CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – The Clarksville Headhunters has served as the premier local rugby team for years on end. However, as they enter 2024, the team looks to the local community to build their roster up.
Andrew Talbott, who plays for the Clarksville Headhunters and is the team treasurer, told Clarksville Now that more than half of their roster is military personnel, which includes Talbott himself. With so many players serving in the military, numbers can become scarce quickly, so the team is looking to grow the sport of rugby throughout the civilian population.
“Everyone knows in a military town there’s a lot of turnover, deployments and field exercises,” said team president Megan Talbott. “Sometimes that can be detrimental to our numbers. To have civilians on the team would mean having stability.”
About the sport
Justin Goonan, who serves as the coach for the Clarksville Headhunters, told Clarksville Now that, traditionally, rugby is played with 15 players going against another 15.
Goonan said the season is played from late September until before the holidays, then they pick back up at the beginning of January. The season will then be played until late April or early May when postseason play concludes.
During the off-season, the Headhunters transition from playing the traditional version of the sport to playing the Olympic version, which is seven versus seven. The team proceeds to play regional tournaments across Middle Tennessee up until a new season of play begins.
Goonan said being part of the Headhunters is so much more than an experience; it’s an opportunity as well. The Headhunters coach said rugby is growing in high schools and colleges in the United States and has allowed student-athletes to grow in the sport at several levels of competition.
One of the Headhunters former captains, Calvin Gentry signed on to play professional rugby right here in the United States.
If you are interested in learning more about the sport and joining the Clarksville Headhunters, contact them through their official website or on their Facebook page.
The team is scheduled to begin practicing for the next half of the season on Jan. 9 at the Eagles Rest RV Park, 6621 11th Airborne Division Road.