A rugby life

It was the first day of football practice in fourth grade, and now-senior Conor Casey, playing the game for the first time, was trying on his new helmet and pads.

Immediately, tears began flowing.

“I get my shoulder pads. These are really stiff. I can’t move,” Casey said. “I put the helmet on. It was so suffocating to have that entire thing wrapped around my head, it just overwhelmed me. That first day of having to put on pads, God, I hated it.”

He also tried teeball and cricket as a child, and soccer as a high school student athlete, but he said the sports never quite stuck with him.

Then, he found rugby and has played for more than 10 years, making him the longest tenured player on the IU club rugby team.

Casey was born in Arizona, but moved to Australia when he was young. His path to the sport was unorthodox compared to that of other players in that he went from rugby to football.

Casey said he was a rugby player first, then went to football, then went back to rugby. He said many American rugby players come from football backgrounds.

His most notable injury playing the game has been a broken nose. When he collided with another player, the athletic trainer came up with an unexpected solution.

“Our athletic trainer was rummaging through his bag, looked at me and said, ‘Are you willing to do anything?’ I said, ‘Yes.’ He pulls out a tampon, cuts it in half and shoves it up,” Casey said. “Ten minutes later, I had a tampon shoved up my nose.”

He said what drew him to rugby was its social aspect. 

“The culture of the game is very social,” he said. “After a match, we host the other team.”

Teammates said Casey’s presence on the team has been valuable. Sophomore Matt Saunders said he knows this from his first year on the team last season.

“As a freshman last year, not ever having any experience ever playing rugby, he was a good leader,” Saunders said. “He took me under his wing a little bit.”

His coach, Sarasopa “Sopa” Enari, has also been very appreciative of Casey’s time on the team.

“He’s a very coachable player,” Enari said. “He learned about the game before he came here, so that helped. He’s putting in the work.”

Enari also said the players he expected to return and play Casey’s position did not come back. The experience has been very valuable for Casey’s position this season.

“The other people I thought were going to be here to play the position he’s playing in, unfortunately they’re not here,” Enari said. “He’s stepping up and he’s coming along.”

Throughout his collegiate career, Casey has returned to help coach his high school’s rugby team at Culver Military Academy in northern Indiana. That’s his ultimate goal, and Casey says his high school coach will eventually have him take over the program.

“I’ve gotten certified as a coach, and I’m certified as a ref. I’m gonna go back every time once we get out of school, and I go up and I coach,” Casey said. “Once I’m done here, just gonna try to get a job up north, try (to) take over my old high school team and keep them running.”

Follow reporter Stuart Jackson on Twitter @Stuart_Jackson1.