Brotherhood, Honesty, Competitiveness: Gratz Rugby

By Joe Fite, Philadelphia Public League

If you venture into the bowels of Simon Gratz Mastery Charter High School’s basement on any given day, you will see athletes working out in the weight room or in the turf room next door. Nothing unusual there. Football players begin working out for next season around this time which is a big reason why the Bulldogs have had a successful gridiron program for a long time.

But look again.

Not all of them are football players. Walk up to senior Anthony Smith and ask him what sport he plays and you might be surprised by the answer. His response would be rugby.

Rugby? What the heck is that?