Drew Voyt, 10, suits up in his white T-shirt with an eagle and the Freedom Fighters team logo splashed across the front to play a game full of conversion kicks, drop goals and scrumdowns.
The terms are new to Voyt, who is learning to play rugby for the first time. He's also learning about teamwork, because the game is all about working together. Finding time between participating in karate, basketball, soccer and lacrosse, Drew, of Eldersburg, said that "after a few practices" he began to understand the game.
"The kids don't have to be highly skilled before they play," said his father, Bill Voyt, whose daughter Abbey, 8, also plays in the rugby league. "The team atmosphere is fun for the kids, to just be part of a team."
The Potomac Rugby Union Youth League is made up of 20 teams from Howard, Baltimore, Frederick and Harford counties, as well as from Washington and Northern Virginia. The teams include boys and girls, but are separated into teams with players younger than 11 and players younger than 15.
Chris Carroll, 39, rugby director at the Freedom Area Recreation Council in Eldersburg, is excited about the additional 30 boys and girls playing in the league this year. Last year, there were about 40 participants who signed up to play in the league's first year.
"It's a very exciting, fast-paced sport," Carroll said. He hopes this sport will help teach kids the importance of cooperation and working together as a team.
"It's a very team-oriented sport. ... If you don't pass, you don't win," he said. "There's no hero in rugby."
Chris Holmes, whose son Kyle, 10, is playing rugby for the first time this year, said, "The focus is to learn how to play the game and to enjoy it. ... It's a well-rounded program because it's more educational than competitive, which is what they need."
Holmes discovered the program through Carroll, and has complimented the values that Carroll has instilled in his players. "It boosts my confidence," Kyle said about rugby. "I am one of the older kids on the under-11 team and it definitely helps me to think that I'm much better."
Kyle has been trying to get his 7-year-old sister, Katie, to play, but he said "she's not really into the team sports." Instead, she is content to stand on the sidelines and cheer for her brother.
The players are all "brand new to the game," said Carroll, who added that the sport is easy to learn. "You can learn the game in 20 minutes, but you can get good at it after many years."
