Four members of Becker’s girls rugby team recently traveled to Scotland to tour cities and play the sport in an expedition organized by the Eagan Rugby Club of Minnesota.

The troop of Minnesota rugby players were comprised from four area schools including Eagan, Minnetonka and Albert Lea. The girls got to visit Inverness, Skye, Perth and Edinburgh as home bases, while adding time in Stirling, Dornoch and Pitlochry. They were abroad for two weeks.

“The tradition of building touring sides for trips like this has been a huge part of rugby in America,” said Becker Head Coach Luke Salzer. “But this is the first time in a long time that a team from Minnesota was put together for a tour.”

Becker’s foursome to join the touring team were: Ryland Beutz (12th grade), Journey Sieg (12th), Anikah Hall (11th), and Kennedy Riffe (10th). Chaperones for the trip were a combination of some parents, coaches from the Eagan club, as well as a coach from the Minnetonka club.

Salzer was unable to attend.

Becker’s girls rugby team is called the “Becker Werebearzz” and they have just commenced their 2023 season. Their first match is May 3 and the league they play under is “Minnesota Youth Rugby” or MYR. They have been in existence since 2021.

“Currently we have about 14 girls registered to play this spring,” said Salzer. “Our home games take place at El Dorado park in Clearwater.”

The Becker boys rugby team has existed since 2017.

Salzer’s background in the sport goes back to his freshman year of college in the spring of 2010 when he started playing for the University of Minnesota Duluth. 

“While there, I won a national championship,” he said. “Then, I refereed rugby for a year after graduating. Then in the spring of 2015 I joined a men’s team out of Minneapolis called the Metropolis Rugby club. I still play for Metropolis to this day and all of my current assistant coaches are active players for that club.” 

Salzer says he started both of Becker’s rugby clubs with a lot of help from active players in the Minnesota Rugby community.

“I really want to highlight how big of a deal the community aspect of rugby is at all levels,” said Salzer. “As far as I am aware it is one of the only sports where home teams are always expected to provide a meal and a social after all games, and that is a big part of how and why it is possible for players from four different teams to come together and form teams like the Scotland touring side.” 

Salzer says the sport occasionally gets a bad reputation for being brutal or rough, but these same players that are tackling each other all season will play on all star teams and touring sides together, and many of them will find themselves playing with the same players in college and even in adult leagues like his. 

“I still have teammates who have been playing for almost 20 years that continue to play with teammates from high school,” he says. “The community of rugby is my absolute favorite feature of the game!”