Huntsville Rugby Club

The Huntsville Rugby Club was formed in the summer of 1978 as a split from the UAH Rugby Club making Huntsville the third reincarnation of Rugby in the Rocket City. Proceeding Huntsville were the Redstone Rugby Club in the early sixties and then UAH in the early seventies. Memories fade so call me out on this if I’m wrong, but basically the school would not support the UAH Club with non-students playing for the team (yes, there were other issues as well) so the Huntsville Club was formed with non-student players forming the nucleus of the Club.

After practicing all summer at Mastin Lake Park under Coach Jerry Willis and assistants Craig Powell and Rob Pomeranian (players from the now defunct Tullahoma RFC) the Huntsville Boy’s were ready for their first match against their former teammates from UAH. Details of the match are sketchy but first hand accounts from several who played or were present yielded the following details.

Playing for Huntsville in the scrum that day were Prop Troy Duncan, Flankers Howard Baer & Steve “Wildman” Thornton, Hooker Bill Willis and second rows Craig Powell & Rob Pomeranian with Bob Gamble in as #8. Backline details are less well know but SH Bob Armstrong, FH Craig Willis and FB Neal Scott all played for the good guys. Ronnie Lenoir, John Paul McKee and Tom Copeland played for UAH that day and later became lifelong members of HRC. No matter which side you played for that day all agree it was a hard fought match with Huntsville coming out on top, 12-6, (a try was worth 4 points then, and conversions were still 2).

At the end of the match Coach Jerry Willis ripped off his shirt to reveal a tee-shirt underneath bearing the statement “Huntsville Rugby Club, City Champions 1978” (see photos) It is assumed that the over-shirt would have remained on if Huntsville had lost their first match. It is rumored that that shirt can still be found in Decatur Alabama in the hands of one who should (but won’t) remain nameless HOWARD BAER!

These are my personal recollections with input from some of the others who were there. If you have other details I would love to hear from you.

--Neal Scott Huntsville Old Boy’s Director 2010/2011--

Pin-Hook Creek Award:

Given annually at the Christmas Party to whoever does the most for the Club “Off the Field” in the previous year. At a fundraising match between the Old Boy’s and the Club Side held circa 1985 Bill Willis won the MVP of the match award. Due to the hard feelings, bad blood and general mayhem that ensued during the match (yes we had a couple of fights) Bill stopped on the way home and threw his MVP trophy in Pin-hook Creek stating it should all be about team unity rather than individual awards and thus the Pin-Hook Creek Award was born. Who cares more about the good of the Club than individual honors is the winning trait for this award.

Rick Cooper Memorial Park:

Rick Cooper was a Huntsville Rugger who died way too young in a car accident following rugby practice. The family (including Brother Tom who is still a semi-active HRC Old Boy) requested donations to the HRC Land Fund in lieu of flowers. In 1983/84 using the Rick Cooper donations as a down payment HRC with the financial assistance of long-time member Tom Copeland purchased the land. (Tom has paid it off and paid property taxes ever since). The leveled, crowned and irrigated playing fields you see now were largely the work of John Paul (JP) McKee who provided equipment and manpower to level and crown the fields. Take a close look at the sign sometime and note the list of deceased members with plaques remembering them. RIP Old Friends!

Thomas Kling:

The sharp eyes among you may have noticed a tombstone at the fields. Many years ago, HRC had our own bus and on one of the more memorable bus trips a tombstone was “acquired”. No, we did not steal it from a grave (Though I have heard that version of the story) but from a stonecutter’s mistake pile. For many years whenever we would get a match report in the newspaper Thomas Kling was always added as the “Man of the Match”. As HRC’s all time best player Thomas Kling has won the sword award (see below) several times as well.

Sword Award:

As the story goes one of our former players (Captain Dave) took the sword from a North Vietnamese Colonel following a pitched battle in which he shot said Colonel. The Sword Award was given by Captain Dave to the Club to be given each year to the most aggressive player in the Mid-South Tournament (determined who advanced in the playoffs prior to matrix play). Now that we no longer play a Midsouth Tournament it is given to the most aggressive player in matrix season. PS-pretty sure the dead colonel story is BS but still a good story!

White Noise:

You may have noticed on some of our older jerseys “White Noise” on the sleeve. This is in honor of Jerry Willis (Bill Willis’ Dad) that was the first and longtime coach of HRC. If Jerry was within earshot...you knew it! A very loud man with white hair and a nickname was born. Note the double meaning....white noise is also static or background noise that no one listens to and is annoying...this fits Jerry to a Tee but we love him anyway!! Some of the more memorable Jerry quotes...”hit them until they piss blood” and “the beer tastes better when you win”. RIP Coach!

Our Crest:

The upper left quarter features the skull and crossbones in honor of School House “Old School” Rugby and the general misconception that rugby is a dangerous sport. We all know it’s a very cool sport played by dangerous people! The upper right quarter is the British flag commemorating the birthplace of “The Game”. The Alabama state flag graces the lower left quarter (We are from Alabama ) with the Rocket on the right depicting our home the Rocket City. RMC on the rocket is Rick Morgan Cooper (see Rick Cooper Memorial Park). The large star is for Coach Jerry Willis (White Noise) and the other stars are our deceased former players.