Perhaps the biggest compliment to St. Thomas’ first-year rugby camp was that two athletes from an opposing teams came 160 miles to participate.

The Eagles’ program is accustomed to such a fatherly role – most of the area’s other rugby teams have some association with St. Thomas personnel, whether personally or through the sport – and on the heels of its top-five finish nationally, it is hosting this week what is believed to be Texas’ first high-school rugby camp.

And as their reputation is held in high regard statewide, two Round Rock Stony Point players – brothers Seth and Dylan Bucanek – journeyed to Houston to pick the brains of their opposition.

“Our coach was talking about camp to get better and he just brought this one up a few weeks ago. So we just decided to come,” said Seth, a 15-year-old sophomore-to-be who plays hooker. “I just want to learn more about forwards and what they do and how they do it here. Then hopefully I can take it back to my school and teach more guys there too.”

Forty-five campers ranging in age from eight to high school are participating in the event, which consists of four 9 a.m.-noon sessions that began Monday and end Thursday.

The Eagles in April won their second state championship – the other for the nine-year-old program came in 2002 – and finished fourth in the national tournament in May.

“It’s fun to have these younger kids in and help teach team and show them St. Thomas is the home for rugby,” said Eagles senior center Paul Rogers, who was one of several players to compete for a national team in Great Britain in March. “This camp is the perfect example. It’s the first high-school camp in Texas where guys can come and play rugby. It’s a good jump start.”

Stony Point just completed its first year of rugby. Like Strake Jesuit, which also fielded a team for the first time, Stony Point’s coach had prior experience in the sport and when he arrived at the school decided to start a club.

“It was fun. I’m glad our school got to join all these other high-ranked schools and play them,” said Dylan Bucanek, a 17-year-old senior-to-be scrum-half. “Since it was our first season and not all of our kids knew a lot about rugby, we practiced as much as we could. I think we only won three games but just winning one game for a first-year team was amazing in itself. We were all pretty happy.”

Many campers had limited experience with exposure to rugby, including some incoming freshmen who hope to play for St. Thomas. Some, including Peyton Pardee, an 11-year-old sixth-grader at St. Vincent De Paul School, were learning rules and techniques for the first time this week.

“I knew a little about it because I’ve watched one or two games,” said Peyton, a grandson of former Oilers and University of Houston football coach Jack Pardee. “This is kind of getting me an introduction to the sport. I like that there are no forward passes so it puts some trickiness into the game. You have to be careful about that.”

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