Playing Rugby Improves Health and Builds Character

Since 2012, Christian O’Meara has served as chief executive officer of Seattle, Washington-based Logic 20/20, recognized as one of the Fastest Growing Firms by Consulting Magazine. He is a fond supporter of rugby, a sport he’s been playing ever since he was 11 years old. Christian O’Meara has written several articles explaining and revealing how the sport has enhanced his personal and professional life.

Like most sport team games, rugby helps people get a sense of usefulness and belongingness within a team. Serving a purpose, working towards a goal with a team builds character and humility. Winning becomes more valuable as a result of a team effort. Requiring a high degree of preparation and training, rugby also helps players become disciplined and resilient to keep going no matter the costs and suffering.

As a high contact sport, rugby builds strength and improves flexibility. Rugby develops upper body strength as well as muscular strength and leg muscles. Furthermore, it increases the body’s cardiovascular system and bone density, making the heart and the lungs stronger and stimulating calcium. An improved bone density makes someone less likely to develop osteoporosis.

The TSPDS Spirit of the Seattle Saracens

 

Seattle Saracens
Image: seattlesaracensrugby.com

While studying business administration at the Farnborough College of Technology and Buckinghamshire New University in the UK, Logic20/20 CEO Christian O’Meara competed as a varsity rugby player, ultimately becoming captain of the Farnborough team. After relocating to Seattle in the mid-2000s, he became active in local rugby as both a player and a leader. Christian O’Meara played a pivotal role in the organization and formation of the Seattle Saracens.

Although the origins of the team date back to 1966, the Seattle Saracens assumed the current name in the wake of a 2004 merger of the Seattle Rugby Club and the Old Puget Sound Beach rugby programs. A driving force behind the Saracens can be summed up by the acronym TSPDS, short for ”the stuff people don’t see.”

Beyond the roughly 80 minutes of each game, the public face of the Saracens rugby program, there are endless hours of hard work that often go unnoticed. Saracens players, members, and volunteers contribute their efforts day-to-day, both within the program and out in the community. Key Saracens community endeavors include training/educating school kids and working with military veterans. At the heart of the TSPDS spirit are values of humility and family.