As Jesuit students, we’re called upon “to give and not count the cost,” as according to the Prayer for Generosity. This message highlighting the time, talent, and treasure we all have to offer those less fortunate than us. In terms of treasure, many individuals myopically view their contributions limited to monetary value only. However, the Jesuit Rugby team sought to break the mold of the archetypal community service by collecting blankets and hosting a rugby tournament open to students.
The Jesuit Rugby team, amid their offseason full of training, hosted the Twelfth Annual “Score a TRY for Humanity” 6-on-6 Rugby Tournament this past Tuesday from 5:45 to 9 PM in Postell Stadium.
Captain of the rugby team, Christian Schoeberl ’16 sees the purpose of the fundraiser as “a dual purpose [event].” He elaborates, “The first is, obviously, a blanket drive for The Bridge, a homeless recovery center in North Dallas. The second is to generate interest in the Jesuit rugby team and give students the opportunity to give back to their community. So, the idea came from a combination of service and athletics.” Junior Marlin Walkup, a member of the team, also sees this event as “unique because rather than being a simple blanket drive, the rugby coaches have made it into a community event where anyone who wants to play and run around can.” He adds, “It’s cool to see people who have no idea what rugby is come out and throw the ball and get a feel for what the sport is and what values can be gained from it.”
In the Fall of 2002, Head Coach of the team, Mr. Anthony Mattacchione was taking his role in the department fully. Coach Mattacchione approached Fr. TJ Martinez, S.J., a scholastic at the time, about finding a new way to get kids more involved in service projects. He explained, “A lot of my kids were on the rugby team at the time, we’re interested in getting other guys involved, so I came up with this idea of this touch tournament.”
Originally, 35 or 45 kids were involved in the tournament, and The Bridge had requested blankets for their shelter, due to the winter season approaching. Coach Mattachione believes that the tournament is unique in that students “bring something that people can physically use or need.” Schoeberl also added that “blankets are such minuscule and overlooked objects in our life. I never really stop and think that people out there don’t even have access to the comfort and warmth of a blanket. To those who don’t have a place to stay, a blanket can remind them of comfort or shelter and it’s nice to think we’re giving that comfort to those who need it.” The simple, yet impactful sign of a blanket on the Homeless Recovery Center allows for the ease of participation and donation to those in need in the Dallas community.
This year was the first time since 2007 that girls have played in the tournament as well. Mattachione explains, “We’ve done [co-ed] stuff like this with soccer, like AAOS [African American Outreach Society], but this… is something different. It helps us too, because it’s close to the end of football season, and some underclassmen may not know what they want to do in the fall… It doesn’t give us an injection of students, but it gives us an injection of interest.”
The tournament was a huge success, bringing in hundreds of blankets, new and old, to give to The Bridge on behalf of Jesuit. If you’re looking for an exciting, simple, yet highly impactful service project, this is the event for you.
