PEORIA MAGAZINE May 2023

— is likely to hurt the giver as much as the receiver. Overall, the emphasis isn’t on hard hits as much as ball movement and — when you’re about to keel over from exhaustion — finding enough wind and grit to keep going. Athleticism is good. Often, persever ance is better. “Anybody can play,” said Charlie Period, 68, a player and coach with the Piggies since 1978. “You can be any size: big, little, whatever.” Smaller players, often at a disadvan tage with many sports, like the notion that they can use speed and cunning to succeed on the pitch. And bigger players, often relegated to roles such as football linemen, get excited to know they too get to handle the ball. “It’s an inclusive sport,” Period said. A ‘GOOD KIND OF CRAZY’ Still, it does pose some distinct chal lenges. Like a zombie hockey faceoff, scrums involve two masses of humanity lunging at and shoving each other to gain control of play. Like a pugilistic bas ketball tipoff, the lineout has the teams leaping and hoisting players skyward to grab a hold of the ball. Loose play, where shifty backs pass and swerve the ball to maneuver up field, has players galloping as powerfully and majestically as a herd of wild horses, or ping-ponging around in frantic confusion as if part of a “Benny Hill Show” segment. And it all happens in an environment that can be lung-searingly hot or bone achingly cold. Through it all, there is one constant. Amid the sweat and blood and mud, not to mention the gasping and grimacing and swearing, the one thing that is inescapable when 30 men barge, bump and burrow among one another for 80 long minutes is the stink. “It’s not for everybody,” Period said with a chuckle. But pushing through all those chal lenges, regardless of the final score, brings its own reward. Winning is always the goal. But finishing hard carries its own glory. And that’s the key to the social. Win or lose, squads respect one another.

So why not celebrate surviving this strange game? “It is different,” Period said, chuckling again. “And it’s hard to explain. A lot of people (from the outside) say, ‘Are you nuts? Are you crazy?’ Maybe so. But it’s a good kind of crazy.” BECOMING THE PIGGIES The sense of whimsy played a part in the club’s nickname. In 1977, the squad was known simply as the Peoria Rugby Football Club. But that year, the ruggers traveled to Kansas City for a tournament. Heavy rains had turned the pitch into a mud pit. Afterward, as they posed for a team photo, an onlooker remarked that they looked like a pigs, said Don Gurik. “We were just as muddy as could be,” said Gurik, now 74. Thus, the Piggies were born. But don’t let the name fool you. Over the decades, the club has been known for solid, hard play. It’s arguably even more renowned for its top-notch socials, featuring wide food spreads and vast liquid refreshments, courtesy of Baumgarten Distributing in Peoria and Jimmy’s Bar in West Peoria. A BROTHERHOOD The social is the backbone of the sport, the aspect that differentiates rugby from other pastimes. “We’re not a team; we’re a club,” Pauli said. “I don’t think of other sports as a club. I don’t think of, for example, softball as a club.” As Period puts it, “A softball team might go out for a beer after a game. But it’s different with rugby. It’s such a battle when you’re out there playing. But afterward, at the social, you share comradeship. You get to know each other. It’s just a good brotherhood.” And it transfers easily from one place to the next. Go to another town or another state or even another country, and the mention of rugby can instantly change strangers to brothers, said Period, who has played as far away as New Zealand. Even there, rugby has provided him a tight-knit bond.

“It’s such a universal sport,” he said. That esprit de corps extends in the community. Greg Jetton, who joined the Piggies in 1993, appreciates the club’s philanthropy. Over the years, that giving has included the squad’s diaper drives and highway cleanups. But its biggest contribution likely has been grooming and maintaining fields on the grounds of Catholic Charities in West Peoria. The site hosts not only the Piggies but the Peoria Bootleggers women’s rugby team – an achievement that has taken a lot of sweat equity. “The place looks a bit nicer,” Jetton said. Further, the club has a separate not-for-profit foundation dedicated to advancing the sport of rugby, including the coaching of youth and high school teams. In fact, supporting the foundation is a big reason the club organized a 50th anniversary gala this year. In that way, Piggies young and old can look to the future – and celebrate the past. Pauli expects tall tales to abound. “The older you get,” he said with a laugh, “the better you were.” For more info on the Peoria Piggies, go to www.peoriarugby.com. Phil Luciano is a senior communications executive for WTVP and former member of the Springfield Celts Rugby Football Club. He used to play against the Piggies all the time. He can be reached at phil.luciano@wtvp.org

MAY 2023 PEORIA MAGAZINE 31