Bryce Campbell: I actually got a call from Declan Kidney, who's a like Irish rugby legend, pulled off the side of the road, got this call, I'm like, Hey,
Nate Spangle: that's pretty sick.
Bryce Campbell: They made you an offer to come over.
Nate Spangle: Pretty cool To get to represent the US playing for the World Cup in Japan.
Bryce Campbell: That's what's cool about rugby is it'll take you everywhere, like
Nate Spangle: traveling the world.
Really cool.
Bryce Campbell: These guyses are, you know, become your family and you get so close 'cause you spend so much time together.
Nate Spangle: If you had to make a prediction 10 years from now, how big is rugby gonna be in the us? From South Bend to Evansville and everywhere in between. This is Get IN, the show focused on the Hoosier State and the incredible stories happening here today.
I'm Nate Spangle, founder of Get Indiana, and I will be your host for today's conversation. A quick shout out to our friends at Pence Media Group, one of PR Daily's top agencies, their team of experts help brands make serious noise right here in central Indiana. Right now, PMG is proud to be supporting Hancock Health as they approach their 75th anniversary for Hancock Health.
This isn't just. Another anniversary, but one that showcases 75 years of trust, care, and community impact. Hancock Health was recently recognized by Indianapolis Business Journal for their excellence in healthcare. Keep an eye out for how Hancock Health celebrates this milestone anniversary. PMG is gonna make it loud.
For more information on how PMG can make your brand loud, visit pencemediagroup.com. Let's get in. My guest today is Bryce Campbell and he's a retired USA Rugby player who earned 48 caps for the United States men's national team and played in more than 100 professional games during his career as a center.
He most recently played professionally for the Chicago Hounds in Major League Rugby. After his retirement in 2025, Bryce and his family returned to his hometown of Indianapolis to serve as general manager in sports activities Director at Kuntz Stadium under Riverside Sports Properties. At Kuntz, their mission is to lift up the riverside and near Northwest neighborhoods.
By hosting community, regional, national, and international events with a focus on rugby. I'm really excited to dive into the life of a professional rugby player, learning what it takes to go from a boy playing at Broad Ripple Park for the Royal Irish, all the way to the most elite pinnacle of USA Rugby, the work in between there, how you got there and now the work that Indianapolis and you all are doing to bring.
An international game. Rugby. More to the Hoosier State. Bryce, welcome to Get IN.
Thanks for having me on.
Heck yeah, man. Appreciate the intro. I, I, uh, I loved seeing the, the fun fact that your entire rugby career started not more than a mile from this exact location mm-hmm. At Broad Ripple Park where you got to play for the Royal Irish Rugby.
Uh, the Royal Irish Rugby team in middle school and then eventually won the Team's first National Championship. Where did the game of rugby get introduced to you? It's not a super common thing across the state of Indiana, I would say. How did you get exposed to it?
You know, I was your typical Indiana boy growing up, playing football, basketball, and baseball, but a wrestling.
Um, but, uh, I went to St. Pius, grew up in the CYO and we had this little group of guys that kind of fell in love with rugby. Um. I was neighbors with a family called the the Nays. Um, Alex Nay, Jake Nay, max nay. We were good friends with the Sullivans, Joe Sullivan. Um, so Joe and Alex kind of were like, Hey, get a run the ball in football because of the striper rule.
If you're too heavy in CYO, you, you can only play line or defense. And they're like, come out play rugby. You'll be able to do it all. You'll be able to tackle, pass, run. Um, and they got me out to play and, you know. From there, we, we stayed together throughout high school and kind of won the national championship together.
Wait, how many, like how many core guys was that original crew?
Joe Sullivan, Alex Nay, Alex's younger brother Jake, me, my brother, Jacob. Um, then the, the Schroders got introduced when we got to Cathedral with Joe and Max, and then they've got younger siblings too. And I guess that was kind of like a nucleus.
And then we got a lot, a lot of people to come in and
play. So this was, well like was Royal Irish like really good before then, or is this kind of like the turning point to go win? Like, because now I feel like they win state and they had won nationals a bunch too, uh, over the last decade or so.
So the youth program used to be called Broad Ripple Park.
And then the high school was always Royal Irish with Chatard and Cathedral, combined with a few other kids sprinkled in from other schools. But then a few years ago, the youth program got kind of folded into Royal Irish as well. So now it's Royal Irish Youth, Royal Irish High School. But. Um, Royal Irish High School was, was pretty decent before they'd won a couple Midwest championships.
They went to Nationals maybe once before my kind of time. Joe Sullivan's older brother and his group of friends, the Witchers, Gino Wiker, uh, Peter Wiker. They kind of got, it kind of started and then I guess my group kind of took it to the next level.
Yeah. Okay. So then you end up, you know, playing for the Royal Irish and.
Wind up going to IU to play rugby. And this is an interesting piece that I have a question about because it's not like a, a NCAA sanctioned sport or like, is that like similar from like the recruiting process and how do you end up choosing where you go to school? I know a ton of people from Royal Irish end up at IU.
Like how does that whole thing work?
Yeah, I mean it's not the most formal process I was looking at potentially going to some other like rugby. Schools, quote unquote, um, was looking to potentially go out to California, um, looked at some other kind of small schools. Is it like a scholarship programs?
Is it like a scholarship thing?
So there's a few schools across the US that rugby's within their athletic department that's a varsity sport. Most of those are smaller schools. You know, they can give out scholarships to international students or bring in more international students, and they see it as kind of their little niche. So Lindenwood in St. Louis, Life University in Marietta, Georgia, Davenport up in Michigan. Um, and there's a, you know, there's a few others but really wanted to go to IU 'cause my brother was there who's two years older than me. We played together, um, but also, you know, got, got directed Ben into Kelly. And so it was kind of like a no-brainer for me to go for like life four, five minutes away.
Great business school. All of my buddies were going there. Um, and we, we work a club sport still as a club sport, but. We took it very seriously. Really strong coaching staff, really supportive alumni group. Um, we're probably the best like club team in the country, in my opinion at the time. Um, but once we started to play against some of those varsity, uh, teams who struggle, um, but it, you know, going down to Bloomington was amazing.
Yeah. It's 'cause there's like, like you have a season, like you go out and play. Against Purdue or Notre Dame or Kentucky or whoever. Is there like a coach that then is like, you know, the club coach for IU rugby and you have like practice every, it's not like a club where you can show up if you want to.
Yeah, exactly. So, but we also had, you know, at IU we had our first team who all took it very seriously. Um, we're very professional about the way we did things. We had a paid coach, um, a couple of paid coaches, and then we also had a, you know, we had a second team as well. So a lot of those guys, you know.
