Fresh out of college and the club rugby team at the University of Kansas, Rick Renfro wanted to share his love of rugby with the rest of the city. So in 1989, he started the high school program now known as the K.J.J.R.F.C. (Kansas Junior Jayhawks Rugby Football Club).

Now a local business owner, Renfro is still actively involved with the program, sponsoring and coaching the current group of players.

“I really loved rugby, and I wanted to turn more people onto it,” Rick Renfro said. “I am disappointed that I didn’t know about it in high school.”

Over the years, the program has turned out more than 300 high school kids that otherwise would have been oblivious to the sport. This year’s team features 12 Lawrence High players including Rick’s son, senior Spencer Renfro, who, despite growing up with a dad who brought the game to the city of Lawrence, says he never felt pressured to play.

“I grew up around [rugby],” Spencer Renfro said. “I would watch it growing up and always wanted to play.”

The team travels around the state to play nine different teams ranging from the Kansas City to Wichita areas. However, for the first time this year, the club took a national tour to Florida over spring break to play a group of teams from the Florida area. The team fared well, going 2-1, losing only to an older, more experienced team in their last game.

“[The trip] was amazing,” senior Chase Billings said. “It brought our team together on and off the field.”

This year the team is very experienced and is looking to make a deep run in the State playoffs.

“We have six guys that have been playing for four years,” Rick Renfro said. “We ought to be in the championship

and win.”

This confident mentality from the coach seems to be shared among his players, who all feel like this is their year. Another thing that seemed to resonate with the entire team is their lack of fan support. The team plays their home games at Westwick Rugby Complex on Saturday mornings and is really looking to gain a bigger fan base.

“We only have about 20 fans showing up at the games,” senior Erik Anderson said. “We really want to have a bigger crowd since our team is doing so well.”

The complex is located south of Lawrence on Douglas County Road. The team’s next home game is at 11 a.m. Saturday, April 17, against Wyandotte County.