“Being a winner is more than getting a first-place trophy; it is acting like the effort was an honour and the trophy is just a decoration.” Bryan Mosley
Thomas More University’s rugby team began in the 2017-2018 school year. Rugby was growing in popularity in the collegiate ranks in the United States. In those very early years, establishing a legacy of rugby for TMU was the team goal — and in just a few years, Saints Rugby was garnering national attention.
With no place in NCAA or NAIA competitions for their sport, they found their own conferences and were welcomed into the National Collegiate Rugby organization.
Rugby student-athletes were popular on campus, grand at their game, academically strong, internationals fluent in English. Non-stop rugby is such fun to watch. Some early games showed defeat of their opponents and also defeat of two-digit scoreboards when our Saints tallied 100+scores. How we love Saints rugby games.
The Saints were moving ahead steadily in their conference and national rankings. In 2021, they were in the championship semis and finals and WON the National Collegiate Rugby title.
As we watched the live video of the championship game, our team stood out in the high quality of their play, frustrating the other team as opponents drew cards and even were removed from the game. Saints were winning with such talent and mastery of the game.
The huge championship trophy sits high in the lobby display, gleaming, as it continues to welcome more rugby trophies.
That first early national championship trophy brings a smile to my face every time I see it, remembering the players and all their successes. MVPs for the tournament and championship games always, at least two All Americans each year, numerous players with academic honors, and three Saints who have been drafted by the United States professional Major League Rugby teams while they were still student-athletes at TMU with degrees to complete.
Establish a legacy? Absolutely accomplished! Congratulations!
• • •
Her first trophy went on display in the family room when she was seven years old. Her team had won the league championship. Trophies continued through elementary and middle school, greatly increased during high school with athletics and scholarship. Even though the priority during her college years was academic preparation for her profession, she played on the team all four years.
There were rings and trophies but best of all were those life-long friendships that resulted. She was always a strong player, a dependable team member, never a star, but she dearly loved those years and years of play. So much good.
Now, she was very well-established in her profession, a wife and mother.
After her folks redecorated the family room, two big boxes of her trophies were relocated to her house. With several hours free, she decided to tackle this sorting-keeping-disposal task. The team rings were keepers and any trophies that pulled at her heartstrings might be keepers, too. Trophies that held strong memories but weren’t keepers would rate cellphone photos. Many trophies were falling apart, had had multiple repairs by her dad, and weren’t going to be kept.
She anticipated waves of nostalgia and often felt overcome by gratitude at the immense goodness of it all.
The results? Three keeper trophies and the four team rings, scads of trophy photos (maybe become an album?), and a growing pile of rubble. The trophies that didn’t rate keeping were disassembled. With team rings on her fingers, she moved the box of discards to the curb. The keepers would go on display in her large closet. She would love to see them often. Frequent private viewings.
Her young daughter’s team had just won their league division, her first trophy taking pride of place on the mantel in the living room.
Yes, it was time for the next generation. And everybody would be celebrating.
Judy Harris is well established in Northern Kentucky life, as a longtime elementary and university educator. A graduate of Thomas More, she began her career there in 1980 where she played a key role in teacher education and introduced students to national and international travel experiences. She has traveled and studied extensively abroad. She enjoys retirement yet stays in daily contact with university students. Reach her at judyharris1579@gmail.com