SANDY – With a ceremonial ribbon cutting, the Utah Warriors took the next step in the evolution of the six-year-old professional rugby club on Wednesday afternoon.
One of the seven founding members of Major League Rugby in 2018, the Warriors formally opened their new state-of-the-art headquarters and training facility with a ribbon cutting in front of a crowd of players, coaches, staff and dignitaries that included the legendary Highland Rugby coach and US Rugby Hall of Famer Larry Gelwix, Real Salt Lake president John Kimball, Utah defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley and game facilitator Dick Smith United States Rugby Football Union (now known as USA Rugby), which now calls Utah. home.
“Rugby in Utah has a home,” said Warriors CEO and co-founder Kimball Kjar, pointing to the facility doors behind him before turning to the crowd that included the aforementioned guests and symbolically opening his arms. . “This is your house.”
While the Warriors’ traditional black and red branding adorns the facility, and merchandise from Utah’s Major League Rugby franchise, including jerseys, T-shirts, caps and scarves, is scattered throughout the office, there is also a nod to the landscape of local rugby.
That includes the “Utah Built” wall of national champions, from the University of Utah’s 2010 USA Sevens national title to the seven national championships won by Brigham Young University.
Then there are the 20 championships won by Highland, the inspiration for the 2008 film Forever Strong that included countless alumni like Scalley, who played on the bronze medal-winning Highland team at the 1998 world schools rugby championship before being a co-defensive player for the Mountain West. of the year as a safety and one of Kyle Whittingham’s best assistants at the U.
“As much as it’s the Warriors’ space, it’s actually the rugby community’s space,” Kjar told KSL.com. “It’s the space we want to make sure the community knows is theirs, as much as it is ours. We have such a rich heritage that we are built on; 35 national champions in 38 years, more than 40 members of the state national team Utah, two Olympians and two potential Olympians for 2024. There is a lot of rugby history in the state of Utah, and this facility is here only because of that community.
“While this is an incredible day for the team, players, family and staff, this is also a facility we will be able to do for a rugby community in the state of Utah that has helped us build for so long.” many generations.”
Since their founding, the Warriors have shared office space and training facilities with Real Salt Lake and its affiliates at Zions Bank Real Academy in Herriman.
Utah’s professional rugby team will continue to play at Zions Bank Stadium, although more games could be moved to America First Field, depending on demand for the 20,000-seat stadium in Sandy, Kjar said.
That will include “WarriorsFest,” created around the club’s regular season finale on June 28 at 8:30 p.m. MDT against Rugby Football Club Los Angeles. The game, which will air on FS2, will also include live music, fireworks and a beach ball toss fundraiser for Primary Children’s Hospital attempting to set the world record for the largest beach ball pit in America from North.
In addition to being located for occasional matches at RSL’s home stadium, the new facility provides the Warriors with a venue of their own on both the rugby and business sides of the organization, located near the 12300 South highway exit, just south of Loveland Living. Planet Aquarius in Draper.
“We are very grateful that Real Salt Lake allows us to be tenants within their space. They continue to be great partners,” Kjar said. “But we’re going to try to scale with Real Salt Lake, not only to sell out Zions Bank Stadium but also for more games at America First Field. To have a space like this, where we can tell the stories of all the national champions. and community – the story our players tell helps them understand and embrace the history and tradition of rugby in the state of Utah.”
Kimball, a member of Highland’s 1988 national championship team, added: “Rugby is the love of my life. It’s where I learned a lot of lessons, not just in sports but for the rest of my life.”
The Utah Warriors unveiled their new rugby headquarters and training facility on Wednesday, May 29, 2024 in Draper. (Photo: Sean Walker, KSL.com)
It’s also a recruiting tool for the Warriors, who currently sit in fifth place in Major League Rugby’s Western Conference ahead of what head coach Greg Cooper called a “must win” match with the San Diego Legion. to 8 p.m. MDT Saturday at Zions Bank Stadium.
“One of the things we’ve noticed this year is that our daily preparation has been a little disjointed, because we haven’t had facilities for ourselves,” Cooper said. “We haven’t had facilities to ourselves and we’ve been going from one place to another… But I think this allows for a lot of unity and for our preparation to be high class. It gives us an opportunity “For high-level training, for the center together, and then to allow us to prepare very well physically and build a bond that is really special.
It’s also a recruiting tool, a facility that can be used to develop local talent into the Warriors’ pipeline program and also attract national (and international) talent to play in Utah.
“This will probably be the best rugby facility in Major League Rugby, when it is fully completed,” Kjar proclaimed. “This space will be the best in MLR, and using it to develop local players and attract top players looking to become the best player they can be will be huge.”
Cooper added: “If I were a rugby player and I saw this Utah facility, I would want to be a part of it. I think it’s an inspiring place and I think it will help with recruiting.”
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