Just hours before the much-anticipated annual Iowa City Block Party kicks off Saturday, Midwestern rugby players gathered for an annual celebration of their own.
The Iowa City Ducks, a men's rugby team, hosted the sixth annual Block Party 7 Tournament.
Welcoming high school and college teams from across the state and beyond, the event has grown from just 10 teams competing on one field in 2017 to more than 25 teams spread across four University of Iowa fields.
Spearheaded by longtime rugby player and head coach of the University of Iowa rugby team, Tyler Daley, the event was created to promote the sport in a broader capacity.
“I just wanted to see if we could bring a big rugby tournament to Iowa City because I was so passionate about the game,” Dailey said. “The Ducks have been hosting a tournament for years and we wanted to see if it would grow, so we started putting effort into making it happen.”
With the event's continued growth in numbers and appeal, Dailey is getting what he hoped for and more.
Teams came from all over the Midwest to compete, including Saint Louis, Kansas City and Des Moines. And for the first time, the tournament included high school brackets. That was important to Dailey, who was adamant that he wants to give younger athletes as many opportunities as possible to be introduced to the sport.
“It's about opportunities,” Daly said. “For example, in soccer, athletes don't usually touch the football or score goals. In rugby, anyone can touch the ball, make decisions and score points. Not only that, but multi-sport athletes in my opinion they are the best athletes. When you have older kids who are just athletes in soccer, I feel like the opportunity to express themselves more in sports is important. Rugby allows them to do that.”
One of the athletes taking advantage of this opportunity is Hudson Vroegh, an 18-year-old who plays for the Iowa Select.
Already with three years of racing experience, Vroegh has become a veteran on the team, happy to pass on the knowledge he has gained about the sport over the years.
“I want the new players to be able to come, have fun and be open to learning,” Vroegh said. “Even though I've been playing for three years, that doesn't mean I know everything. There are always things I can learn.”
That insight was especially helpful for first-year players like 18-year-old Connor Carver.
A native of Fort Dodge, Carver said the city wasn't exactly a hotbed for rugby. However, once he got a taste of the action, he knew it was something he wanted to commit to.
“When I first thought about playing, I thought it would be fun,” Carver said. “But when I started practicing, I felt like it was something I wanted to do for the rest of my life. It's honestly one of the most fun sports I've ever played.”
With player desire strong but local opportunities limited, it makes matches like the Block Party 7 Tournament even more desirable.
By testing their abilities against some of the top rugby teams across the Midwest, the players are experiencing new things, second baseman Simon Ott said.
“Events like this just enhance everyone's rugby experience,” Ott said. “It gives an opportunity to gain new life experience, to travel and play with different people that you wouldn't normally meet.”
Even with reviews of the tournament remaining consistently free, Dailey said he believes there will be more growth in the coming years.
“We hope to bring in high school girls and more high school boys teams next year,” Dailey said. “We want to grow the high school and youth aspect of rugby. So if we can even bring in an under-10s rugby league that's in conjunction with the current tournament, that would be big for us.”
Raven Moore covers high school and college sports for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. Contact her at RSMoore@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Raven_XReport.
