Rugby at Illinois State was first organized in the Fall of 1970 and the first match ever played in March, 1971. To commemorate the 40th anniversary of that first match we got all the boys and girls back for a great week-end of fun, frivolity and financial support. The women's club side was first organized in 1976 so the dual celebration with their 35th anniversary is a no brainer! We all get along and look great when cleaned up...

Our goal is two fold - first and foremost this is a FUNDRAISER, secondly, due to the nature of getting together for a milestone event, the camaraderie generated was second to none! Our biggest problem is that it goes by so quickly...please visit the Support page from left navigation tree to purchase your entry, make donations and buy advertising space. ALL DONATIONS VIA ISU ALUMNI RELATIONS WEBSITE ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE.

We don't have every one of your teammates' mailing address or email address. Please pass this info on to them now! Each one of these events just gets better...

Join the email list today!  Click HERE

Join LinkedIn ISU Alumni Group   Click HERE

Join Facebook ISU Rugby Alumni Network     Click HERE

Nando Parrado and ISU Rugby

Event Postscript and Summary - April 30, 2011

The week-end of week-ends came and went by so quickly yet was planned for months. Actually those who attended the 35^th anniversary five years previously already had made their plans to attend five years in advance!

It did not disappoint. Over 160 alumni, 23 from the 1971 original side, attended the combined 40^th anniversary for men and 35^th anniversary for women rugby clubs at Illinois State University . For the first time we were able to utilize ISU Alumni Relations with Stephanie “Duke” Duquenne leading the charge. Having ISU collect all moneys, pay all bills and earmark the additional donations to ISU Rugby made it very easy. 

From the Thursday night training session to the Sunday morning hangover walks of shame…lots of smiles, laughs and guffaws in between.  The Thursday evening training session was organized by Steve “Benny” Kenyon, Rory O’Rourke (Bloomington Tornadoes HS Coach), George LaBanca, Hailey White, Fred Thomas and Ray Karenas.  Each coach had a skills station which ran one specific drill. Over 100 players from the Bloomington/Normal Tornadoes (High School age kids) club along with both ISU Men’s and Women’s teams joined for over 90 minutes of tutorial splendor. At the end of the session a combined game of British Bulldog was run. See you tube “Last Man Standing British Lions All Blacks”.  Hats off to Ed DeRoeck, ISU Campus Recreation, for his efforts in securing the field for us.  ISU Men’s President Richie Ferolo and Women’s President Chelsea Oakes led their respective squads thru the drills.

Prior to the training session, Fernando Parrado met George LaBanca and Ray Karenas. “Nando” is one of the sixteen survivors from the 1972 plane crash in the Andes . 29 others perished and he and Roberto Canessa emerged from the mountains after 72 days to get help to save the others.  39 years ago he was captain of his rugby club from Uruguay and he was in town to speak at the Marriott for a fundraising dinner for the Heartland Red Cross of Bloomington. It is a long story but suffice to say, Nando, George and Ray cajoled as only true rugby players can even though they had only really met in the elevator. Incredible and pretty cool.

Friday was the Golf Outing held at the ISU D.A. Wiebring Golf Course with Laura Provost manager. Bruce Lesniak, Rick Reed and Kevin Hincks masterminded the 48 golfers who attended and played a fourman best ball scramble.  The event ended in a two way tie between two foursomes. A putt off playoff on the putting practice green ensued and the foursome of Tom Gaye, Roger Castino, Rick Reed and Ray Karenas prevailed by winning the third hole of the putt off.

The golf group then headed to the Marriott Hotel in Normal which was the event hotel central. The Pub Crawl was to kick off at 8pm. The hotel bar was full and overflowed into the lobby.  T-shirts for the Pub Crawl sold fast.  The ISU Women’s team coordinated the event and bar schedule. Carl Mucha’s company Skyline Printing and Embroidering created all the shirts and other goodies.  “A night no one will remember with friends we can’t forget” was the theme and it held throughout the evening. There were dozens of folks who had not seen each other in over 20 years and by the looks of it after a little while it was as if they had been together the whole time.  No curfew or bed check was in effect so it is unknown what time the last bit of stragglers got back to the hotel cocoon.

Saturday was a rugby day but first, most of the Marriott folks hunkered down in the lobby café, which, only hours earlier was the bar, for breakfast and getting a chance to meet the many decades of rugby alumni who were staying there. The Marriott hosted over 45 rooms on Friday night and close to 60 rooms on Saturday. The ISU Rugby Alumni made their mark and helped the local economy…in food and in drink.

The Saturday matches started right on time at 11am at the existing pitch west of the ISU Golf Course. A brisk wind kept hair flying, at least those who still had hair. The women alumni took it to the ISU women’s club in a great showing of skill, speed and guile.  Age and treachery always overcomes youth and skill.  This was then followed by an alumni match which pitted the guys from the ‘70’s v guys from the ‘80’s.  However, that mantra did not follow true as the younger of the olders won out. But who is keeping score anyway? The finale of the day pitted the ISU Men’s side v an Allstar Alumni side.  The Alumni got smoked. Smoke Gold is the saying the kids use and they sure did.

The grand finale of the week-end was the dinner and awards banquet. Over 250 guests attended the lavish affair. Yes ties and dresses were the standard costume. Costume only because some look funny in ties (and dresses). The highlight was the naming of the next class of ISU Rugby Hall of Fame. Newest inductees for the Class of 2011 were: Bob Loftus, Brian Mullery (dec), Dewey Worsley, Dan Walther, Ed Browski, George Munstedt, Jenna Anderson, Kim Brock, Lauren Tracy, Mike Smethurst (dec), Patrick Hulne, Stuart Daily (dec), Tom Hannah, Tom Luscombe, and Tom Simon.  Emma Mullery and two of her children flew in from Brisbane, Australia to accept the award on behalf of Brian, rest in peace. Karen Daily honored her departed husband Stuart in doing the same. The evening continued on until the whistles blew and the party goers boarded the buses for the short ride back to the hotel. No drinking and driving was the mantra.

An all-time record of $10,900 net proceeds were donated to the ISU Rugby programs. Nicely done. Organizing committee led by Ray Karenas with George LaBanca, Lauren “Skull” Chouinard, Kim Brock and Lauren Tracy outdid themselves. Other key org committee members included Connie Boznos, Ali Avgeris, Annette Stahelin, Benny Kenyon, Bruce Lesniak, Carl Mucha, Chelsea Oakes, Hailey White, Kevin Hincks, Nikki Christenson, Richie Ferolo, Tony Egleton, Roger Castino, Rick Reed and Chelsey O'Connor. Carl Mucha’s company, Skyline Screen Printing and Embroidery will still offer kit for sale with a percentage of proceeds going back to ISU Rugby. Go to www.isuoldegoldstore.com/ and take out your credit card.  A limited number of commemorative program books are still available thru his site. Donate $25 and a program book will be shipped out to you while they last. Pictures can also be found on Facebook – ISU Rugby Alumni Network.