We're there to have fun and be a part of it. You know, someone wanted to go from B side to a side to make that next level step, but then a lot of them would just, you know, wanna be a part of it, have fun, stay fit, and yeah, be a part of something bigger.
Okay. That's pretty cool. So how was the success that you had while.
Um, at IU. And when did you start to get the opportunity to play and represent, uh, the us
We had a really, you know, strong group at IU. Um, won our first, well, not the first, but first one in a while. Big Ten Championship my freshman year.
Okay. So Big Ten Champ. Is that club teams or varsity teams?
Club teams.
So.
All the big 10 schools get together and play rugby. All the club teams come together, play rugby for like a big 10 championship.
Yeah. So there, there's a conference called, you know, big 10 University's rugby conference. It's not the official Big Ten, but
yeah,
it is what we, we make it. Yeah. Um, and yeah, so we play the Big Ten season.
You know, you'll play some. Some teams outside of that conference, but there's a Big Ten conference championship.
Why hasn't rugby been adopted by the NCAA or by, you know, these conferences and universities?
That's a great question. Um, the women's sport, women's rugby is an emerging NCAA sport. Um, it has been for a handful of years now.
Um, I wanna say there's 30, maybe 35 varsity women's teams across the country. And historically you hear. A lot of, you know, people talk about the old boys and rugby and you know, it was just a party sport and all this stuff back in the day. Um, but you know, nowadays most teams, if not all teams are very serious, very professional with the way they do things.
It's a global game. Um, there's so many. Cool parts of the game that you don't see in other sports that, um, I'd love more Americans to see and be a part of.
I've had a few wrestlers over the years that have played rugby and I've gone to a few of the games. It's crazy. Mm-hmm. Like it's in, it's intense for sure.
Uh, I mean it's, it's almost like I've, like, yeah, combining some of soccer with football and the physicality, but the also the endurance to like run back and forth and, and I mean like. Also, there's a little bit of under, like, trying to understand what's going on, but like the global language is, you see two guys like hit each other and you're like, heck yeah, that's sick.
Mm-hmm. Like, let's go. So it's, uh, it's definitely a fun sport to watch, I would say. Um, I do wanna know, so when did you get the opportunity to start playing for the us?
When I was in high school, I got brought into the, I guess, High School All-American setup. Um, so I represented like USA under eighteens or whatever in a sevens tournament.
Um, but then
where,
like in America or In America?
Okay. Yeah,
so we played in this, uh, tournament in Vegas. Um, it was part of the World Series, so the, the professional guys played and then there was like a under, I think it was under 19th division, and I represented the US and there were some Canadian teams.
And yeah, when I kind of took off on the USA scene, I was going into my senior year at IU. I did a study abroad program in Sydney. Uh, it was set up through, through the Kelley School. So I worked, uh, downtown Sydney, um, for a company called Colliers International Commercial Real Estate Company. And then I would take the train after work down to area called, uh, Cronulla, and played for a team called Southern Districts, which was a team that competed in the kind of local Sydney Semi-professional competition.
Um, and was there for like. 10 weeks. Um, and that was set up 'cause my coach at IU, his, a lot of his family live in Sydney and, uh, his like nephew played for the like underage team there. And so they hooked me up and I got a chance to go play for them. And then on the back of that I got play for the USA College All-Americans who were doing a tour.
In Brisbane, in Australia. So I was already over in Australia for like 10 weeks and then I just, you know, flew up like an hour to Brisbane and joined the College All-Americans. And, um, did really, really well. That went well. I got an opportunity to go to the USA Selects, which is like USA second team. Um, had to get all, uh, you know, letters from all my teachers, let me off school, did a tournament down in Uruguay.
Um, there's a lot of like international, like second teams, so
yeah.
It was there. Canada was there. Uh, Fiji. Uh, Uruguay, there's an Argentinian team. Um, and I had one play there that I got a lot of limelight from. I was on like ESPN top 10. No
way.
Stiff arm against this Canadian guy. Was
it hype?
Um, it was pretty hype.
Uh, but, and then after that I got asked to come play for the USA national team. So I. Like a few weeks later I was like, Hey, all my teachers, I got asked to play for the USA team. Um, can I have a few, few more weeks off school? Um, and then next thing I was playing for the USA Eagles, um, against the Maori All Blacks in Chicago, which um, was Toyota Park at the time and now it's SeatGeek Stadium.
It's, it's where I ended my career as a professional player too.
Wow. Wait, so like in a span of just a few months, you go from like a study abroad normal like. A college kid to playing like at the, the pinnacle of rugby.
Yeah.
What, what did it just like, you just happened to like catch fire at the right time?
Yeah, I mean it was just culmination of a lot of things. Um, and it just all kind of clicked. And then, you know, I played against the Maori All Blacks in Chicago. You know, we, we were talking earlier, that wasn't my first cap. 'cause the, the Maori All Blacks is, is not New Zealand's official national team. Um, the All Blacks are.
Um, so then the next week we go over to Romania, and that was my first, first cap against Romania.
Okay. And so explain for the listeners what a cap is.
Okay. So a cap is when you represent the USA team against another country,
the best that the USA has to offer against the best that some other country has to offer.
Correct. And so you got your first cap against who?
Romania and Bucharest. Yeah.
Are you having to, this is like a weird question, but like. Are you having to front the bill as like a college senior or is like USA Rugby paid for this?
No. Yeah, USA Rugby paid for all of it. So we were all, we were all, we all got a stipend.
That's pretty sick.
Yeah.
Like, you're just like, and you're a senior in college. Like, did you end up graduating and like
Yeah, I, I was super, super lucky. My teachers worked with me. I mean, this was before COVID, so doing studies, you know. Virtually was not as much of a thing. Um, I just had really good relationships with my teachers and my classmates and just worked on the road and got my things done as I went.
Like what time of year were you in Australia?
I was in Australia until like August. It was like over the summer here, which was the winter over there.
Okay.
Um, and then I came back, went to like a week of classes, like my first like week or two of school, and then went down to Uruguay with the USA selects.
For a couple weeks then came back and that, that was in, I want to say early October or late September, and then came back to school for a few weeks and then was late October was my first game against Maori All Blacks in Chicago.
Okay, so that's like all of your first semester of senior year. It was just like on the road playing rugby for the most part.
Uh, you come back and you're like, I still have a semester to get through, like w. Where did it like pursuing this as a career? Where did that start to come into play and how does, what does the career of a professional rugby player look like?
Professional League hadn't started here yet, but it was getting ready to start.
So Major League Rugby was getting ready to kick off in, in 2018 when we're talking about was 2017, the end of 2017. Then my second semester, I went back on the road with USA for like two months. So. Um, we went down to South America and played what was the Americas Rugby Championship. Um, but
well all the time you're still doing school.
