By DR. J. ZIMMERMAN

What does it take to be a rugby player? There are certain aspects to the game that attract a certain kind of person. Rugby is a free-wheeling sport, meaning that individual players and the team itself is not confined to a disciplined playbook.

You sort of make it up and improvise as the game goes on. Once the kickoff whistle blows, the role of the coach is pretty much non-existent until halftime.
The coach is not typically sending in plays or involved with the action. The coaching staff does its job during the week. They prepare the team for the upcoming game, go over game situations, plays, skills and fitness, and work on areas that need attention from the previous week’s match.
Once game day arrives, the work of the coaches is finished and the team and its players are allowed to shine and demonstrate their abilities all on their own.
At lower levels of rugby, you will have coaches on the sidelines who help out (or yell a lot!), but in the higher levels it’s the team’s responsibility to win or lose. That type of creativity attracts a lot of athletes.
Rugby combines the unified work of a team sport with the special flare of an individual sport. It’s pretty cool.
Back to the original question, what does it take to be a rugby player?
I will tell you this much, people who play rugby are competitive. They love to compete at a higher level. They are not content to graduate college, get a job and leave their athletic talent behind them. They all feel that they still have their best athletic years ahead of them.
Just because you don’t get drafted into the NFL, NHL, NBA or MLB at age 21, your competitive athletic career does not “dry up” and fade away.
Rugby is a sport that allows athletes to continue the dream and push themselves like they did on their college team or in their high school varsity sport.
For example, we took a kid who was a standout football player. He never played a game of rugby in his life, and four years later he represents the USA on the American Rugby League team.
His competitive spirit didn’t die with his football career; he kept it alive with rugby.
Now he is pursuing his dream of playing professional rugby in Australia.
In addition to competitive spirit, certain athletes make great rugby players. Naturally, football players do because the game is so similar (football actually originated from rugby). Other sports also create great rugby players. Wrestlers, for instance, make great rugby players. The close body contact of wrestling translates into proper rugby tackling skills (single leg, double-leg takedowns) or the actual wrestling that goes on in the front row of the scrum in rugby.
Basketball players make great line-out jumpers in rugby. And, naturally, the speed of a track athlete is a natural fit with rugby.
USA Rugby’s Carlin Isles was an Olympic sprinter, and now he is considered the fastest rugby player in the world.
One of the most important aspects of what makes a good rugby player is the desire to physically train their bodies — and train hard. Rugby is a non-stop game. Games feature two continuous 40-minute halves. The clock does not stop very often. The players run, tackle, get tackled, get up, run, tackle, get tackled, run.
Everyone plays defense, everyone plays offense. There are no revolving substitutions. If you leave the game, that’s it, you are done.
So you have to be extremely fit. Think cross fit training or high intensity interval training. The body has to be strong and tough from weightlifting, but it also has to be cardio fit to excel considering the high demands placed on the body’s heart and lungs.
That’s another reason why wrestlers make good rugby players. Wrestlers know how to train, so they can go non-stop against their opponent. Cross fit athletes also have the goods to make solid rugby players.
There are lots of good athletes reading this column. But not everyone has the desire to train hard, push themselves and compete. If you’re one of those who still has the desire, rugby may be for you. No experience is necessary (look at our former football player playing for team USA). I will teach you everything you need to know!! The Jersey Shore Sharks men’s club (age 18+) started practice this month. If you have the qualities listed in my column, contact me. I would love to have you on our squad.
Dr. J. Zimmerman is the president of the Jersey Shore Rugby Club Board of Directors. He is the men’s club head coach and director of youth rugby. Dr. J. is also the team chiropractor. For more information on Jersey Shore Sharks Rugby or if you are interested in playing, visit www.JerseyShoreRugby.com or on Facebook at Jersey Shore Rugby Club or call 609-652-6363, email: Jerseyshoresharks@gmail.com.