Junior rugby player Michael Brad Forbes was selected to play on the Eastern Pennsylvania Rugby Union All-Star Team last week, making him only the seventh Lion in the program's history to be given this honor.
Forbes endured two full days of tryouts earlier in the month, competing side-by-side with 42 other players representing 13 Eastern Pennsylvania Rugby Union (EPRU) colleges and universities. After engaging in a skills assessment, fitness test and scrimmage, the group was narrowed down to the 29 players who will go on to play the Palmetto Collegiate All-Stars and Clemson University in January.
"This was the first time I'd ever been involved with something quite like this," Forbes said. "The atmosphere was very tense. Everyone there was good."
Forbes plays wing for the College, a position in rugby usually reserved for the quickest members of the team.
Deemed "Mr. Glass" by his teammates, Forbes proved to live up to his nickname during tryouts.
"I dislocated my shoulder on the first day and tweaked something in my knee on the second," Forbes said.
Forbes' injuries did not seem to discourage coaches during the evaluation process of tryouts, and he was chosen to travel with EPRU's team.
If anything, Forbes' injuries have made the athlete more determined to work harder to help make the all-star team a success.
"Making the team is only the first step," Forbes said. "A big part of that is healing and strengthening my problem areas that have been prone to injury in the past, like my ankles, shoulders and knees."
Forbes will attend a weekend camp at Albright before traveling with the team on January 19-20 to Charleston, S.C. for the all-star games.
