Coach leads UPS rugby in right direction

Photo courtesy of UPS Rugby

RUG BURN. University of Puget Soundâ??s Dana Wikstrom breaks away from the pack during a rugby teams game this past season.

By Matt Enloe

Tacoma Weekly

Driving down North 21st Street with his wife and son, Dan Cantillana saw some University of Puget Sound (UPS) students passing a rugby ball back and forth.

â??I popped out of the van and was like, â??Do you guys play rugby?â?? And they were all freaked out, like, â??Who is this guy?â??â?? recalled Cantillana. The students, who played on the peer-led rugby club team at the college, asked if Cantillana would coach the team and he excitedly agreed.

One year later, the local business owner and former rugby player at Central Washington University has built his life around the UPS rugby team and its players. â??I really believe by giving you receive, and I give to them what I know and I get to receive them, their jokes, their life, just them being college kids,â?? he commented.

After the freak encounter with the UPS rugby players on the side of the road, Cantillana was inspired by his players to sell his house in Titlow and buy a house one block off campus.

With only one win in their previous season, Cantillana said he told the students that their team would be built around the three pillars of respect, structure and tenacity. The team started the season by dropping its first game of the season 43-3 against the best team in the league, the Oregon Institute of Technology (OIT).

Slowly, the team found its rhythm as most of the players were playing rugby for the first time. Four wins later, the Loggers â??ruggersâ?? found themselves against the same OIT team that thumped them in the season opener. In first half, it looked as though it was going to be a similar result as their previous meeting, but in the second half they turned things around.

â??At halftime, I was like, â??Guys, just have fun, go out there and play rugby. Weâ??ve had a great year. I donâ??t care;Â if it stops now, I donâ??t care,â??â?? Cantillana reminisced. â??Oh man, we totally come back and tie it up, totally have momentum and the last five minutes the crowd is going nuts, the parents are going crazy. It was just so much fun. They scored and beat us by seven, but it was such a dramatic swing.â??

The young team of mostly underclassmen is looking forward to next year, when the players can try to improve upon their first year with a coach. Much of the teamâ??s success has come from re-establishing connections with the university and the Tacoma Nomads Rugby Team, both of which have helped move the UPS team in the right direction. The school has given the rugby team money to buy new uniforms and the Nomads have let the UPS team play its matches on their home field.

UPS student and rugby player Dana Wikstrom said he could see the transformation of the team over the last year. â??You could see it turn from like a club sport to a team,â?? remarked the bulky sophomore. â??Not even a team by the end of it (the season); itâ??s sort of like a family...it doesnâ??t just end with practice. The relationships continue.â??

The team has set up headquarters at Cantillanaâ??s new house off campus where the coach hosts â??family dinnersâ?? once a month, where the players can bring their significant others to a dinner; Wikstrom said the dinners are usually followed by fun activities like ping pong tournaments or watching rugby videos.

â??Dan is such an engaging guy that he just sucks you into everything,â?? said junior Brandon Henry. A defender on the Loggers menâ??s soccer team, Henry said he fell in love with rugby after trying it as a form of staying in shape during the off-season. â??Itâ??s so easy to just fall in love with the game. Itâ??s so much fun,â?? he noted. Henry said he is looking forward to next season, when they will get real uniforms and look more like a respectable side. Â â??Itâ??s still a club sport and stuff, but I really feel like itâ??s about to make that leap up to the next level,â?? stated Henry.

Both players said they are going to work on their games during the summer with the older players on the Nomads.

Their coach sees the teamâ??s potential on the field, but has organized the team to be a force off the field, as well. â??Because I want these guys to see that college is more than just their classes and rugby. Youâ??re in the community for a reason for four to six years, and we can enhance the community, put together a good, respectable side,â?? said Cantillana, who has assigned UPS student Miles Edmark to be the director of community relations for the team. Now when you drive down North 21st Street, where the team met its enthusiastic coach, signs are posted for the UPS rugby team showing its involvement in keeping the community clean. Cantillana said he will continue to invest in his players as others invested in him so that they can carry the memories for years to come.

â??For me, the scoreboard really doesnâ??t matter as much as it is about if you can do all you can with your potential, then there you go,â?? concluded Cantillana. â??I know that, yeah, weâ??re playing a game and thereâ??s a score, but youâ??re going to have this memory for 10, 15, 20, 60 years.â??Â

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