On Tuesday October 30th, 2012, Elizabeth Gordon, host of Burr & Forman’s Results Matter radio on Business RadioX®, was joined by attorney Gary Farris and three Atlanta area rugby players past and present to discuss the sport.
Armand Vari who used to play with Atlanta Old White and now runs the Atlanta Rugby Foundation, Jim Turner who played professionally in Great Britain and now coaches youth rugby and heads up the Phoenix Rugby Club and Min Cho, the current hooker for Old White joined Elizabeth and Gary to talk about the growing interest in rugby in the US and specifically in Atlanta.
Min Cho, an aerospace engineer in his professional life, explained that in the US, rugby is considered an amateur sport but that there are very well respected amatuer programs in the world like Argentina and the US wants to dominate in that space. He also talked about the brand new field where Old White plays and said it is one of the best in the US.
Jim Turner added that both parents and kids are getting more interested in rugby now that it will officially be back in the Olympics in 2016 and because more and more colleges are offering scholarship money for rugby players both male and female.
Armand Vari talked about the personal and professional relationships he has built through his connection to the sport and highlighted the commitment the former players have to keeping the team going. It was because of that commitment he explained, that the Atlanta Rugby Foundation was formed and that the group was able to build the new field solely with donations from the alumni players.
