4t,
....• ••
These Berkley High girls enjoy their battle scars.
completed her second year of varsity.
"Usually, you get The kid as a freshman or sopho-
more," explains McDonough. "They learn the rules
and the positions and hopefully, by their junior year,
here are many reasons why kids play sports:
they start to contribute. By their senior year, you want
the thrill of competition, the camaraderie,
them
to be a heavy force.
the cool bruises.
"Alexa [a sophomore] is one of those kids who've
Cool bruises are Alexa Shencopp's take on
come out and been a contributing force from the first
what makes rugby fun. Until she entered Berkley
day."
High, ice hockey was Shencopp's favorite sport.
"Rugby," Shencopp says, "is very
The Oak Park resident began skating
physical
and it's really hard at times
The
Bruise
Crew:
at age 3 and climbed the travel hockey
because
usually
it's either a million
Sasha
Zoller,
16
of
ladder. Most recently she played at the
degrees
(outside)
or it's below zero — we
Huntington
Woods,
AAA level for Little Caesars.
play
through
anything.
But it's a lot of
and
Oak
Parkers
At Berkley, however, she ran into
fun because its really hands-on and once
Alexa Shencopp, 16,
Sean McDonough and became a two-
you get the hang of it, it's an awesome
Sara Abrin, 15,
sport standout. McDonough, who
sport. And I have so many really good
Rachel Sherman, 15,
coached rugby in Montreal, arrived at
friends on that team."
and
Sarah
Bernstein,
14.
Berkley to coach the swim team three
And, of course, "you get cool bruises,"
years ago. After he placed rugby photos
she
adds.
in his office, some girls expressed an interest in the
Rugby is like American football with 15 players on
sport, although there were no girls high school rugby
each
team. But forward passes and protective padding
teams in Michigan.
are both absent. The ball is advanced by running or
The girls formed a squad and when Shencopp
kicking. A tackled runner must release the ball, making
entered Berkley, "I heard about the sport and the coach
it available to anyone. Like football, the teams try to
just kind of ran me down until I played." She just
MIKE ROSENBAUM
Special to the Jewish News
T
reach their end zone, or "in-goal" area.
"You're so reliant on your 14 teammates on the field
to do anything — to go forward, sideways, back-
wards," McDonough explains. "It's the ultimate team
game. There's nothing like getting tackled and rolling
over and seeing somebody you work with closely, or go
to school with, lying in the mud next to you, smiling
and saying, 'Hey, that was a lot of fun."'
Rugby Rules
Shencopp plays the scrumhalf position, which is
roughly equivalent to a football quarterback or a bas-
ketball point guard. After a battle for possession, called
the scrum, Berkley's linemen, or forwards, get the ball
to Shencopp, who then delivers it to a runner. She and
her teammates play both offense and defense.
"Alexa's a pretty good athlete," McDonough says.
"She's one of those kids who we're happy to get hold of
... She's a tough kid, too. When she comes in there and
makes a tackle, the other team knows it.
"She's a sparkplug. She's all of five feet and tremen-
dously powerful and gets in there and mixes it up ...
"We were in the Midwest championships a few
weeks ago, playing a team from Minnesota, and one of
7/ 5
2002
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