertaining group. - by crichter@uiuc.edu
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