Sports Editor
For some athletes, the sports they excel at are those that seem to naturally fit their disposition. Batavia resident and St. Xavier High School rising senior Blake Hale is one of those athletes.
Two years ago, during his freshman year at St. X, Hale was just a football player. Two years later, Hale has traded in his helmet and shoulder pads for a singlet in the winter and a rugby shirt in the spring.
The transition from football to wrestling and rugby was a natural one for Hale who was named All-State Honorable Mention following his junior season.
“I started playing (rugby) my sophomore year and what got me into it was knowing people on the team,” Hale said. “I felt like it was easier for me to adjust than most people would if they hadn’t tried football or wrestling before.”
Hale said that his acclimation into the new sport didn’t come without a learning curve, but with St. Xavier fully adopting the North Bend Rugby Club under its varsity umbrella in 2011, the program was well suited to fast-track a talent such as Hale.
“St. X did well separating the teams in that on the JV they taught us the basics and as I got better and better at the basics, I moved on up,” he said.
Hale picked up the intricacies of the sport quickly during his sophomore year as a Bomber and moved on to the varsity squad for his junior campaign.
Not sanctioned under the Ohio High School Athletic Association, teams like St. Xavier play under the governance of the Ohio High School Rugby Association, USA Rugby and the International Rugby Board. Because of the relatively new advent of the sport in the area, St. Xavier is one of only six teams in the Division 1A Southern Conference and one of 11 teams across the state.
“There aren’t many local teams, which is a shame because it’s such a great sport,” Hale said.
The Bombers play Cincinnati-area teams such as Moeller and Lakota, but also have to travel north towards Columbus and Pickerington for other contests. They played an out-of-conference game against Louisville Trinity this past season.
The team also traveled north to Cleveland and east to Washington D.C.
Hale helped the Bombers to a 4-3 overall record and their first state tournament appearance, an accomplishment Hale believes was aided by a new philosophy coming into the year.
“Going into the year, as a team, I felt we were stronger as a whole because everyone bought in to the rugby mentality,” Hale said. “We wanted to make a name for ourselves; not just be another sport at St. X.”
Personally, Hale’s strong junior season was sparked by a strategic move.
“I had to change positions at the beginning of the year,” Hale explained. “I was typically a back, which is more of a speed-based position, and I changed to a forward, which is a power and finesse-type position. That change fit me pretty well.”
The change fit Hale well indeed as he was named the team’s Most Improved Player.
With the summer and fall open, Hale competed in 7-on-7 offseason events hosted by the Cincinnati Wolfhounds, also known as the Cincinnati Rugby Football Club, at the team’s headquarters in Fairfield.
Going forward, Hale wants to improve upon the progress he’s made in his two years in the game during his senior season. As far as a future in the sport, Hale said his academics would dictate his decision as to whether he plays at the collegiate level.