Ruggers since 1999

Macon Love RFC

Macon Ruggers in the News

The non-stop action and punishing hits aren’t the only things attracting new players to the sport of rugby. It’s also the fact that there is a suitable position for all athletes – regardless of size, shape or stature. And no one proves that more than 1^st Lt. David Pina, a member of the Air Force rugby team.

Measuring 5-foot-8 and weighing just 158 pounds, it may appear that physically, hard-hitting rugby may not be the wisest choice of sports for Pina. But nothing could be further from the truth.

“Pound for pound, he may be our best player, both offensively and defensively,” said Lt. Col. Kenneth Holliday, coach of the Air Force rugby team. “He has a good field sense and can attack from anywhere on the field; he’s that fast and that shifty of a runner. And defensively, he never misses a tackle.”

Like many rugby players, Pina didn’t start playing until later in life. “I grew up playing soccer. I’d see rugby on television, but my mom said ‘that’s not something you need to even think about playing.’”

 Pina’s father, a senior master sergeant, was assigned to Moody Air Force Base in Valdosta, Ga., just as he started middle school. He started playing American football then, but by the time he reached high school, he felt he was too small to make a difference playing football, so he stuck with soccer.

After graduating from high school, Pina decided to pursue his lifelong dream of becoming a pilot, and in 1999, he enrolled in the U.S. Air Force Academy. He continued to play soccer, but his sophomore year he joined a few friends on the rugby pitch.

“I thought, ‘What the heck. I’ll go out and give it a shot. ’I’ve been playing ever since,” Pina said. “It’s a great game. It’s intense. And it’s the ultimate team sport. Everyone is out there putting their bodies on the line for the rest of the team.”

Pina led the Academy team to a national championship his senior year. Robins is his first duty station, and he is currently assigned to the 542nd Combat Sustainment Group working as a program manager in the radar warning receiver upgrade program. He continued to play rugby for a highly competitive team in Atlanta. When the commute got to be too much, he joined his current team, the Macon Love.

But his greatest pleasure comes in playing for the Air Force rugby team. He leaves today for Camp Lejeune, N.C., to participate in the 2006 Armed Forces Championships (Oct. 25-27), where his team will compete against teams from the Army, Navy, Coast Guard and Marines. Air Force is the defending champion,  thanks in part to Pina, who was the team’s leading scorer in last year’s tournament.

 In addition to taking on kicking duties last year, Pina primarily plays fullback, a position integral to the team’s offense, but it’s also an important defensive position as it’s the team’s last line of defense. He also plays wing, where much of his success on the field has come. “Pina is an experienced and aggressive player on the wing, which is a major advantage, as most teams put their most inexperienced players in that position,” said Capt. Andy Mcquade, captain for the Air Force rugby team. “He can carve through a defense with tremendous aggressiveness and pace.”

Although Pina isn’t the biggest or strongest player, he is usually the quickest. “What allows me to play rugby is my speed,” Pina said. “It helps me to be elusive and shifty on offense and helps me go into tackles on my own terms (on defense).” He added despite the physical nature of the sport, he doesn’t worry about getting injured. “It’s more of a concern with wives and mothers,” he said.

But it isn’t just his aggressiveness, speed or even natural athletic ability that has made Pina a star rugby player. It’s more. “He has an abundance of natural talent, but he also has an amazing work ethic,” Holliday said. “He’s easy to coach because he listens and applies what he learns. That work ethic spills over into the workplace.” The opportunity to play for the Air Force team isn’t one Pina takes for granted. “The Air Force has given my family a lot of opportunities,” he said. “I received a great education, have a great job and work with great people. I don’t think there is any greater organization to work with in the world than the military and specifically the Air Force.”

He is especially grateful to Kenneth Porter, sports director at Robins, and to his supervisor, Maj. Ross Novack, and his group commander, Col. Tim Freeman, who support his permissive TDYs so he can play in the Armed Forces  Championships.

“Playing for the Air Force team is a great opportunity. But I couldn’t do it without the support of my immediate supervisor, group commander and even the base commander,” Pina said. “All of my supervisors have been nothing but supportive and willing to cut me loose to go represent the Air Force.”

Having won the Armed Forces tournament the past two years, the Air Force team has a target on its back. And although deployments have impacted the team, with speedy 1st Lt. David Pina anchoring the team at wing and fullback, the Air Force can be confident that its team will bring home another trophy.

 

 

Johnson, Kendahl. “Speed, talent propel rugby player to star status.” The Robbins Rev-Up 20 Oct. 2006:4B.

Speed, talent propel rugby player to star status

October 20, 2006

 

Rugby is a sport for any ethnicity, age, body type or background.  But to actually participate it helps if you are really tough and a little crazy.  Just ask rugby player Mark Toth, a partner with Hall, Bloch, Garland Meyer Law Firm, specializing in railroad law.

Rugby is often described as “football without pads,” but there are some major differences. The ball is not thrown forward down the field, and play never stops unless the ball is out of bounds.

Toth started playing rugby with the Macon Love in the early nineties and has been president of the team since 1999.

“We’ve had doctors on the team. We have college students.  We have local business owners. We have construction workers. The rugby community draws people from all walks of life.  It’s somewhat of an underground brotherhood in the United States,” he says.

There is the social aspect of rugby. And not just within a team.  Rugby tradition mandates that opposing teams have an after-party together, which Toth says is “unique because you’ll be beating and bloodying each other, and when it’s all over with you all go have a beer together.”  Rugby has taken Toth to South America and the Caribbean for matches and has introduced him to international friends from as far away as South Africa.

Toth describes rugby as “the ultimate team sport.”

“In football, you always know who the quarterback is or the star running back, but not even the biggest sports fans will know who the lineman are,” he contends.  “In rugby, it’s 15 men all contributing. When you sweat, bleed, win or lose together, you do it as a team.”

At 5’10” and 150 pounds, Toth doesn’t look like a typical rugby player. But he says, “Rugby’s not just for big guys. If you are an athlete, we can teach you to play.”

Toth became involved with Macon Love after being intrigued by the team practicing in Central City Park, where he used to jog after work.  “One day I went over and talked to these guys playing rugby, and they looked at me, this little preppy lawyer, and said, ‘You’re never going to make it out here,’” he reminisces.  “I went to practice the next week and I’ve been around ever since.”

After someone plays their first game, Toth says, “They’ll either play as long as their body will physically let them, or they’ll find some reason they’re ‘too busy.’”  Despite over a dozen surgeries, including a fractured elbow, facial fractures, and neck and shoulder injuries, Toth’s body is still letting him play.  And he’s still going strong.  “My wife thought I was going to quit at 40, but I’m much easier to live with if I’m playing,” he admits with a laugh.

 

 

“Rugby Love.” Address Macon. 12 March 2008: p. 49.

Photos

 

Left: Dave Pina, 20 Oct. 2006 issue of The Robbins Rev-Up.

 

 

 

Right: Mark Toth, 12 March 2008  issue of Address Macon.