Wilkerson’s Move to Rugby Painful, but It Paid Off : Amateur sports: Former Mater Dei, Saddleback linebacker finds new pastime more rewarding than football.

Jay Wilkerson landed a football scholarship to Fresno State in spring 1986, but he found a tougher sport after a few weeks on campus.

Rugby.

Wilkerson, a linebacker from Mater Dei, had led Saddleback College to the national junior college football title the previous fall.

He wanted to stay in shape after enrolling at Fresno State that spring, so he tried out with a Fresno rugby club.

No big deal. He figured he would get in a few hits, then have a few laughs over a couple of beers at the local pub.

After all, the sport couldn’t be any tougher than football, especially for a Division I college athlete, right?

Guess again.

“The first time I played,” he said, “I threw up.

“I was used to a huddle, an eight-second break between each play. But in rugby, it’s two 40-minute halves, nonstop. I went berserk out there in the first five minutes, and 10 minutes into the game, I was sick.”

Not exactly a stellar start for a career but a beginning nonetheless.

After two years with Fresno State and a brief stint with the Rams, Wilkerson gave up football and started playing full time with the Belmont Shore Rugby Club in Long Beach. That was 1989.

By 1990, he was one of 26 players who made the U.S. national team that toured Australia. He was with the team again in 1991, when it toured England and played in front of 60,000 spectators, including Queen Elizabeth.

“People were shocked that I really played only one year and I made the national team,” said Wilkerson, who’s 6 feet 2 and 220 pounds.

Belmont Shore President Mike Tracy said Wilkerson’s speed and aggressiveness from football helped him make a smooth transition to rugby.

“Jay’s a tremendous natural athlete,” Tracy said. “He has great stamina, and rugby is a high-endurance sport. And we like to hit in rugby, so it’s the ideal sport for linebackers.”

And for bartenders.

Rugby’s a tough sport, and Wilkerson said it has taught him to handle himself in just about any situation. Even bar fights.

“A couple years ago, I was working as a bartender (at a Huntington Beach sports bar), and three guys jumped me one night,” he said. “In rugby, that has happened to me a number of times.

“I was very slow and deliberate (during the fight) and I worked my way out of it. Those three guys walked out with bloody noses that night.”

But Wilkerson doesn’t want anyone to misinterpret the sport or its players. Most people have an image of rugby players as beer-guzzling, wild college kids. That’s not true, Wilkerson argues.

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Doctors, lawyers, accountants, businessmen and salesmen are among the 200 Belmont club members. Wilkerson, a Newport Beach native living in Seal Beach, said his rugby ties helped him land a job as a cellular-phone salesman at Bear Communications in Costa Mesa.

“One of the things I like about the sport is the camaraderie,” he said. “It’s like a great big fraternity. My roommates play rugby, my friends play rugby. When I travel to England or Australia, I get to stay at other players’ homes. It’s great for networking.”

Rugby has opened a whole new life to Wilkerson, 27. In five years, he has played all over the world against teams from Canada, Australia, France, New Zealand, England and Hong Kong.

“Rugby has cultured me,” he said. “It has been a great education, getting to travel around. I’ve been to nearly every big city in the United States to play rugby. I only traveled a little when I played football.”

Wilkerson grew up surfing as a kid in Newport Beach; it’s a hobby he and his roommates continue during their “tribal surfing” on the north side of the Seal Beach Pier.

He lived in Newport Harbor High’s attendance district but attended Mater Dei to play football.

As a senior, Wilkerson was an all-county, all-Angelus League and team defensive MVP. He had 123 tackles, eight fumble recoveries and two interceptions in two seasons starting at inside linebacker.

The Monarchs finished 6-5 and 7-4-1 in those years, and upset Fontana, top-ranked in the nation, during his senior year.

“We beat them on a last-second Hail Mary play,” he said. “But the thing I remember most about that game was leaving (Fontana) and our bus was getting pelted with rocks.”

Although he had a good senior season, no Division I colleges recruited him. He was 6-2, but weighed only 180 pounds, far too small for a Division I linebacker.

But Saddleback College coaches showed some interest. Wilkerson enrolled and became an instant starter. The Gauchos were 9-2 his freshman year.

