Northern Santa Barbara County isn’t known as a hotbed for rugby, but if Central Coast Sharks league president James Gentry has his way, it someday will be.
Gentry’s involvement in youth football spans nearly 20 years. He coached for the Nipomo Football League, winning several league championships, and later served as a line coach for Santa Maria High’s freshman team. He moved to become a successful a defensive coordinator in the Santa Maria Youth Football League from 2003 to 2008.
Now, Gentry is turning his attention to the traditional English sport of rugby, and would like to impart his enthusiasm for it to a new generation of kids looking for something a little different to keep them active.
“A lot of kids go from football season right now to soccer and then baseball. … It just gets repetitious,” Gentry said. “It’s something new, and we’ll throw it at them and see if they like it.”
A native of Santa Maria, Gentry attended Santa Maria High School, where he wrestled and played football as an offensive and defensive lineman. He was introduced to rugby through a friend from New Zealand, and he immediately appreciated its egalitarian nature.
“There are similarities to football, but it’s not just designated to the running back, quarterback or the receivers that get to actually catch and run with the ball,” he said. “Everybody gets to participate, and that’s what I really like.”
Starting in 1997, Gentry played for 12 years with the Arroyo Grande Men’s Rugby Football Club, of which he was a founding member.
“We started the club and just got experience in it and fell in love with the game after my first training,” Gentry said. “We had to travel a lot … the Bay Area, L.A., those were the closest teams to play. So I just branched off and told them I was going to start my own team over here, so we’d have more kids in the area that play and less drive time.”
For the past month, Gentry has been teaching informal, twice-weekly introductions to the sport to a host of eager youngsters. The league, open to boys ages 9 to 18, will officially start with practices on Nov. 1, with games beginning in January. It will be made up of four teams: Under 12s, Under 14s, Under 16s, and High School, for those 16 and up. They’ll play games against clubs in San Luis Obispo and Arroyo Grande, even traveling for contests to Fresno, Bakersfield, Thousand Oaks, and Ventura.
So far, Gentry said he has about 40 players ready to take the field following the conclusion of their football seasons. Football players generally transition to the game quickly, with a few exceptions.
“There’s no pads, no helmets; it’s full contact,” Gentry said. “We land a lot different. We teach them how to tuck and roll and get to their feet different because there’s no stoppage. It’s a fitness thing, so they’re in shape by the time I’m done with them.”
The Central Coast Sharks Youth Rugby League, as a partner with the Rise and Achieve Foundation, will be the third rugby league established on the Central Coast, and the first-ever youth league in Santa Barbara County.
Though the team was originally called the Santa Maria Sharks, Gentry recently changed the name to reflect his desire to bring in players from areas stretching from Lompoc to Guadalupe to Nipomo.
The introduction of rugby to area youth coincides with a big year for the sport. The United States was recently host to the USA Sevens in Las Vegas, and beginning Sept. 10, the seventh Rugby World Cup will bring 20 teams from around the world to New Zealand over seven weekends. The event is sure to draw worldwide attention and draw in new fans in this country.
Gentry said he’s been pleased with the reception by the community so far and expects the World Cup to heighten interest in participation.
So far, Gentry has added four coaches, and is looking for more volunteers. If he’s able to find female coaches, Gentry said he’d consider starting up a girls’ high school team. At this point however, competition is only for the boys.
“You learn by doing, that’s how you get a feel for it and see if they’re going to like it or not,” Gentry said. “All the kids in the local area are more than welcome to try it out.”
Staff Writer Jeremy Thomas wrote this from the middle of a scrum. Contact him at jthomas@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Aug 25 – Sep 1, 2011.