Yeah, that I, quite a strong group of the players in the national team play were played for this club, semi-professional team in Denver, Colorado called the Glendale Raptors and they were gonna join the new professional league. Um, so they kind of, one of my best buddies, will McGee convinced me to come. Go out there right after I graduate, play for the team.
And then they were gonna join the, the first year of Major League Rugby. So I essentially graduated like next day, moved to Denver. And then was part of the professional setup there?
Did you have to like get a normal like nine to five, or you just started playing semi-pro rugby? Rugby
wasn't crazy money.
Yeah, much money at all. But our living expenses were paid for. Um, I drove Uber on the side and Lyft. Yeah. And it was enough to get by 'cause I was lucky enough to where when I wasn't playing for Denver, I was away with the US so. I wasn't paying for an apartment, it was free. Um, when I was with Eleo, everything was paid for and I got a stipend.
So yeah. I was able to get by on.
Yeah.
You know, not much. And live a fun
life. Yeah. I mean, especially when you're like 22, 23, it's like, you don't need much to live. You need some beer money and like some Chipotle. Mm-hmm. And you're chilling.
Exactly.
Major League Rugby starts in 2018. Mm-hmm. And is there like a draft or like, how do like the, the rights work, is there like a whole thing?
Like tell me how that process went.
So there, there is a draft now, but that didn't start until like a few years later. Um, I guess all the teams just kind of recruited their players and. Followed the salary cap rules. And
what do you think, and I don't know if you know the numbers, but like what did it cost to own a, a major, like one of the original teams in Major League Rugby?
Few hundred grand. A
few hundred grand, okay. Yeah. So like, you know, you have, you're just like a diehard rugby fan and you got, you know, maybe you're decently wealthy, you gotta have a couple hundred grand, but you are like finding. A stadium where you can like, you know, split space with like, where were you guys playing at in Denver?
Denver was an interesting setup. So we, we were in Glendale, which is a suburb of Denver that's completely surrounded by Denver. It's, it's like a
suburb inside of it.
Yeah. So I don't know the name, the name of it, but it's like the Vatican City, but in Denver.
Oh, that's pretty cool.
You know what I mean? Yeah.
Um, so. For us, Glendale is a really, really tiny city and the city owned the team, like owned the facility. It's like nicknamed RugbyTown USA. Um, they have a little stadium there that's attached to the fire department that's attached to, um, it's YMCA and.
They just like are all in on rugby. Why is Glendale so tied to rugby?
Their mayor fell in love with the game and it was a, just became a thing
that's kind of sick. I mean, hey, everyone wants to be known for RugbyTown USA.
Mm-hmm.
Okay. So you're playing there and the, the major league season starts, like, who owns the Glendale? Like the, the municipality owned the team?
Technically, no. Um, but like the mayor and a few other investors owned the, owned the team.
Oh.
But they, they played at the city owned stadium, you know what I mean?
Okay, cool. So you're doing that and like how many teams were in the first iteration of the league?
There were seven teams.
Okay. How far do you guys have to travel to play
Utah, Seattle, San Diego.
Houston, New Orleans and Austin.
So all like over like what was the furthest trip you had to make?
Probably New Orleans. Yeah. Then yeah.
Yeah. It's, I mean, they're all like, it's not like you're having to go from there to like Maine or whatever. Okay. So year one, there's seven teams total. Um. It literally says, uh, RugbyTown USA is heavily invested in rugby because of a rugby enthusiast.
Mayor. Like literally one guy, just like I said, I love rugby and let's become rugby town USA. That's kind of hype good for him. So. Uh, you play there and then when you're not playing in Denver, you're with team USA.
Mm-hmm.
And then how do you end up getting to Chicago?
So I was playing in Denver and I was playing on the USA team.
And did they own your rights? Like if you were a part of a Denver team, do you have to get like officially traded if you want to go play somewhere else? Or can you just be like, yo, I want to move back to the Midwest?
Uh, yes. If I wanted to stay within the league, yes. My kind of goal was to go play overseas.
Oh, is it because that's bigger.
Yeah.
Okay. So it's like the opposite of basketball. It's like Exactly. If you want to, like, exactly. Like if, if you strike out, you kind of go play for Europe, you go play in China or wherever. Mm-hmm. And if you, but for this, it's like if you're good enough then you can go play overseas.
Exactly. Right. Yeah.
Okay. Yeah. So that was your, your goals to do that. Mm-hmm. So what are the steps that had to be taken for you to get that opportunity?
So I was lucky enough to be kind of a steady starter for the USA team Started playing, you know, in my senior year at IU, I pretty much started or played in every.
USA game for the next like couple years. So I had a lot of film. Um, from that, the film from the professional league didn't really do that much good 'cause it was a brand new league. Um, but I got an agent and he kind of spread my film all over Europe. Um, and the next thing you know, I get a call from, uh.
London Irish, uh, which the team out in England. And um, they maybe an offer to come over.
And at what point are you like, you know, I probably don't need to drive Uber on the side anymore. Like, is that that point? That was the point.
I actually got a call from Declan Kidney, who's a like Irish rugby legend, um, while I was driving.
Lyft and Uber. In, in Denver?
You're like Yeah. Hold
up. I literally pulled off the side of the road, got this call, I'm like, Hey. And then, yeah,
because do they, is this like a, like you're like a free agent getting signed, uh, like this, like, you know, because they probably have to scout the world to find players. So you get signed to play to the London Irish.
Mm-hmm.
And is put this in American terms for me. What does that mean? Like who, who signs you?
Okay. So. In England, the, the top league is called the Premiership, uh, the English Premiership, and that's one of the best leagues in the world. There's a different league that's in France called the Top 14. There's a different league that's down in, um, southern hemisphere, um, New Zealand and Australia.
They played in what's called Super Rugby. Um, and then there's a different league. Scotland, Wales, Ireland, um, Italy, they all play in, uh, what's called United Rugby Championship. But nonetheless, the English League, the English Premiership is probably arguably the best league in the, in the world. London Irish.
Were one of the teams in that, in that top league. But they were getting re they were at the bottom of the table and probably gonna get relegated to the second division. Um, and between when I got like that first call, it was at the, like end of their season, they were recruiting for the next year they, they got relegated.
So when I went over, we played in the championship, which was the second division,
the classic soccer thing where it's like the premiership is the first and the championship is number two. Mm-hmm. You know, just like soccer. Right,
exactly.
So you relegated, but you're still like playing for a. Like a top level club.
Mm-hmm. And are you, you go over, how long are you living over there?
It probably worked out really well for me that we got relegated because when I went over there, I got a ton of playing time from the start. If we had stayed up, they probably would've recruited a bit more. You know, I, I was pretty good, but I wasn't that, that good.
You know what I mean?
Yeah. And like do, is it kind of like, um. Do they have like a bias against Americans?
