As a new year begins for the San Francisco State University men’s rugby club, the club begins practicing for the preseason, and the inevitable changes within the club occur.
Key starters from the previous year graduate, and returners take over leadership roles. Club President Kiril Gupta, who has been active with the club since Fall 2023, is familiar with the recurring cycle each new season brings.
“At first, you’re like ‘damn.’ You’re losing guys that were part of the team, [the] starting lineup,” Gupta said. “Every semester, the boys know you lose guys, you gain guys. That’s just how college rugby is.”
In the face of change, the club’s depth and returning athletes offset those departures. The graduated athletes prepared the returning ones to step up in their places and set the bar for the club.
“A lot of the returners, especially this year, were very receptive to what our graduates last year had to teach and how they conveyed it to them,” said Will Hubbell, the club’s secretary. “It’s more of a thing where we’re on the same page. We’re trying to get our cardio in. We’re trying to do the work outside of practice and do what we can to improve as players, as a team, as a unit.”
One potential change for this upcoming season is a home field for the club. According to Gupta, the club remains in ongoing negotiations with SFSU administration about finding a home field on campus. In the spring, Gupta proposed Maloney Field as an option after the baseball team got cut. Both men’s and women’s rugby have practiced on the field, and Gupta said it’s “looking like a better solution” to have a home field.
In the past, the club has practiced at the Mashouf Wellness Center field and had home games at Matthew J. Boxer Stadium. Gupta’s dream for the club is to play at Cox Stadium, but for now, he is taking baby steps to finalize a home field.
“There’s so many students here that we’ve gotten to know that want to come watch a game, and this is our best opportunity to play at SF State,” Gupta said.
While the club tries to secure a home field, they’ve had to rearrange their scheduled preseason games.
Originally, they scheduled home games against California State University, Monterey Bay and University of San Francisco, but now the club will play these games on the road. The club will also compete against Marin Rugby Club and the University of Santa Clara on the road as planned.
California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt Rugby is now a Division I rugby club alongside SFSU, so they will face each other in the spring regular season instead. Alec Shelton, the club’s teams and backs captain, said the tough competition against experienced clubs like Marin and Baracus, as well as production at and away from practice, will help everyone grow in the club.
“We need to be putting ourselves in situations where we know it’s gonna be hard, but we have to fight through that battle,” Shelton said. “I like competition. I want to see this team compete. I want to see us put our very all into competition. Whether it’s a win or it’s a loss, we’re learning from the experience and we’re taking from it.”
The club has also entered a new chapter with their first-ever sponsorship.
The club is officially sponsored by The Kezar Pub, located across Stanyan Street from Kezar Stadium. Over the years, the club grew a relationship with the owner, Cyril Hackett, as it became their go-to spot after games.
“I think it’s great. Kezar is definitely a place that we watched a lot of rugby in,” Shelton said. “I think it’s a great srship that will be beneficial to us for the club and in the future.”
The club also has connections to people who manufacture uniforms and merchandise. This has led to the club getting new uniforms this season. They received samples, but expect their official uniforms by November. This will be the first time the club has received new uniforms since 2018.
The club also grew their coaching staff this season with new forwards coach Mark Dillon. Born and raised in Ireland before moving to the Bay, Dillon has played and coached youth rugby since he was 11 years old. He has coached for 17 years and has been in the rugby scene in Northern California for 25 years.
“I run on an attitude of family,” Dillon said. “First, heighten everyone. There’s no disciplinary stuff. [I’m] grateful to have people here and who want to learn. And I expect us to win because that’s what I do.”
Hubbell said the addition of Dillon brings a vital element ahead of their season.
“He’s blunt. He’s tough, but it’s something that we need,” Hubbell said. We need [an] attitude like that to push ourselves to go against this competition this year. I love the new addition that Coach Mark brings to a team. The intensity and the drive that he brings to all of us. Because of that, we’ve also started to push each other as a group, as a unit, so that we all improve together.”
The words ‘if it happens once, it’s a mistake. If it happens twice, it becomes a habit,’ rang in Shelton’s mind as he expressed how Dillon changed the way members communicate mistakes on the field.
“Instead of just pointing out an error and letting that be, it’s more giving advice and helping to negate that error as much as possible,” Shelton said. “So [it’s about] making sure that the habits we do have are great habits. And if we’re doing stuff that would be considered an error, we have coaches and players who have a lot more experience, who can teach in a productive way to where those errors aren’t just being seen as something’s wrong, rather, let’s see how we can fix it.”
CJ Hernandez, a transfer student from College of the Siskiyous had originally been introduced to the sport through an old friend’s dad.
There were no rugby clubs where Hernandez grew up, so when he saw there was one at SFSU, he took advantage of the opportunity.
“Everyone’s super friendly and welcoming,” Hernandez said. “It’s been a pretty good experience joining the team. If you’re new to the sport, they don’t really care. Everyone’s just here to get better at the end of the day. We want to bring each other up as a team, which is something I really admire.”
With between 40 and 45 guys on the club, they aim for a full 60-man roster this season. Gupta’s efforts have centered around one thing that he was taught when he first joined: “Treat every semester like you have zero people on the team.” He anticipates the numbers to grow as the club goes through its preseason.
The club previously collected two wins in the prior season against Stanford University and the University of Nevada, Reno. Wacker said they were “really good boosters” for the club as they continue to look onward.
“I was very happy with the progress made from each individual player, as well as coming together as a team,” Wacker said.
Wacker is determined to find where the pieces fit for this year’s roster. According to Wacker, there are more talented athletes on the field this season, including guys who bring speed and size to the club.
“This team has shown me in the preseason that they’re ready to work,” Wacker said. “They’re working on their own. These guys are communicating their thoughts and what they need. I love that. It shows a lot of mindfulness, and I can mold something with that.”
Gupta said he’ll look to finish what his predecessors started but make the club more strict all for the end goal of improving the brotherhood on and off the field.
“It’s all about just making sure the boys are getting better and better each semester, but also putting more expectations for the organization,” Gupta said.
