Photos courtesy Memphis Inner-City Rugby
Student-athletes with Memphis Inner-City Rugby (MICR) swept first place in the USA Rugby Regional Cup Tournament series last weekend (June 23rd-24th). Eighteen players from MICR joined forces with usual opponents from across Tennessee – Germantown, Ravenwood, Brentwood, Columbia — to form the Tennessee Tri-Stars squads.
The young men's team played at Life University in Georgia against all-star state teams from Colorado and South Carolina, among others. According to MICR, "The boys — led by Jason Richards, (CBHS/West TN), Mark Williams, (Ravenwood/USA South), and Tee Neely (MICR) — suffered only one loss to South Carolina before pushing through to win the whole tournament."
The young women's team, coached by Dan LaFond (Columbia), Heidi Whitman (Germantown), Steph Kunz (Germantown), and Emma Knapp (MICR), "went undefeated in the varsity bracket — turning heads with lopsided scores and explosive offense." In Fishers, Indiana, they competed against the best from Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan, and took the top prize.
According to Michael Deutsch, MICR's chairman of the board, "The mission of Memphis Inner-City Rugby is to expand athletic and academic opportunity in low-income neighborhoods across Memphis. As a not-for-profit, we coordinate student-athlete participation in rugby at the high school level. We currently have boys and girls teams at Freedom Preparatory Academy, Power Center Academy, and Soulsville Charter School. We are currently considering a fourth high school and piloting programs in several middle schools.
"There is more than rugby training," Deutsch says. "Our players get ACT tutoring and professional strength and conditioning training from CrossFit Triad in East Memphis and top yoga instruction through a partnership with Lululemon Athletica Memphis."
A short documentary about MICR and the impact it's had on Memphis youth, Rugby Boys of Memphis, was selected by the Tribeca Film Festival last year. The short film is available for viewing via Amazon Prime.
In the documentary, Calvin Gentry, then an MICR (Power Center Academy) team captain, describes hardships, violence, and drug use in his neighborhood and the difference MICR has made in his community. "Nobody on my team knew what rugby was before they came, and they taught it to us. I think that's just so special, man," he says. "They help people who need help, so they come to the black community, they saw an opportunity to put people through college..."
MICR co-founder/executive director Shane Young says in the documentary, "The thing I've learned about our kids and what makes them stay out at a practice in crazy bad conditions is just they are so resilient, so you combine the love that they have for this new game and their resilience and toughness ... they'll play against anybody, they'll tackle anybody regardless of size, so resilience and toughness is just a theme with these guys, and the heart that they have is unbelievable."
"If you want to see determination, look into the eyes of a rugby player with a ball in his hand," Gentry says. "I love rugby, the brotherhood of it, the unity, the chance that it gives everybody; it's taught me maturity, it's given me experiences I've never had."
Today, Gentry attends Arkansas State University and is on the college's rugby team. He has traveled the country with Young speaking at film festivals and advocating for MICR.
The results from last weekend's tournaments were as follows:
Tennessee Boys - 1st Place (6 MICR players)
Tennessee Girls - 1st Place (9 MICR players)
Tennessee Girls JV - 1st Place (3 MICR players)
The MICR players who participated include: Erron Hubbard, Marlon Sherley, Demarion Guy, Jalen Jones, Decari Beam, Nick Holeyfield, Nadia Bonner, Miracle Smith, Akila Cathey, Erica Cathey, Angelica Marquez, Kierra Tuggle, Selena Jones, Carlicia Beam, Niya Bailey, Taisia Dukes, and Kamyia Rivers.
Congrats to all!
For more information about MICR, visit memphisinnercityrugby.org.