No. 'cause they probably wouldn't have brought me over.
Imagine if Micah Parsons was like, oh yeah, I'm just now really into rugby. You know? Like, I'm sure that there would be like, respect thrown on the name.
Just like if Usain Bolt would've picked up a football and been a wide receiver or whatever. Mm-hmm. Like, I, I always find that interesting of where like the, you know, whether it be soccer or rugby or cricket or whatever, it's like. They, uh, they're so good. Like the, the rest of the world is so good at those sports.
Mm-hmm. And it seems like, well, like, you know, I don't know if, I don't know the best USA soccer players, you know, like, I don't know a few off the top of my head. Um, it's just always interesting to think about that. So like, I don't know. I, I wanted to know if when you went over there they were like, oh, this American, like doesn't really know, he didn't grow up around this.
Like, we grew up around this.
Most of the team there. Follow the NFL closer than I ever did or ever will. Like, you know, I'm a, I'm a football fan. Yeah. I love the Colts, but like, they are so obsessed with American culture and American sports. They'd have all these questions for me that I didn't even know the answer to.
Yeah. Like, they're asking me to pick their fantasy team. It's like I'm the bottom of my fantasy league at home. I you don't want my help. Yeah. Um, but it was just, they just loved it.
Yeah. '
cause they, they just. You know, American media is all over the place. Over there.
Yeah.
And they just don't see money American, so,
yeah.
Yeah. So you end up going over there and you're, the team gets relegated, but you get the opportunity to have a lot more playing time. Mm-hmm. And at this point, how you're like 24,
23, I think.
Okay. Yeah. At this point, are you like, Hey, I can make a career, offer this for, for a while.
Uh, that's what, that was my hope.
I was like, I'm coming over here. I'm gonna do my darnest. I wanna be, you know, one of the best players in the world.
So, and where, where would the pinnacle have been, like getting, uh, promoted or getting traded? Like, 'cause at that point, do they own your rights or like how does that part work?
Yeah, um, I guess the rights thing is, is.
It's not the same as
like, it's not the same as it is over here. You essentially just become an employee of the team and
Yeah. And, but like at the end of your contract you can go shop around and do whatever. I guess you
can
do that in the NFL.
It's not the same as it's here. If they don't wanna keep you, you can go wherever you want and if, if, if your contract ends, you can go wherever you want.
Okay. You know what I mean? So I signed a two year deal. If for whatever reason during that deal I wanted to move or got an offer, another team would have to buy me under the contract or that they could probably stop it, but. Um, there's probably terms there
that, and like how many people are you pa playing in front of 15,000 at our games?
But this is, this is pretty significant. Yeah. Like if you would compare it to an event that you've been at in the us
Yeah. Some of the smaller MLS games.
Yeah.
Probably not the massive ones, but, um. You know? Yeah. The English premiership, it varies which team. Yeah. Uh, you're following,
but yeah, maybe like Good Mac football.
Yeah.
You know, like if, I mean, assuming, if like, if Ball state's hot, they're selling out
mm-hmm.
10, 12, 15,000 seats. Mm-hmm. Okay. Like that's, that's not nothing. Like if you were walking out in public, would you sign autographs?
No. Not, not in London.
Not in London.
Soccer. Over there is definitely king, like rugby's, very well followed in a major sport over there.
But like the superstars in rugby, unless you're. There's, there's definitely a handful of guys like Play for England and that are also. Stick out like a sore thumb. 'cause they're fricking massive over there. Yeah, yeah. Uh, that would sign autographs, but the vast majority of guys, you know, it'd be like, you know, I feel like NFL players in New York City don't even notice sometimes, so.
Oh
yeah.
It's one of those things where it's such a big city.
Yeah.
Yeah. So what does your career overseas end up panning out to be?
I play my first year with London Irish and the champ. We win the champ, we get promoted.
Hey.
Um, yeah, yeah, that was
incredible. Do they go, go out and recruit some good players?
They go out and recruit some good players, but nonetheless, I was doing really well on the USA team.
Um, we, we. Had the 2019 World Cup in Japan. Um,
so you get to go represent the United States in 2019 in Japan.
Mm-hmm.
How was that?
It was incredible. I mean, Japan is an incredible country.
How long are you there for?
We were there for 10 weeks.
10 weeks in Japan. Dude, you're, you're very world traveled. Like holy smoke.
You talk about Uruguay to Australia, Japan, like you've been to all the corners of the globe.
That's what's cool about rugby is it'll take you everywhere. Like I got buddies in every continent except Antarctica. So
you're in Japan for 10 weeks playing the World Cup. Like how does that go?
Um, we didn't have the best World Cup, but um, our first game we had the pool of death.
We had England, France, uh, Argentina, and Tonga. Worst game against England. Um, I was on the bench. I got in with the last like 20 minutes, 25 minutes or so, and I scored our only try against England, um, which is pretty cool. There's a couple videos of that. Um, and the next week we played France. We actually played them really well.
Um, nearly beat 'em. Um, and they, but they ran away with it. The last like 10 minutes left. England was one of the like favorites to potentially win the World Cup. France also up there. Um, and then we played Argentina. We did not match up very well with Argentina. Um, they, they really got us good. Um, but so
we're 0-3 at the
moment, 0-3 getting ready to play Tonga, um, Tonga and us, and I guess the rugby landscape are relatively even, you know, your Pacific Island nations, uh, Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga are.
All very good at rugby. We're pretty level with them, um, from a USA standpoint, and we just, we were pro, we were run, we were dead. Like we, we threw everything into those first three games where we probably could have been a bit more strategic to say, Hey, probably not gonna beat England. Um, we'll give a, you know, we'll, we'll try against France.
Argentina, we could have messed around with the roster a little bit, probably to. Target that Tonga game. Um, but we didn't, we, you know, we were American, we were there to win. We were there to win every game, go
big or
go home. Right. So, uh, we ended up losing a really close one to Tonga.
Was that like only a certain amount, make the next round?
Is it like a tournament that
you Yeah, so there's pool play, um, and that was, those were our full P four pool games. And then, uh, it goes to the round of eight.
Oh,
it's the quarter final, semi-final. Final.
All in all. Still pretty cool to get to represent the US playing for the World Cup in Japan. Then, uh, do you end up signing another professional deal?
Like how does your, your European career and your European tour, uh, go
so that the World Cup was like in the middle of my, uh, contract at London Irish. Um. So I went back to London Irish, you know, played a few games in the premiership. That season was kind of coming to an end. And then COVID, its, I was out there with my, uh, girlfriend then, now wife, um, and we were yep, in, in London and Kingston.
Um, and it was full shutdown over there, like, could not do anything. Um, didn't even have. Like take out food for the first like few months of it, it was, you get to leave like twice a day. Once for like a walk and once to go get groceries. Um,
no way.
