Marysol Castro Inspired by Hometown Rugby Players

Aug. 23, 2010— -- In 1995, newly elected South African President Nelson Mandela saw rugby as a tool to inspire unity among his countrymen, who had been alienated from each other for so many years by apartheid.

Ten years later in the Bronx, N.Y., high school history teacher Lisa Lake had a similar vision: use rugby as a tool to inspire her students -- students who were alienated from society by poverty, gangs and violent crime -- to do better.

"These kids need somewhere to be, they need somewhere to shoot for and they need help to get into college," Lake said. An athlete herself, Lake knew the benefits of organized sports. With few resources, Lake gathered as many students as she could to start a rugby team at the Bronx high school where she taught humanities.

Much as the rugby field provided common to the people of a new South Africa, the rugby field began to provide firm ground for this unlikely group of high school athletes.

As a former rugger, myself, I'm particularly inspired by Arnold Chavis, a child of the Bronx's Edenwald housing projects. It's one of the toughest places a kid can grow up in New York City.

"I wouldn't say it's too bad because I've lived here my whole life, but to other people looking, it's probably the worst place to be in the Bronx," Chavis, 20, said.

Adopted as a baby, he grew up in a loving home, but the projects still took their toll. His brother was killed in a gang fight.

"There's just so many influences, so much outside pressure and things that can happen randomly," Lake said.

Chavis and his classmates were resistant at first, but Lake and partner Annie Collier worked to convince them to join the rugby team with young athletes in the New York city area.

"I did beg, but once I got them there, they loved it," Lake said.

Chavis agrees.

"I started practicing and fell in love with it," he said. "It was a contact sport where you were able to hit people and not get in trouble for it. It taught me self-discipline and respect for other people because before that I was a pretty bad kid, I'll admit it."