From Bountiful High to BYU to Australia and back home again, rugby has taken Kimball Kjar full circle.
Kjar is a member of the United States National Rugby Team — dubbed the U.S. Eagles — that hosts Chile today in Murray in qualifying for the 2003 Rugby World Cup.
A standout football receiver and defensive back and wrestler at Bountiful, Kjar opted not to pursue wrestling at BYU in the mid-1990s. "But I couldn't see myself not doing a team sport," recalled Kjar, who accepted invitations to play rugby at BYU with friends whose brothers had been on the team.
Ironically, Kjar had considered trying rugby earlier, receiving invites from local club teams. But it conflicted with his focus on wrestling, so he didn't follow up — until his freshman year in Provo.
"I had fun, did well," he said of his first rugby season. "But I didn't know what was going on half the time."
Rugby even played a role as Kjar interrupted his college studies to serve a two-year LDS Church mission to Australia, one of the many South Pacific nations infatuated with the sport. He joined in on touch-rugby games on his days off in the Brisbane area.
"I went back to BYU, got recognized in a few games," said Kjar, humbly not mentioning his All-American honors, "and the next thing you know, I'm getting a phone call to go with the national team."
In his second year with the Eagles, the 5-foot-9 Kjar plays scrumhalf, one of two halfback positions, along with the flyhalf. "It's similar to the quarterback on the field," Kjar explained. "Between those two, they pretty much make most of the decisions as to how the flow of the game progresses, where the ball's going to go and what's going to happen — whether they're going to kick or run or pass."
The United States is participating in an "Americas" qualifying pool that includes Canada, Chile and Uruguay. The Eagles dropped two disappointing matches to Canada, which leads the pool and is expected to qualify for next year's World Cup. The United States is looking to be the second qualifier but essentially must beat Chile today, Uruguay in a match Thursday in San Francisco, and the same two teams in matches later this month in South America.
The 2003 World Cup will be played in Australia, with host cities including Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane. The prospects of returning Down Under are obviously quite appealing to Kjar.
The 24-year-old is juggling his national-team experience with marriage, another season of college eligibility and lots of studying left. A year away from his undergraduate degree, Kjar hopes to get his MBA and pursue a future career in sports administration.
Counting his family, in-laws and friends, he should have quite a sizeable cheering squad this afternoon in Murray. "My dad ordered 50 tickets, and I'm getting close to another 20 tickets," Kjar said. "We usually get an allotment of two tickets each a game, and I somehow scrounged up about 20."
Utah's hosting of its first-ever international-level rugby match is a credit to local programs. While the U.S. Eagles' operations are located in Berkeley, Calif., the team plays a barnstorming-like schedule with no actual homebase. Instead, the national team purposely schedules its games where rugby programs are growing and excelling.
Locally, the Highland Rugby Team has won 14 national high school championships, including the past three titles. The University of Utah club team finished runner-up to powerhouse Cal-Berkeley in the collegiate championships this year.
And Kjar's BYU squad has been ranked as high as second and third in the college rankings and has played even with — and beaten — Utah. BYU didn't participate in the collegiate tournament, since some playoff matches were scheduled on Sundays.
E-MAIL: taylor@desnews.com