Yeah. So during that kind of process, the the league, they, you know, no one knew what was going on, so they couldn't sign any players.
My visa was running up, so at the end of it, they were like, we'd love to have you, but we can't sign anybody and I gotta go back to the us. But also I got. Offers from, um, a few of the teams back here to come home. So I ended up signing with Austin, uh, and coming home to Austin.
Okay. How does playing professional rugby in the US stack up to professional, uh, rugby in Europe?
Definitely way harder in Europe, but at the same time there are some really, really good players here. It's just the depth is not there. Yeah. So like you, when I was over in England. You could be playing with the first team or the second team and not really know the difference. Um, or like some of the, like the young guys coming through are almost just as good as, as the guys that are playing the top level.
Um, but. Yeah, over here you have your 10 to 12 like really good players, and then the drop off is pretty quick.
Yeah. Is being a professional rugby player in America also a full-time job?
Uh, can be ish. Um,
so like, you're in Austin, you're playing professionally, but are you doing other stuff?
So I wasn't, yeah, because I was lucky enough to, essentially, whenever I was not playing for Austin, I was most of the time still playing with the US and, and kind of getting paid through that.
Yeah. Getting everything paid for through that.
Yeah.
So, I mean, I was lucky enough to be on the kind of higher end of the, the pay in the league. So between that. And the USA stuff, I was fine, but most people would.
Mm-hmm.
That sucks. That COVID just totally like, do you think that you would've stayed over, uh, in Europe longer?
Uh, I think so. I mean, you never know. I would've liked to, but
from an attendance perspective, how different is it, uh, going to see like an on game in Austin versus a game in for the London Irish?
You know, when we were in Austin, we got about 3000 to a game. Yeah. Okay. Um, which was pretty good with.
The way that the league is here.
So this is like what, 2021? 20?
Yeah. So I was in Austin 21 to, for the two years there. So the 20 21, 2 season and then the 22 3 season I was
doing. Okay. What's the peak age for a rugby player, like pro rugby?
Uh, probably late twenties.
Okay, so that's probably where you're at at that point.
Probably getting there.
Yeah.
Yeah. When did you graduate high school?
2013 I graduated.
Okay. Yeah. So no, you're probably, you still got a few years left at that point.
Yeah.
And, but you find yourself team. So do you start to like, send out tape? Are you picking up the phone and calling? Are you DMing people? Like how are you trying to find a new home?
Yeah, so I mean my, my agent kind of always like, had stuff kind of lined up kinda in the background.
Is it like a rugby specific agent?
He does rugby and a bit of soccer.
Oh yeah. Just like a real, the world's representative there? Yeah. He's like, no, anything that's like overseas, I'm in Was he based in America?
No, no. He was based overseas. He, he was mostly in, in. England, France. Okay. Um, and then it's in Australia.
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Vodka, your local grocery or liquor store and find more cocktail recipes@barkeepvodka.com. Let's get back to the episode. So it's a constant bout battle between finding a professional place to play and then you're kind of falling back on just play for the US and you know, you get to live for free and you know, get your stuff taken care of at any point down this journey where you like, you know, maybe it's time to.
I know use that Kelly degree and go get a job in business somewhere like I'm sure I, again, I don't have, I have no clue. You know, the level of compensation that a pro rugby player makes, but I'm sure that it's like you might have friends in investment banking and they're starting to like get into their twenties and pull hundreds of thousands of dollars.
So I don't know, was that like a thought or were you like, I'm so focused on being a pro rugby player
at the time? No, I was. Married, I didn't have any kids yet. Still was open to the idea of going back overseas. I still was in a really good spot with the USA team, so like I was, you know, giving it my all and yeah.
And 'cause the door was still, still open for me.
Sick. Okay. So you play with the US and then your agent goes to work behind the scenes to find you a new pro team to live with. Mm-hmm. So is that where you end up in Chicago?
So then while I'm way on the US uh, tour, um,
also, did you, do you travel solo over there?
No, no. You're with the team.
Well, I, sorry. Does your wife, is your wife in the States and you're abroad?
Oh yeah. Yeah. But she would come visit a lot. I was, I was lucky. She, how
long are you gone for?
It depends, like sometimes it'd be a few weeks, sometimes it'd be like six weeks. Um, tough.
I mean, 10 weeks for the World Cup.
The World Cup year was insane because like all the camps in the lead up, like we had an eight week camp in the lead up, and then we were off to Fiji for another
Tournament and you know, we were on the road for like six months of that year.
Oh see, like, it does seem, I always go back and forth, like traveling the world.
Really cool. Like, especially when you're young, like, get it, like do it for sure. But other times it's like, man, just like having a routine, waking up in your bed, like having, uh, being a local somewhere. Like there's just, I dunno, there's a good like, balance of that, uh, that. That I always go back and forth on like, which one is better?
Yeah. You know?
Yeah. I was lucky. These, these guys are, you know, become your family. Yeah. Like you're on, it's not like you're on the road alone. Obviously I'm missing Lucy, but, and then once we had Goldie, my, my oldest, then it was very hard, but. You become family with all these guys and you get so close 'cause you spend so much time together.
Yeah. So you're, you're on the road with team USA and agents going to work behind the scenes, figuring out where you're gonna end up. And, uh, how, like, how long was it until you found your next pro team?
So I was on the road, there were rumors of a Chicago team starting. So the Chicago team wasn't a thing yet.
And um, I get a. A call from the guy who's gonna be the team manager in Chicago. He's like, good. He is close with one, one of my buddies, and he is like, Hey, um, we'd, we'd love to, to bring you in as the first Chicago Hound.
Oh, the first player?
Mm-hmm.
You recall what?
Mm-hmm.
Let's go.
Um, so that was, it was pretty cool.
Is it? Yes.
Uh, yeah. Essentially I was like, you know, get back home to the Midwest, you know, few hours drive from, from Indy.
Yeah. Because where do they, where were they playing at?
So they were playing at SeatGeek Stadium. Yeah. Which, yeah. Is used to be Toyota Park, which is where I played my first game for the USA?
Yes. Wow, okay. Is that like a strictly rugby. Stadium or like what?
No, it's, it was the MLS stadium. It's where the fire played. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Before they started playing in Soldier Field. Now they're building the big, big new stadium. Yeah. The stars were there. Uh, so the women's team,
yeah.
Um, we were there and then the Fire Academy was there.
So there's SeatGeek Stadium, and then there's like a bunch of fields next to it. And they also have an indoor dome, so we were just like kind of one of the teams that were
Yeah,
there. And
who
was the owner of the Hounds?
A guy named Peter Bernick. Um, and then there's, he was the main, o is the main owner.
