A kid’s clinic, featuring members of the New Zealand Black Ferns and the Maori All Blacks was one of the main highlights of the final day of activities before The Rugby Weekend triple-header held tomorrow night in Chicago
Chicago isn’t known as the home of rugby, however 120 students showed their enthusiasm to learn all about the national sport of New Zealand. Members of the Māori All Blacks and the World champion Black Ferns hosted a clinic af Lane Tech High School.
“Kids have come from all of the US to be here,” admits Theo Gilbert, Executive Director of Chicago Youth Rugby Alliance, “we’ve got kids from the Washing DC area, we’ve got kids from Arkansaw that just came off the plane and came straight here and they still have their suitcases with them, they were so excited to be here.”
“I’m surprised that the little kids came down and took up the game of rugby,” says Māori All Black Jonathan Ruru, “you know back home 5 years-old do that but I wouldn’t really expect it from kids all around the world so it’s pretty kool to see.”
“It’s been awesome it’s really kool to get the opportunity to come out and see how the other side of the world lives and plays,” says Black Fern player Krysten Cottrell, “it’s pretty new here, back home kids are playing when they’re 4 or 5, so it’s really neat to see them play and how they are and why they’re playing, there’s some pretty good skills out there.”
Students from all across the United States turned out in an attempt to continue the growth of enthusiasm of rugby here in the America. This is a rest day for both New Zealand teams before both the Black Ferns and Māori All Blacks play tomorrow.