Inside Look: Babson Rugby

Babson College is well known for having one of the best undergraduate business degrees and entrepreneurship program in the country, but very little people actually know what Babson’s student life is like, much less the club athletic scene. Evanlehrman, Babson ‘18, shares with us how he was surprised by Babson’s club sports and how it changed his experience in college. 

In high school, I was all about sports. I dedicated a lot of my time to football and wrestling during my four years, along with a few activities with less commitment. Unfortunately, my passion for sports didn’t mean I was particularly talented at any of them. Participating in athletics on a competitive level for a college team wasn’t what I was looking to do. Babson has twenty-two division three sports team, but I didn’t join any of them because I’d decided to focus on other things in college. I wanted to find a fun, low commitment club sport that allowed me enough free time to do plenty of other activities but still get a decent amount of exercise and let off some steam. In my quest for such an activity, I discovered rugby. I had never played rugby before in my life but I’d enjoyed my time on the football and wrestling teams, so I thought, why not?

I’ll be honest—when I first joined the team I was expecting to find the common stereotype: a bunch of meatheads that just liked running around and hitting each other. I quickly learned, however, that that wasn’t at all what the team was about. Five out of the fifteen seniors on the team were academic all-Americans, putting the Babson rugby team second only to Dartmouth’s athletics in that measure. None of the members of the rugby team were recruited to Babson for their athletic skill, meaning they were all accepted based on their academic merit, unlike the varsity sports teams where a lot of members otherwise would have had a harder time getting in. The rugby guys surprised me and made me realize that I shouldn’t hold people to their stereotypes. They were all equally smart and capable.

Once I started practicing and meeting all of the guys, I fell in love with the sport and the sense of camaraderie. The more I got to know them, the more I grew to respect them and enjoy hanging out with them. I have never met a group of people closer to each other than the men’s rugby team at Babson. I had set out to find a sport that I could partake in to help me de-stress, but I ended up in a brotherhood I never expected I would find. I couldn’t spend enough time playing, practicing, or being with my team. Joining the rugby team has really helped me find a solid community at Babson and I can’t imagine my life without it.  

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