As a sophomore, he was the Mission Conference’s defensive player of the year at outside linebacker, and was the MVP in Saddleback’s victory against Fullerton in the Orange County Pony Bowl that capped an undefeated season and gave the Gauchos the national championship.

Wilkerson said the Pony Bowl game was the best of his career, in any sport, at any level. He had 18 tackles, two sacks, a safety and a fumble recovery.

“I was really depressed on the ride home after the game,” he said, “because I knew I could never play that way again. I was possessed out there.”

Fresno State came through with a scholarship offer a few weeks later. He signed, and then turned down a late scholarship offer from Southern Methodist.

As a junior, he started two games for a team that featured receiver Stephen Baker, who later played with the Giants, and Kevin Sweeney, who set the NCAA career passing yardage record (10,623 yards).

The Bulldogs finished 9-2 and were ranked as high as 19th nationally that season, but didn’t get a bowl bid. One of Fresno State’s losses was a 45-41 decision to San Jose State, which was named Sports Illustrated’s “Game of the Year.”

Wilkerson split time as a starter at outside and inside linebacker during his senior year with the Bulldogs, who finished 6-5.

After his senior season, Wilkerson turned down a fifth-year academic scholarship to sign a free-agent contract with the Rams. He played in four exhibition games, but the Rams cut him just before the season.

“I kept asking them to keep me around another week or two so I could earn enough tuition money to go back to school,” he said. “But they still cut me.”

A few weeks later, Wilkerson started playing for Belmont Shore, and began his rise through the national ranks.

He plays flanker, a roving position between offense and defense, on the 15-player team. It’s the ideal position for a player with his size and speed who has a linebacker’s instincts. In other words, he can get to the ball in a hurry and do some serious hurtin’ once he gets there.

“The thing I really enjoy about rugby is getting the ball and running with it,” he said. “All I did in football is tackle people.”

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Wilkerson said rugby is often confused with Australian Rules Football. But rugby follows rules somewhat similar to American football.

Rugby is played on a 100-meter field, about nine yards longer than a football field.

Teams can score a try, a conversion or a goal.

A try, when a player touches the ball in an opponent’s goal area, counts as four points. A conversion, similar to football’s extra-point kick, is worth two points. Penalty kick goals and drop-kick goals (punting the ball through the uprights) are worth three points.

The sport’s fast pace keeps Wilkerson in shape. He lifts weights three times a week and practices with the club twice a week. Most of the 90-minute practices consist of running.

“I’m in the best shape of my life, 10 times over,” he said. “I wish I had the fitness I have now when I played with the Rams. I would have made it.”

This weekend, Wilkerson and his Belmont teammates will play in the Pacific Coast Rugby Club Championships at Cal State Long Beach. The winner of the eight-team tournament advances to the USA National club championships May 8-9 in Denver.

Belmont has reached the Pacific Coast finals three times since Wilkerson joined the club.

“We’ve finished second every year,” he said. “We just can’t seem to get in. We’re always a steppingstone.”

This weekend’s tournament is only a part of his busy schedule. The U.S. national team didn’t tour last summer because of lack of money, but Wilkerson said it will start playing again this spring. A tournament with England, Japan and the Unified team is planned for late May in San Francisco.

Wilkerson said he plans to keep playing rugby well into his 30s. The sport is fun for him, even after that awful rookie season back in Fresno.

“Yeah, I’ve definitely come a long way since Fresno,” he said, laughing about the first game he played.

“I’ve gone from Fresno to traveling to Saudi Arabia to the Great Barrier Reef. I don’t miss football at all.”

Rugby Tournament Facts

What: Pacific Coast Rugby Club Championships.

When: Today through Sunday.

Where: Cal State Long Beach athletic fields.

Cost: Admission is free except for finals, which will cost $2 per person. Finals are scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Sunday.

Noteworthy: The winner of the regional advances to the USA National club championships May 8-9 in Denver. The national champion has come from the Pacific Coast region 10 of the last 13 years. Teams scheduled to compete include sixth-seeded Belmont Shore Club, top-seeded Cal Berkeley Old Blues, the seven-time national champion, and second-seeded Old Mission Beach Athletic Club, the three-time national champion from San Diego. Belmont Shore plays third-seeded Seattle in the first round at 2 p.m. Friday.