Challenges


Despite the fact that Idaho State's Rugby team is the most successful sport affiliated with ISU, it is probably the most overlooked. Idaho State's Rugby games has on average close to two hundred spectators, while  Idaho State's football games, whose game days run parallel to rugby, have an average turnout of spectators into the thousands. Rugby is often seen as a "foreign sport." It often times goes unrecognized and is viewed confusing as well as hard to follow. This tends to turn away potential spectators allowing rugby's recognition to never reach its full potential, especially at ISU. This also impacts funds for the rugby team. Since ISU's club sports program primarily only generates revenue for teams if they sell an adequate amount of tickets for their games. This is a real catch 22 for the players.

It's hard for the team to benefit by investing money elsewhere, like in advertising to increase game attendance, when the players paying out of pocket is the sole reason to why the program  is still alive today.






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Idaho State University's Mens Rugby

Idaho State University Men's Rugby Club first began in 1981 competing against many of the same teams that are in the conference today. This includes Brigham Young University, Utah State University, and the University of Utah, along with schools in Montana, Washington, and Oregon. However, shortly after the season the club folded.

In 1996, the club was reinstated and became a member of the Inland Pacific Collegiate Conference, a conference that has been around for over 30 years. Even though ISU only had two players with any rugby experience, they never backed down from a game. They developed pride allowing them to gain knowledge and experience for the game, which the team accredits to why they are so good today.

In 1999, the team competed against various colleges such as The Air Force Academy, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Colorado, among others. ISU completed their season with an impressive 8-4-1, but unfortunately lost fourteen of their starters. This forced them to rebuild their team and switch from a Division 1 to a Division 2, increasing their odds of making the playoffs.

By 2003, after placing second in a tournament against Oregon, the team's dream of making the playoffs finally came true. They placed third in the region, going 1-1 in the playoffs and barley missing the opportunity of going to the Elite 8. But then in 2005, the team finally competed in the United States of America Rugby Football Union Elite 8, finishing an impressive seventh in the nation for Division 2.

The team's true colors didn't come out, however, until the 2010-2011 season. The team ended with an amazing 16-3-1 year, but unfortunately lost the Utah Rugby Union Division II collegiate conference championship. The team learned a lot from this past season and with the experience and knowledge gained, have the hopes of finally bringing home a national championship to Idaho State University.