From the Mayor

from theMAYOR Rugby gets a leg up in Ocala

BY MAYOR KENT GUINN

The sports that have long dominated the local landscape here have been football, baseball, basketball, golf, tennis and bowling – the usual suspects. As Ocala has grown, we have seen other sports enter the local conscience and broaden the scope of athletic opportunity for its citizens.

We have seen a rise in the popularity of soccer, particularly at the youth level, as well as sports such as lacrosse, which are now offered as sanctioned team sports at the high school level.

The next of the up-and-coming team sport is in its infancy, but its growth seems limitless: Rugby.

Until the end of 2020, the sport of rugby was as synonymous with Ocala as sumo wrestling or cricket, but the sport is starting to gain some traction thanks to its newest club, the Ocala Gladiators Rugby Club.

What started out as just five men getting together who love the sport has now grown into 25 players who are now part of the Florida Rugby Union, competing in Division 4 reserved mainly for beginning clubs. This past month, the Gladiators beat a club team from the University of Florida and in January will begin its regular season schedule.

Austin Putzeys, who played rugby while attending the University of North Florida, is one of the club’s founders along with Nick Hatcher, who played at Florida Atlantic University, and Tyler Lopez, who was a player back in Ireland.

“Ninety percent of the team had never played before,” Putzeys said. “All had either a football background, or baseball, lacrosse or soccer. We recruit guys from any background.”

Rugby is a tough sport, much like football but without all the protective gear. The ball is shaped much like a football and players evade tacklers to run and score across a goal line (called a “try” in rugby), which looks familiar to football fans.

It is estimated that there are around a half-billion fans of the sport across the globe, making it among the top-10 most popular sports, with numbers akin to baseball.

In Ocala, the Gladiators club is a first step toward reaching some bigger goals. Just as the sport of lacrosse gained a foothold in Ocala through startup clubs but is now sanctioned in the high schools, rugby can do the same – and Putzeys sees that in the future.

“Our main goal is to incorporate rugby into the youth, transition into high school and maybe start an Ocala team in high school,” Putzeys said. “We’d also like to expand to the women’s side. We want rugby to be the biggest thing in Ocala.”

For now, the Gladiators win games and travel to face other teams in Gainesville, Daytona and Tallahassee. As the club grows and competes at higher divisions, they would face teams from Tampa, Orlando and Miami.

Home games are played at Brick City Park and Putzeys notes the attention from fans.

“We have hundreds of fans at home games – Brick City is almost packed in the bleachers, and we have fans that travel with us to away games.

“The rugby culture is growing in Ocala.”

The Gladiators are always welcoming newcomers to the sport, who need just cleats, a mouthguard and a willingness to learn the basics from the coaches on hand in order to join.

Those interested can follow the club on Instagram at ocalagladiatorsrfc or may phone Putzeys at 352-817-9459.