Rugby strengthens bond between Cherry Point, community

News: Rugby strengthens bond between Cherry Point, community

2nd Marine Aircraft Wing & Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point

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Story by Lance Cpl. S.T. Stewart Subscribe To This Journalist

Lance Cpl. S.T. Stewart

Sgt. Othello Dayse, an air traffic controller with Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron, runs through two mats held by Lance Cpl. Shane McHenry, a generator mechanic with Marine Air Control Squadron 2 (left), and Lance Cpl. Cat Thompson, a supply clerk with H&HS (right), during a practice June 27, at the Havelock Recreation Center. The Cherry Point Rugby Team that is mainly funded by the team members and one of the local businesses, practices every Wednesday and Friday. The rugby team’s next tournament is July 7 and 8, in Wilmington, N.C., and they are working hard to come out on top.

HAVELOCK, N.C. – The bond between the Cherry Point military members and the surrounding local community is always strengthening.

Marines, sailors and members of the local community are strengthening that bond by playing rugby, a sport that is best described as a mix between football and soccer.

The Cherry Point Rugby Team has been active since 1985 and though the funding for the team was recently cut, the team is still active, mainly funded by the team members.

“There is a local business that helps with the funding, but for the most part the team members pay for every tournament we enter in,” said Brian Whalen, a volunteer coach for the team.

The team is constantly looking for new players. Anyone who is 18-years-old or older can join the team.

“We don’t care how good anyone is,” said Jimmy Pope, a mechanical engineer with Naval Air Systems Command. “We will help them as long as they give it their all and they are interested in playing.”

“Rugby is one of the purist games I’ve ever played,” said Jimmy Pope, a mechanical engineer with Naval Air Systems Command. “It’s a simple game and it takes raw athleticism.”

Pope said that rugby is the most brutal sport he has ever played because there is no stopping and there is a lot of contact, but he loves the team and how hard they work together.

Petty Officer 3rd Class Chase Lancaster, a corpsman at the Naval Health Clinic aboard the air station has been playing on the team for about three months, “It’s awesome out here. We don’t differentiate from Marine, Navy or civilian. We are all one big family.”

Staff Sgt. Robert Roebuck, an operations chief with Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 252, compared the unit cohesion of the team to a Marine Corps unit saying, “Today was my first day and as soon as I showed up everyone started talking to me and immediately accepted me as part of the team. The amount of team work out here is phenomenal.”

The rugby team’s next tournament is July 7 and 8, in Wilmington, N.C., and they are working hard to come out on top.

“The harder we work the closer we get,” said Lancaster. ”We work as a team and that brings us together.”