And then there's a few, a few other guys involved too.
Yeah. Uh, just like a rugby fanatic or like
No, he, he didn't know like anything about rugby. Um,
so just like a business guy. Business guy. So he saw a business opportunity here?
Yeah. So like one of his friends or business? Partners, I guess, um, is Irish guy and was like Irish.
Most Irish people love rugby and, uh, the opportunity came across his desk and
yeah.
Um, went for it.
So you become the first Chicago Hound first. What, what season was there? Inaugural one to, I
think it was 2023
being the first one. How do you start to build chemistry with, uh, with all of these new faces coming into a brand new program?
An owner that doesn't really know that much about rugby, like you just got a lot of people that you need to get up to the same page asap. Mm-hmm. Where it's like you're coming from being on the road with team USA, where it's probably a lot of guys that you've spent a lot of time with. You have a good bond, good chemistry, versus this net new team in Chicago.
There was like a bunch of us from Austin that came to Chicago.
Oh,
and then also the LA team. We were almost a combination of those two teams. And then my coach from Austin became the head coach in Chicago. So
yeah. So you, it was kind of just like the getting the boys back together
kind of. Yeah.
Yeah. All right.
And so you end up rocking and rolling with the Hounds for three years there. Are you still splitting time with the team USA at that point?
Yep. I was still
So that was like your whole career? Whole career was. Professional team during one portion, team USA with the other portion, professional team, team USA, and then, you know, in 2025, I believe you end the season there and decide that it's time for retirement.
What were the factors that came into hanging up the cleats?
Goldie, who's three and then the son, uh, Louie, who's nine months. Once we had Goldie. I picked up another job on the side and it just kind of got to a point where, just need to look after the family and
yeah.
And this whole opportunity in indie was coming about, so I'd kind of been working on Kuntz Stadium and this Indy project for like five years.
No way.
Yeah, so like this was always going on in the background while I was playing and it got to a point where we needed to bring someone on full time.
How did you find the opportunity about Kuntz Stadium?
So, while I was playing over in England, we were. Talking like how do we get a professional team to Indy and what's it gonna take?
Where should we do it? Um, and we just started kind of kicking around the conversation and then things got more serious and more serious. And then we quickly realized that first and foremost, we need to have like a facility lined up. Um, and we all kind of knew about Kuntz Stadium. It's kind of got a rich history here in Indy.
Um, it's in an area that's got a lot going for it. Um, with 16 Tech, Riverside Park, you know, down the road from the Speedway. Um, I guess it's, you know, in my opinion, the next kind of growth area for, for the downtown Indy area. Um, and we worked really hard with. The parks department, uh, Phyllis Boyd, the old director, um, and the city to kind of make it happen.
So we, over the course of a couple of years, uh, worked out a, a deal to, to take over the management of the facility.
Was it owned by the city?
Yes.
So how do you start to negotiate with the city about how to become the, the managers of this place and to specifically tie it to rugby,
creating a vision that they can buy into, or
what was it?
Before
the fields had been there for a really long time. They used to be owned by the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, and it was the CYO Fields Cathedral, uh, high school where I went. They used to play their home football games there when they used to be downtown way back in the day.
Oh, back, yeah, back before it moved up to the, mm-hmm.
Yeah.
And, um, and then it was renovated in the eighties, um, to host soccer games at the Pan American Games. Oh, yes. So in 87 it was, it was, it was renovated for 1987 to host those international soccer games. But then, um, it was owned by the city since and run by the parks department.
Ah, so were they still hosting anything there over the past 10, 15 years?
The early two thousands they hosted the, um, state soccer championships. Um, and then it just kind of, the fields. Weren't looked after, so all they should have and didn't get the support that they needed.
So when you guys convinced the city and the parks department to like let you be the manager, what were you taking over?
Redo all, all the locker rooms, um, get everything functional again. Um. Put a, you know, quite a bit of, uh, love and care into the, under the grass fields.
That's like a grandfather's like, you know, so excited about that. Getting the opportunity to like plant some grass and put out some, like bring this, bring this field back to life.
A little bit of field of dream style there. Mm-hmm. So you guys end up taking it over. Uh, how many, how big was the team that, that got that opportunity?
Uh, so there's five of us, uh, me, uh, my stepdad, Bill Otte. Brian Williams and Mark Williams and then my good friend Will McGee. Okay. Like played with, um, for a really long time.
Yeah. So you five then create Riverside Sports Properties and you are now like the stewards of Kuntz Stadium at Riverside Park.
Correct.
Okay. And you, the main focus is to attract more rugby and just more events to the area. I mean, it's very similar to like, uh, if you. It's like Grand Park.
Yeah, just it's Grand Park.
Just smaller.
Yeah. And, and historic versus like new construction? Mm-hmm. Okay. So like what are the types of events that you guys have? Uh, hosted there and, and take me through the process of like getting that place ready. It was not hosting events for like, over a decade. Did not host events.
It had some, some rec soccer leagues, so, okay.
You know, the central Indiana women's soccer leagues played there for forever. Um, so they continued to play there. Um, international Soccer league, uh, they played there. They continued to play there, but it, it hadn't, hasn't been, you know, a professional caliber
Place in a long time.
Okay. So you take it over.
And then it's like, okay, yeah. Get it ready to do your thing. And how do you convince the first Pro-anything to take a, to take a, a chance on you guys?
Myself and, uh, our other partner in Will McGee are, are very closely, um, have strong relationship with USA Rugby, um, the College Association, um, and, and World Rugby.
And we kind of locked in the College National Championships for three years. So we had it last year. Once, so we got the, so we got the keys to the place in January of last year of 2025. And we were set to host the College National Championships in May of 2025. So it was like a sprint for us to get the place Inion.
Wait,
you had like three, you had four months?
Yeah.
Yeah. No way.
Yeah, and so hosted that, that those were like our big events last year. We also, um, are home to the Indy AlleyCats. The,
yeah, I'm
the ultimate frisbee team.
Yeah. I'm doing a, uh, I think it's called the First Pull where you like get to throw the first, uh, Frisbee toss.
You'll be down at Kuntz then
I'm gonna be come, yeah. I'm coming down there in a couple weeks, I think to, to sling one for the AlleyCats.
Nice.
Yeah. They're, I mean, crazy that India has a professional, uh, ultimate frisbee team, but there's like, they're like travel. Around and like it's a legit thing.
Yeah, it's pretty cool.
Yeah. Yeah. It's a fun, a pretty fun sport to watch. Um, yeah, I mean they used to play their games at Kuntz, um, and then they moved up to Grand Park and then we got 'em to come back.
Oh, nice.
Mm-hmm.
That's hype. Okay, so you have them, and I mean, you have some big events coming up too.
Mm-hmm.
