With the Athletes...Jody Kramer '03

Author: Andreo Niccolo Zimmermann

Jody Kramer '03 will be one of only four starters on the rugby team to graduate this May. That means one of Middlebury's most successful intercollegiate athletic teams will continue its dominance yet it also means it will be losing a leader and one of its smartest and most accomplished players. How many blue-collar sports teams can claim their leader is a neuroscience major? Yet that is just what Kramer studies. He is the backs captain and assumes much of the leadership responsibilities when Head Coach Ward Patterson's attention is diverted elsewhere. He shares the captainship with Angus Birchall '03.5 who directs the forwards.
A mild-mannered Californian, Kramer started playing rugby two years into high school at the club level. "A lot of kids from my high school played," Kramer said of how he started. "I didn't play a spring sport so I gave it a shot." As a four-year player at Middlebury, Kramer is now one of the experienced ones, passing on what he knows just as others did for him. "As a senior and captain," he said, "I take it upon myself to help everybody learn the little skills." Kramer plays the outside center position as a back and is often involved directly or indirectly in tries, which is the rugby equivalent to football's touchdowns. "I do more the passing, running and the tackling," he said of his role.
The forwards, who are generally the bigger players, grind it out with the opposing team on restarts, which is called the scrum. For those of you who know some of the rugby forwards, people like Birchall, Timothy Tutsch '04 and Matthew Dragunat '03 are as imposing as any lineman on the football team. Yet Middlebury often finds itself undersized. "We're typically the smallest team on any field," mentioned Kramer. Such was the case in Saturday's USA Rugby Division II National Quarterfinal match up in Huntsville, Texas. Middlebury lost a tight game to a strong, physical University of Northern Colorado squad 24-19.
Yet Middlebury makes up for the size difference and then some. The Ruggers have been a perennial powerhouse in the Northeast territory and made a habit of qualifying for the Nationals, held every spring-an invitation made to only the nation's top eight teams. Scores against regional opponents range from 14-8 in a tight match against the Coast Guard Academy to 57-0 against Johnson State. Last season the team traveled to Arkansas and despite a burden of injuries, came away with fifth in the nation. They lost to the eventual national champion then, Stanford University, which made the jump to Division I this year. Northern Colorado currently has a good chance to become national champion, which would mean Middlebury would have lost to the nation's two strongest teams in consecutive years. As lucky as the T-Wolves facing the Lakers in their first home playoff series in years.
The ingredients are many, yet the result is simple-the Middlebury Rugby Club is year in and year out one of the school's most competitive teams. "I think our coach is real knowledgeable and puts a lot of effort in," Kramer said, identifying the ingredients of success. "We've got a lot of international students who've played the game before and everybody helps out in coaching and organizing."
"We have a far better coach than any of the teams we faced in the tournament," said forward Francis Connolly '03.5 of Ward Patterson, who balances coaching duties with a second job to make ends meet. "We're lucky to have a coach like Ward," added Kramer.
International students like Epeli Rokotuiveikau '04 and Robert Ngetha Waithaka '04 have brought athleticism and experience to the team and helped elevate its play.
There also is another explanation for the team's success. They are all just good players. Despite facing bigger opponents Middlebury embodies the smart, composed play that has come to describe Kramer's game. "If you know the skills, which is where we excel as a team," Kramer said. "with smart decisions and quickness, you can have an advantage over bigger, stronger guys." Such an advantage translated to a 26-0 romp of Sam Houston State, the tournament's host and eighth seeded team, in a consolation game on Sunday.
Kramer scored two tries with first-year Luke Hammock added another giving Middlebury a commanding lead. Ben Herter '03.5 added another and the Panthers had what USArugby.org deemed a "sound defeat" of Sam Houston.
With all the positives the team must also face a number of adverse conditions, which has only made them tougher. Heading into Nationals, Middlebury had only about a week worth of meaningful practice time outside. The bulk of its competitive season takes place in the fall, essentially creating two smaller seasons, while teams in other regions are able to play exclusively in the spring. Entering the Nationals means Middlebury often plays teams on a roll, so to speak, having won recently to earn a trip to the tournament.
The ruggers, being a club team, must raise money in order to attend Nationals since USA Rugby, the sport's governing body, does not pick up travel and lodging expenses as the NCAA does in similar situations. "A ball park figure of $15,000," said Kramer of the money that had to be raised in order to send the team to Texas this year. That money, which we know does not grow on trees, was raised through numerous events the rugby team organized. A raffle, a semi-formal dance at an off-campus house and cleanup duty after some of the hockey games at Kenyon Arena are all ways the players helped raise enough money for the opportunity to compete this spring. Add into the mix that the team has difficulty procuring a locker room amidst all the spring sports chaos and one begins to see what hills the ruggers have had to climb to get this far.
Kramer-better known by teammates as "the Claw" not because he is a member of the X-Men but because he has had multiple bone fractures in the hand/arm area-has taken all this in stride.
After graduation he hopes to move to Montana and do some other activities he loves like snowboarding and mountain biking. His long-term plans include med school, for which he will take the MCATs this Saturday.
As for rugby after Middlebury, he remains optimistic: "There are club teams out there and that is probably a possibility if I can fit it into my schedule."