Culture RFC

“I owe my life to rugby because my dad wouldn’t have met my mom without it.”

That might be one of the most powerful things anyone has said to me since starting Culture RFC.

TJ played for Liberty Rugby. His father came from New Zealand through rugby. Years later, TJ represented USA age-grade rugby, travelled the world through the game, and returned to coach at the same club that helped shape him.

That’s the thing about rugby.

A tour becomes a friendship.
A friendship becomes a family.
A family becomes a coach.
A coach helps shape the next generation.

What happens on Saturday matters.

But the real story is everything that happens because of rugby.

A rainy night with Liberty Rugby in Renton, Washington.

Around the 1-minute mark of this video, one of the boys says something that stuck with me:

“I have a cool life.”

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that’s what rugby has given so many of us.

A game that can take a kid from Seattle to Hong Kong. To New Zealand. To university. Into friendships and cultures they may never have experienced otherwise.

At a time when young people are spending more and more of their lives online, I think it’s important that they still have opportunities for adventure. To get muddy. To travel. To meet people who grew up differently than they did. To be part of something bigger than themselves.

Rugby isn’t perfect. It’s rough, chaotic, and occasionally ridiculous.

But it also has a way of opening doors.

A couple of young players from Liberty Rugby Club sharing what the game means to them.

And a reminder that sometimes a cool life starts with simply showing up to training.

Seattle. Day one.

A few hours after landing, I found myself standing on the sideline at Liberty Rugby watching U8s, U14s and U18s train through classic Pacific Northwest conditions.

Mud, rain, tackle drills, parents on the sideline and volunteers giving up their evenings to help grow the game.

When people talk about the future of rugby in America, it’s easy to think about professional teams, World Cups and packed stadiums. But the reality is that the future is built on Thursday nights like this.

A few weeks after this visit, Liberty’s boys side went on to win the Washington D1 State Championship. Success like that doesn’t happen by accident.

Huge thanks to everyone at Liberty Rugby for welcoming me in and showing me a small part of Seattle’s rugby community.

Rain. Hail. Rugby.

For 80 minutes, it’s collisions.

Then both teams head underground to Massive Club in Seattle for post match.

One of the best parts of club rugby is that the match ends at full time. The community doesn’t.

Seattle Quake welcomed me into their world for a weekend in the Pacific Northwest.

That’s Seattle.
And that’s club rugby.

“That’s never been any doubt in any of my teammates’ minds that I belong on this team.”

On a rainy afternoon in Seattle, I spoke with Adam from the Seattle Quake RFC about rugby, inclusion, and what it means to find community through sport.

The best rugby clubs don’t just build teams. They give people a place to belong.

It was hailing during this interview.

Nobody mentioned it once.

Instead, we talked about rugby, community, finding your people, and why so many players stay involved long after their first season.

The Seattle Quake are one of the oldest inclusive rugby clubs in North America, and after spending an afternoon with them at Magnuson Park, it’s easy to see why people keep coming back.

Rugby is community.

Seattle Quake celebrating 25 years of rugby in the Pacific Northwest.

Founded in 2001, the Quake were the region’s first inclusive men’s rugby club. Today they field both competitive and developmental sides, helping introduce new people to the game every season.

Spent a rainy Saturday afternoon at Magnuson Park watching them take on Budd Bay Rugby.

One thing that stood out, some of their players had never played rugby before. Some had never played a sport before.

That’s club rugby.

Rugby Pubs of America #1 🍀

It’s 8am on a rainy Saturday morning in Seattle. The Six Nations is on, and after asking around, one place kept coming up.

Kells.

An Irish pub tucked away down Post Alley near Pike Place Market that has quietly become a gathering place for Seattle’s rugby community.

We grabbed breakfast, watched Wales vs Italy, met owner Patrick, and sampled Kells Irish Stout while rugby played on the screens.

One thing I’ve learned travelling around America is that rugby people always seem to find each other. Places like Kells help make that happen.

If you’re looking for somewhere to watch rugby in Seattle, I’d start here.

And if you know a rugby-friendly pub in your city, let me know below. This is just stop number one.

A few years ago, Devin Short and I were teammates at the San Diego Legion.

Today you’ll find him on the sidelines of a muddy club field in Seattle.

The crowds are smaller. The paychecks are gone. But the game remains.

Now coaching the Valley Kangaroos and working to grow rugby across the Pacific Northwest, Devin is part of a long tradition in rugby: players becoming custodians of the game they love.

The jerseys change. The mission stays the same.

Some people build rugby clubs. Others build rugby fields.

Jeff “Bobcat” Candler helped build both.

For decades, Bobcat has been part of the fabric of Seattle rugby. From helping transform Pat Ryan Field from overgrown scrubland into a rugby home, to mentoring players and building a culture that keeps people coming back year after year.

One line from our conversation stuck with me:

“We won’t remember the score today. We’ll remember the relationships.”

That’s rugby.