You have, uh, the women's Okay, the end of April.
Mm-hmm. What the 25th,
fifth and sixth? Yeah. You've got the Women's College National Championships for Rugby, for Rugby Sevens.
How many, uh, how many teams will be coming to that?
I think there's gonna be 28 teams from across the country. Um, I think last year, um, Dartmouth won, I believe. Yeah. Um, but yeah, all your kind of big name universities.
And then the week after
that
and the week after that, we've got the men's national championships. Uh, so the May 1st, second, and third. Yeah, there's a few different divisions that we have. So, um, there's men's D one A, which is the big game, which is Saturday night, uh, May 2nd. Um, and then there's d. 2D one aa.
Yeah. And then there's a couple like just bowl games as well that weekend.
Wow. So there'll be a lot of rugby the last weekend of April. First weekend of May.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, is that why the mini's going on? It might
be, uh, it is somewhere in, around that.
Yeah. That, that whole area will be just like rocking and rolling with sports.
Yeah. Popping.
Like, as you think about recruiting events to Indianapolis, like you talk about like, you know, uh, Indiana Sports Corp does a great job getting things like Final Four, getting things like the, you know, USA swim trials, like now. That's a little bit of the, the job that you have is recruiting these, uh, these.
International events to come bring their tournament, to bring their sport to Indianapolis. How do you think about that and, and where do you see this going?
We're very lucky to have a strong relationship with Indiana Sports Corp. Um, you know, I've talked with Patrick Talty several times about, uh, you know, how we can bring more rugby to Indy, uh, work with Melissa Thompson on some bids, uh, for some events.
We're, we're trying to get some international games to Kuntz. Um, we've got bit of work to get the place ready, but it will, you know, we're gonna have it ready. Bigger picture. Um, USA's hosting the Rugby World Cup in 2031 and 2033. 2031's. The men's 2033's, the women's. And we, first and foremost would love to be a training site at Kuntz for, for those, for that tournament.
Um, whether it's. You know, France or England or New Zealand come to Indy for a couple weeks and, and train. But ideally Indie becomes a host city for, for that. But we, we need, uh, we need a stadium suitable, uh, to host matches, which we don't have yet. 'cause Lucas Oil Stadium, the field's not big enough.
Oh. So what needs to happen to get a stadium that's like up to snuff?
It would have to be this MLS situation.
Oh, you could put it on. So if the MLS stadium came, then you could have like a true, like to get a pro rugby team, would we need that?
No. So we're, we're working on trying to get a pro rugby team Kuntz right now.
Oh, no way.
Um, so
what has to happen?
So we're just. We're, we're working on it, we're looking for sponsors and, and, uh, other people that wanna get involved, but that's
what we're What does the, what's like, so we just had the Indy Ignite on, and they talked about, you know, what it cost to get a, you know, professional volleyball team up and running.
Like what's the, if a few years ago or the, the first season in 2017, it was a couple hundred thousand. What, what's a pro rugby team cost to get up on the ground these days? Few million. Probably a few million bucks. Wow. Do we, does Indy have enough? Rugby fans like would, like if you had a pro team and the Hounds came down to play a game, like how many people could, how many tickets could you sell?
I think we could sell. Four or 5,000.
Yeah. Okay. You know, and you said when you were in Austin, you were playing in front of like three. Mm-hmm. So that's, that's gonna mean compelling people just love sports too. Do in general. Mm-hmm. Like, people want to go watch, you know, just about anything. I do have to ask, what's the history of Kuntz Stadium?
Like what, why is it named Kuntz?
Yeah. So Bill Kuntz, uh, was a really well known, uh. Leader, uh, for the CYO. Um, he was also a coach at, at Butler, uh, football and, uh, just really community focused guy and community focused family. Um, and yeah, I was named after him.
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Shout out to our friends at Sullivan's.
Yep.
I see that on the website. I'm like, yeah, they're, they're just the best people.
They are.
Um, we had Pat on as a guest and he's just an all-time character. Mm-hmm. Um, when you think about the future of rugby in America. Like, where do you, if you had to make a prediction 10 years from now, how big is rugby gonna be in the us
We're gonna break into, you know, the, a mainstream sport.
You know, I think we're gonna get, be talked about almost like we talk about soccer now. Just once more eyeballs get on the game. It's such a fun game to watch. And it's not just a game watching, it's just a, a camaraderie, uh, among the players and the fans. Um, just the whole ethos of the sport, um, is where does
rugby originate from?
So originates in England in a town called rugby.
Oh.
Oh So, uh, and then why do they wear polos? Or why do they wear the rugby shirts? You know, like,
it just was what the, it's like a gentleman's game tradition. I don't know. It was kind of like a, so the sport like originates when, um, there was guys playing soccer and one guy named William Webb Ellis picked up the soccer ball and started running with it.
And, uh, that's kind of the fairy tale of how it started.
And someone lay is like decked him.
Yeah.
You know,
and then they just kind of, kind morphed and, you know, came over here and there were, there were teams playing, playing rugby. And then, um, us Americans started changing the rules and changing the rules and changing the rules and then eventually became American football.
Classic. Same thing with baseball and cricket. Right? It was like, we changed the rules and I think like both of those two, like early on, those two sports came over and we were like, nah, not American enough. We gotta, we gotta change it up. Um. That is, I always think that it's interesting too 'cause you don't wear pads with rugby.
Mm-hmm. And it's like, dude, some of those hits are just intense. Um, it's a fun sport. I would encourage anyone who hasn't seen a game, like go watch it. It's uh, it's pretty crazy. Okay. Well we've come to the end of the show where we're talking all things Indiana. So this question is brought to you by friends at J.C. Hart.
They're a leader in creating enjoyable living experiences at apartment communities all across Indiana and beyond. Check them out at homeisjchart.com. My question for you, why do you call Indiana home?
I think it just is. It is my home. It's where I was born and where I was raised. Um, but why I came back.
I came back because the people, first and foremost, um, people care here. Um. They're willing to help, there's opportunity here, um, without breaking the bank. So cost of living your access to people and, and things that you need. And I just freaking love it.
Your best piece of advice to young rugby players out there?
Dream big.
Yeah,
dream big. Um, it's a game that can take you all over the world if you want to.
Yeah. I got a shot to my guys, uh, Jackson and Nolan. They're definitely gonna listen to this episode. And they were, they were really pumped up to, to hear the fact that we had a professional. Rugby player coming on, they're like, so far, like no one like cut his hair and dyed it blonde and like did the whole thing.
Like I didn't think it looked very good. No offense buddy. But, uh, they were like so far into rugby, it's crazy. And they're ripping up at, uh, Ravenswood Park. Mm-hmm. Just, uh, they wrestle for us too, at Chatard, but, uh, it's cool to see them and, and they're just absolutely obsessed with it, so I'm sure they're gonna be pumped up about this one.
