It was a fairly mild summer morning on February 4th at Amity High School in the suburb of Woodbridge, New Haven, Connecticut. The lush green sports fields surrounding the school were packed with around 50 dogs dressed in different coloured training jerseys with boots and long socks; passing and kicking oval shaped balls to each other. Others were practicing rucking and scrumming and some were jogging and stretching. Everyone who had attended were all warming up and preparing for the tryouts for Amity Regional Rugby Football Club for the North East State & College Canine Rugby competition.

In the car park next to the oval, a very expensive 2008 Audi A4 Turbo Diesel vehicle pulled up in one of the parking spaces next to many other cars and vehicles. As the vehicle came to a halt and engaged the kill switch, four very fit, determined, competitive canines; wearing gym clothing and carrying sports bags; exited from the back seats: A young schnauzer, two mongrels, and a sheepdog. Then the canine driver emerged from his seat in the vehicle, also carrying a sports bag and wearing gym gear: Another near-middle-aged schnauzer; who was likewise determined as the other four.

They all shut the doors of the Audi and headed down towards to sports pitch.

“Woah, big crowd!” The sheepdog, Mooch, exclaimed as he looked at the numbers of canine rugby players on the pitch. “We could be in for a bit of tough competition ‘kay?”

“All part of the deal of tryouts, Mooch.” The older schnauzer, Tramp, explained. “Each and every one of these players will be playing their hardest and working to their limits to get a spot on the roster; so hard that there could be some tough selection for the coaches at the end of the day because of so many good players.”

“Gotta rise above that, though.” The younger schnauzer, Scamp put in. “Let’s just focus on our own individual performances and not worry about the competition around us; otherwise they will gain a psychological advantage and they will make it to the team faster than us. Are you all up for it?”

“You bet, Scamp.” The brown mongrel, Scratchy, responded. “After all the fitness training and mental preparation that we have gone through this past fortnight, who could be more prepared?”

“This is the day that it all pays off.” The older grey mongrel, Sparky put in. “We have all worked so hard and today is the day that we take it up to the next level. Let’s all be strong with confidence, play hard, impress the coaches, and win us all a spot on the field of glory. Put your paws in.” Sparky put out his paw flat in mid air. The other four put their paws on top of his before chanting together:

“Canine Eagles, bark and soar!”

Then they broke off and raised their hands in the air in a celebratory way before continuing the walk toward the rugby oval.

They reached the club house where the administrators were waiting for players to sign the tryout forms, and they filled out their own personal details. They also wrote their names on a paper with numbers listed next to other players’ names; and they were given their listed numbers to put on their jerseys so that the coaches could recognize who they and the other players were and be able to assess the individual performances. The forms also listed a $150 seasonal fee to be eligible to play.

“What does this cover?” Tramp asked the administrators after noticing this while signing.

“This is to cover your uniforms and playing gear, but most of that goes towards your personal insurance cover.” One administrator explained. “It means that if you get injured and you receive an escort to the hospital and have to receive care; examinations; or operations, you don’t have to pay for the resulting expenses: They will already be covered by the insurance that you put down. Otherwise you would have to be paying too much of your own expenses on your hospital bills.”

“I see.” Tramp replied, feeling a little freaked out at the mention of uninsured loses because of how likely it would be for him to get injured with his ageing body. “So is there a date that it has to be paid by?”

“You can wait until the end of the pre-season to pay. After that, until the fees are paid, you will be ineligible to play.” The administrator then indicated to the bottom of the form; where a bank branch number and account number were displayed. “Now you can either pay upfront in cash here at training sessions, or you can pay online using online internet banking. These are our banking numbers if you decide to pay online.”

“Okay, thanks.” Tramp responded before putting his signature on the dotted line along with the current date at the bottom of the form. He then turned to the others, who were likewise listening to the insurance details. “Sign away, boys.”

And the other four canines also signed their forms before they walked to the side, sat down on the benches in front of the clubhouse, and striped off their tracksuit pants and jackets, revealing the skintight lycra gym training shirts, football shorts (with holes for their tails to go through), and knee-high socks. They then took off their Asics running shoes and pulled out fresh pairs of Adidas football boots from their bags and fitted them on their back paws. At this point they were all just about ready to run out onto the field with the half-a-century number of canines and start warming up.

But before Scamp got moving, he took out a roll of athletic trainers tape and black electrical tape and strapped some to his wrists. He then strapped some around his head to also cover and protect his ears, like how he saw some forwards do on TV.

“What are you strapping that around your head for, Scamp?” Scratchy asked, slightly clueless.

“Some forwards strap their heads or wear headgear to prevent concussions and protect their ears from either twisting or bruising when they go in to drive and push in the ruck, maul or scrum; commonly know as ‘cauliflower ears’.” Scamp replied. “Because they tend to go head-first most of the time in those situations, the ears can sometimes be at risk of damage; such as swelling, loss of flesh, or hearing damage because of all the rough activity that goes on in those huddles.”

“Good thinking ahead, son.” Tramp remarked. “Better safe than sorry.”

“So you want to be a forward, do ya, ‘kay?” Mooch asked.

“Either a flanker or a second rower.” Scamp responded. “I wouldn’t mind getting a bit involved in the driving and pick-and-go offensive play as well as counter-rucking and mid-field defense. And you guys?”

“In the backline.” Tramp responded first. “I would like to run the ball a bit and become a playmaker in the centre or fly-half position.”

“I want to play in the front row and drive in the scrums and rucks for possession and breakdown advantage.” Mooch responded second.

“I want to play in the backline as scrum-half and call and organize the set plays.” Scratchy responded third.

“I would like to go on the wing and run the ball wide, along with attacking kicking.” Sparky responded fourth and last.

“Just remember that even though we have preferences, the coaches will be watching us and where they decide to put us depends on our all-round performances.” Tramp said. “We will still tell the coaches our preferred positions, but we have to prepare ourselves for their decisions. What they say goes, and we have to go along with it.”

“Yeah, sure. No problem.” The others said almost simultaneously.

Scamp then picked up a couple of club balls that were lying next to the benches and began to run out onto the pitch.

“Alright, team.” He commanded to his comrades. “Let’s go and warm up before the coaches call us over to begin.”

They obeyed and ran onto the pitch. They started with passing and kicking balls to each other, then practiced semi-contact plays by running with the ball towards the defending player and going to the ground once touched by him and releasing to ball back to his players; who then come into the ruck by driving the opposing player back and keep him from stealing possession of the ball at the breakdown, and then the scrum-half passes the ball out of the ruck and to his fellow player to continue to next phase of play. They played with 3 attacking and 2 defending: Tramp, Scratchy and Sparky were on attack and Scamp and Mooch were on defense.

Shortly after they had finished several phases, the coaches whistle blew loud enough for the whole Amity High School to hear and the whole 50-plus canine rugby players around the field ran into the large huddle building and surrounding the head Amity Rugby staff. They consisted of the head coach, three assistant coaches, a manager, and two trainers.

“Okay everyone; listen up!” The head coach commanded, letting his voice be heard by the whole rugby group. “Thank you all for coming to the tryouts for Amity Canine Rugby. For those of who don’t know us, my name is Reede; I’m the head coach.” He then signaled to his assistant staff. “This is Caleb, he’s forwards