By: WIll Bikulcius ‘22

Coach Mattacchione and his Rugby team are coming off a wonderful season. Coach is excited about this upcoming Rugby season, but what does the team need to learn to be successful this year? 

Rugby is a contact sport that originated in England. The sport added more rules as it got bigger, having most come from an early form of football, where the rules weren’t very stable. It is a hard sport to pick up, but once you pick it up, its hard to let go, according to Mattacchione.

Coach Mattacchione started to play Rugby in High School. “It (Rugby) was the only contact sport that the school had” says Mattacchione, “Once I started playing, I didn’t stop.”

Mattacchione’s love for Rugby lead him to coach many teams, but he loves coaching at Regis Jesuit. He loves to teach the sport, and likes working with the young men that choose to play Rugby.

This season, Coach isn’t looking to win state, but looking to build relationships and work as a team. “The championships will come if we can do that” he says. “It’s a game where you have to work together to achieve great things.”

Coach wants the boys to not only learn from him, but learn from each other. Rugby Boot Camp is very important to him and his team. They use it as not only a time to get better at the sport, but to build bigger and better relationships.

Rugby Boot Camp helps the team to come together. Coach explains that the boot camp is a good way to improve, but also time for the team to become closer to one another, and for everyone to learn from each other.

As you can see, Rugby is a team sport that requires you to know your team well, and that Is very important to Coach Mattacchione. He is very excited about this upcoming season, as Rugby is such a big impact on how he lives his life today. Even Ms. Mattacchione, who is a math teacher in the boys division, plays Rugby!

The team is ready for the season, as the players are eager to get on the field. Mattacchione explains that the boys have learned from the others mistakes, and are ready to get out there and be a great team. Coach is excited to see what his team can do this season, and excited for the seasons to come.

Coach Mattacchione is very excited for the season, and knows that his boys will play good, and they know what they need to do on the field. His goal is to play till the final whistle, and no matter what, play as hard as you can till the end.

The sport is important to Coach Mattacchione, as it is his life. He says “I love Rugby” and “I hope to play the sport for as long as my body will let me.”

Even with two kids, Coach Mattacchione still plays in a men’s league, and loves to compete when ever he can. The sport is a big part of his life, and you can tell by how enthusiastic he is when someone asks him about Rugby.