Dixon Rugby Putting Farm Town On World Map

When people think rugby Dixon doesn’t come to mind off-hand, but you couldn’t tell Dixon Rugby President Robert Salaber that.

Salaber has evolved the small-town rugby club from a 20-person middle school team in 2007 to a five-team, 105-player elite organization going into its fifth year of existence.

“We have accomplished some incredible things here in Dixon,” he said. “They pretty much write us off then they see us play and then they’re like ‘holy crap, these guys know how to play rugby.’”

The Start

Spanning athletes from age 12 to 19, Salaber groomed the club up from occasional hobby status to full-fledged athletic program in a span of less than five years, but it’s far from his first rodeo on a rugby pitch.

Salaber played rugby for UC Berkeley, the United States’ greatest rugby program, having won 25 of 31 national championships. Collegiate rugby teams have only played for a national title since 1980.

Salaber went on to coach at UC Davis after finishing his 13-year rugby playing career in 1993. In the 10 years as head coach, Salaber catapulted the team from a mediocore NCAA Division-II squad to a third place finish in Division-I in 1997 with seven All-Americans. Salaber would step down in 2002 to coach his daughter’s soccer teams.

A family affair

Salaber’s break from rugby didn’t last long. He promised son Nick that he’d start a small program Dixon when he got into middle school in 2007. The younger Salaber learned the in-and-outs of rugby from his father rather quickly.

“I’ve been around rugby my whole life because my dad used to coach at UC Davis,” Nick said. “I’ve seen it and I was familiar with it before I started playing.”

With the techniques, coaching and push he received from his dad, the younger Salaber eventually earned All-American status, and earned a spot on the U.S. Seven’s team, which played in an international tournament in Canada this past July.

“I played on the varsity team as a freshman,” Nick said. “I’ve been playing with bigger kids my whole life, so when I come up against kids my size I have a lot of confidence in myself.”

Other than a few specific techniques, Nick credits his dad for what he knows about rugby.

“Most of my foundation, what I know about rugby, is from my dad,” he said.

Nick will follow in dad’s footsteps at Berkeley. He plans to play on the freshman-sophomore squad next season after almost not giving any thought to attending the university.

“I wasn’t even going to apply, thinking because of my grades I wouldn’t get in,” he said. “Then they contacted me and asked why I hadn’t.”

2010-2011 season recap

In addition to Nick’s success, six Dixon Rugby players made it onto the under-17 Northern California All-Star team and ended up winning the Rocky Mountain Challenge, which Salaber coached. Salaber said it is the premier All-Star tournament in the country.

The Dixon under-17 team finished second in the Pacific Coast Regional playoffs to Jesuit of Sacramento, which went on to win the national title. The Rams’ U-12 squad attended a tourney where Salaber said half the teams that didn’t know where Dixon was, and beat everyone except a team that had a 220-pound 12-year old.

“It’s really unheard of that a school of our size that’s not a private school, can even get close to this level,” the elder Salaber said. “It’s an amazing accomplishment.”

The six Dixon athletes which played in the Rocky Mountain Challenge:

Nick Salaber – All-American, played on U.S. Seven’s team.

Nick Bonovich – Player of the match, final game of Rocky
Mountain Challenge.

Anthony Salaber

Kyle Garlick

Josh Short

Chris Rico

Pepe Semeraro

For more information on Dixon Rugby, visit its website: dixonrugby.com

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