The Loyola rugby team is ready to begin the new season and hoping to get off to a good start, according to the team’s head coach, Lloyd Greenfield.

The team practices every Monday and Wednesday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the Residential Quad.

Greenfield, history senior, is in his fourth and final year on the team, which he says holds special meaning to him.

“For me this rugby team means discipline, honor, pride in your school and where you come from, and representing something greater than yourself,” Greenfield said.

Greenfield believes that rugby has helped him develop skills that will help him lead a better life in the future.

Chris Bournés, political science/economics sophomore, joined the team this year.

“I decided to join the rugby team this year because it looked like fun,” Bournés said. He added that the team is really close because most of the players live on the same floor.

Alex Weed, general business sophomore, has been a part of the Loyola rugby team for two years now. He feels that the team is much more focused and therefore better. “I feel we are 100 percent better this year. Last year we were completely horrible. We couldn’t get people to come to practice. This year we have more than a full team and they show up. It’s good stuff,” Weed said.

According to Weed, the team needs to work on tackling, but will know what to work on more specifically after they play their first game.

As there are a lot of new players on the team, the veteran players have had to mentor them and help them improve so they can perform better and improve the team.

Greenfield believes the team is ready to get the season off to a good start since they have gathered all the funds and can now focus on practicing.

“The school has been very cooperative. They covered almost all of our dues. They’ve taken the stance that it’s in the best interest of the school to keep it going, so we’re trying to contribute as much as we can to the school,” Greenfield said.

He is pleased to see the motivation in the players, especially the new additions.

“We’re looking good this year. We have a lot of new guys, a lot of excitement, everyone is ready to play, but for some it’s learning a new game altogether,” Greenfield said.

The team is working together to make sure that the team is ready for play when time comes for their first match.

The team is currently getting ready for Oct. 18 when they have two games scheduled in Gretna, La. There they will play Division II teams that registered for this tournament. Some of the schools that will participate in this tournament are University of Louisiana Lafayette and Louisiana Tech University.

In order to get the school motivated with the rugby team, there will be a bus taking students to the game on Oct. 18.

Eduardo Gonzalez can be reached at [email protected].