The Taylor men’s rugby team 2024 season is well underway in the fall semester. Their play continues to get better after games and a tournament at Wabash College in the second weekend of November.
For the fall season, junior Joseph Kerton-Johnson has been serving as an interim coach for the team, as their head coach, Nicholas Kerton-Johnson, associate professor of international relations at Taylor, is on sabbatical this semester.
Joseph Kerton-Johnson said growing up watching rugby and playing for Taylor during his senior year of high school allowed him the experience to lead the team this semester. He has been running plays, leading practices and giving advice to his fellow players.
The team has 11 players this season, and eight of them are in their first season with Taylor or have never played before, but Joseph Kerton-Johnson said that so much improvement was seen in their most recent tournament.
“It has been a lot of fun to lead them in that and help them grow, and watch them fall in love with the sport,” he said.
Joseph Kerton-Johnson has also been handling the logistics of the team. He takes the behind-the-scenes role of emailing on behalf of the team, looking at tournament information and scheduling team related activities and games.
Kaeley Sells, 2024 graduate of Taylor University and head coach of the women’s rugby team, has been able to step in to guide the men’s team as well. As a former player for Taylor herself, Sells served as a stand-in coach for the Wabash College rugby tournament.
Sophomore Andrew Kessler is in his second year with the team. He said the balance of a learning mindset and a teaching one has been something he had to discover this season as he helps his team, but learns more about his position himself.
“The biggest thing I’ve learned is how to have a teaching mindset, with more experience than the other guys, while also still enjoying it and getting better with everyone,” he said.
Both Joseph Kerton-Johnson and Kessler noted the hard working nature of the team in their workouts and their willingness to grow and learn. Learning to play with a smaller team and maintain physicality are two things the team continues to work on.
The squad will complete their second half of the season in the spring, with an increase of tournaments and games. This uptick also has to do with teams that play what is known as ‘15’s’, 15 players on the field, in the fall and ‘sevens,’ seven players on the field. With a smaller roster, most of Taylor’s competition comes in the spring, as they play sevens year round.
Along with extra experience for the spring season, the team hopes a National tournament will begin their future. With a streak of qualifying of two years they had the opportunity to travel one year to New Orleans and qualified for the Washington D.C. tournament last year.
“Most of the teams we face have 40 guys or fully funded programs,” Joseph Kerton-Johnson said. “And we are just a little club.”
He said it is inspiring to make it to a televised competition with other programs set up differently than Taylor’s.