Talk to me about, I think in 2017 you won the. Like the best, like basically the Heisman of rugby, right? Is that the Scholz Award?
Yeah.
Like if you think about that accolade and you think about all the accolades that you've had, like what won. When you look back when you're an 80-year-old man, what one are you gonna look back on?
Uh, with the most regard?
Having the honor to captain the USA team
that's sick. Is rugby an Olympic sport for.
So, uh, rugby Sevens is an Olympic sport. It's a shortened version of the game. Um,
yeah. When did that become an Olympic sport
in 2016?
Did you ever have the opportunity to try out, to make the Olympics?
I had an opportunity to join the Sevens setup. So the men and women are based down in Chula Vista, California. Uh, they're, they're full-time. It was kind of a decision I had to make, whether to go the professional league route to go to, to Denver, to Glendale. Um, or to go the seventh route and go down to Chula Vista, um, and play in the World Sevens Series, uh, every year.
And I guess my, my goal was to go play professionally overseas. Um, so. Staying with the normal vision game 15s was kind of the route to do
it. Yeah. 'cause if you would've made the sevens choice, then like the pinnacle would be making the Olympics. Mm-hmm. Like that would be getting to the top. Mm-hmm.
Versus getting signed to play for a European or a, an international team. Exactly. Okay. That makes sense. Is the game like very different, like sevens versus 15s? Like, is it,
it's the same rule sort of with less people, but it's a very different. Um, demands of the game. Uh, sevens is freaking hard.
I feel like you have to have insane conditioning.
Yeah. The, the conditioning, um, is just next, next level.
What's the hardest part of playing rugby?
Being able to make big hits, get up, make tackles, run the ball, and be able to run, you know? Seven K in a game. Um, just having, how did training look you kind of do at all?
Like did you have to like, run a lot for training or did you have to lift a lot?
Like what was it, what did it look like?
Yeah, I mean this is a bit of everything 'cause you, you have to do everything in the game. So, um, we trained at a very high tempo, always kind of practice at a faster pace than the game to try to make the game seem. Easier, but in the weight room and, and on the line.
And on the line. There we go. Uh, I love it, man. Okay. These, we've come to the final three questions that we ask everyone all about the state of Indiana. So first off, you've been around the world from Japan to Australia, England. Oh, my. Like the, the list goes on and on. Uwe, if you could shout it from the rooftops, tell all those people.
What is one thing the world needs to know about Indiana?
Indiana might be the best city in the world in hosting events. Um, you know, from the city leadership to the Sports Corp, to, um, non-sporting events. Um, we're just really well aligned here. And, uh, it's a great place to live and a great place to come visit.
Yeah, absolutely. Okay. Speaking of places to come visit, this is an opportunity to shed some light on a part of the state that more people needed to be talking about. What is a hidden gem in Indiana?
Guggman Haus Brewery? It's just, it's awesome the history there. The Boyle Racing Room, um, the people there, you know, Courtney and Derek are incredible.
Great beer. Great atmosphere.
Yeah,
great food.
Especially like in spring, summertime, like that is a whole vibe. Mm-hmm. With like all their whole outdoor patio spot. Mm-hmm. Is the coffee stop still running it and the coffee shop? Yeah.
You come down, you go to the Guggman Haus, you come watch a game over at Kuntz,
is that like, that's the day you go down to
16 Tech, The Amp, you know,
boom.
That is like a good little spot. I will say I like that part of town is. Exponentially growing. Mm-hmm. Like, there's, it, it's, I think you kinda said it like the next area up. Like I can totally see that. Uh, Guggman Haus is great. Alright. This is how we source, uh, new guests and learn about other people that are doing amazing things.
A who's a Hoosier? We need to keep on our radar. Someone who's doing big things.
A guy played with named Peyton Wall, who's from, uh, Fort Wayne went to Leo. Um, he plays in Major League Rugby for the Chicago Hounds. Played with him last couple years. Got rookie rookie of the year last year. Really bright future was in the USA, uh, setup over the, over the past few months.
So I think he's got the, be able to be a, be a rugby star.
Peyton Wall. That's the guy. Keep your eyes open, right? Mm-hmm. Uh, Bryce, it's been a pleasure to learn one. So much more about the professional and international rugby landscape. I think that it's super fascinating and the more I've gotten assimilated into like this broad ripple north side culture, I've learned about the, the history that is the Royal Irish and going from there to IU and uh, one of our previous wrestlers is, is a senior at IU now, so it's been cool to kind of follow the rugby journey there.
Mark Cuban, getting in the mix with the boy, like that's pretty sick. Mm-hmm. Uh, then like learning about how this sport could like, literally took you all over the world from again, Japan to Uruguay to Australia, all that fun stuff. Um, it's awesome. What I also love is the fact that you are taking your passion for rugby and bringing it to Indiana.
I think that is what truly makes Indiana a special place, is much, much like, uh. What was that place in Denver?
Glendale.
Much like Glendale, like if you are someone that has an interest and you wanna get people excited and you're willing to put in the work. Indiana's gonna help you make that happen.
Mm-hmm. Like you're turning a historic stadium, uh, in downtown on the west side of Indianapolis into a rugby mecca in the state of Indiana. Like that's pretty cool. And it started as an idea and a passion that you refused to to give up on. Mm-hmm. And then you just chased down, whether it be ultimate frisbee or rugby or whatever it might be, go out there, ask the questions.
The state is usually trying to help you get. Get the job done. So I think that's so cool. How can us as Hoosiers support you and the work you're doing at Kuntz Stadium?
Come out to some events. We've got the Women's Sevens National Championship for college, uh, coming up April 25th and 26th. We've got the men's national Championships the next weekend.
Um, and then we've got a slate of a, of a lot of, you know, fun events. We looking forward to hopefully get some concerts down at Kuntz. Oh. Um, and all sorts of stuff. So, um, it's not just gonna be rugby, uh, there's gonna be all sorts of things. So yeah. Keep an eye out on the events that we have coming up.
Dude. That's cool. Are there, I think that'll be so much fun, especially getting a new venue in the mix. Mm-hmm. Like, whether it be a concert or, you know, again, go down to an Indy AlleyCats game. They play May 9th, May 15th, May 29th. June 20th, June 27th and July 11th. I mean, holy Madison, uh, Minnesota, Chicago.
Uh, Toronto, Pittsburgh. Come down to a game, watch some rugby, watch some ultimate frisbee. Check out the concert and the other event schedule coming on. Bryce, thanks for stopping by. Man. It was a pleasure to share the mic with you. Keep up the good work and we will see you down on the near west side of Indianapolis.
Thank you. Thanks for having me on.
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