Dan's Papers - June 20, 2008 -

The Montauk Rugby Football Club may have been handed an easy victory when they defeated the Village Lions 56-0 in its May 31 season closer, but that doesn't mean the Sharks will be hanging up their cleats and taking it easy until the fall.

As usual, they'll be practicing all summer and preparing for the Hampton 7s - their seven-a-side tournament, where teams field only seven players at a time for shortened games. But more importantly, the Sharks, who have faced extinction at times over the past few years, will be thinking about their future, as they try to rebuild a dwindling squad. "We really just need to get more players out," said coach Paul Cleary, who has been involved with the league since 1993. "The goal is to develop the game locally. We really want to encourage anyone interested to come out."

The Sharks formed with just 10 players in 1973 and quickly grew into a Montauk staple. The team has been a force to be reckoned with in both Major League Rugby and the USA National Championship Rugby competitions. But over the years, players have gotten older and the number of new players has fluctuated with each season, at times threatening the existence of the successful team. And despite this, the team still managed to remain competitive.

But just last fall, the team was forced to forfeit several games because not enough players were coming out, leaving them unable to field a squad. They decided to forfeit their last two games of the season ahead of time, but planned on playing them anyway just for fun.

What happened next, nobody expected. The team's more dedicated players brought friends and relatives - who had never played rugby before - to the game and had them take the field. They beat the team from Bayonne, NJ and a week later, with more new players, they defeated the Morris, NJ team. "Even in our darkest days we can pull it out of the bag," Cleary said.

The team's hopes were raised and the players were invigorated, excited to start the spring season fresh. When the team started practicing again for the spring, 30 players were coming to practices and games. But towards the end of the season, that number started to drop. And now Cleary is trying to bolster his squad once again.

Even now, the team is composed of an even mix of veteran players and those new to the sport. "Rugby attracts a unique kind of guy," Cleary said. "You've got to like running around in the dark at 7 p.m. You've got to like getting off the couch. And you've got to like contact."

Though the team has often attracted international transplants on the East End who might have grown up with the game, local players might have never even seen it played before, Cleary said. Usually, though, local players interested in giving rugby a try were active in sports in high school or college.

And players usually find out about Montauk Rugby by word of mouth, encouraged to give it a shot by friends already on the team. Jemille Charlton would often come to games to see his friend play, then this spring he decided to get on the field himself. "I just fell in love with it," he said. A former high school football and soccer player, Charlton says he had seen the game played before by other students at the boarding school he attended, but that he never gave it much of a chance. "I just thought, 'What's this British thing?'" Now, he's one of the dedicated players showing up for practices and games each week. "I just wish we had more players."

Niko Hetgistavrou, a junior at East Hampton High School, found out the club was looking for players from a flyer hanging in his high school gym locker room. "I just heard what it was about and wanted to play," he said. "It was confusing at first, but then I got the hang of it. All the other players helped me out."

Cleary remains confident that the team can rebuild itself prior to the fall season, which is when teams compete to qualify for the National Championship tournament held throughout the spring. The team recently was given a wooden shed from Riverhead Building Supply to house all of their equipment at Herrick Park in East Hampton, and always hopes to attract more sponsors. Growing up in Ireland and playing for amateur city leagues there, Cleary says Montauk Rugby, with no set field or locker room, is a throwback to "the old days, when no one had club rooms." With the right sponsorship, though, the club could, perhaps, erect a more permanent fixture for itself. "You never know. Maybe one day we can realize that dream," he said. "But we've got to get more players first."